DVD Review: Fleetwood Mac - the Dance

I remember seeing The Dance on a PBS special years ago and being extremely impressed. Now bear in mind this was on an old-fashioned 21-inch tube TV set with relatively low fidelity sound. I suspect my positive opinion despite the low fi quality was definitely a tribute to the strength of Fleetwood Mac's performance.

Having purchased the DVD in the wake of seeing the band live during their 2009 Unleashed Tour, I prepared to enjoy the concert on my wide screen LCD in Dolby 5:1 surround sound.

Viva la difference!

No filmed concert can provide quite the same emotional thrill as seeing a favorite band in person. But The Dance brings viewers as close as they'll likely get to experiencing Fleetwood Mac live.

The concert features the band's celebrated Rumours lineup which includes Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie. Sadly, Christine departed permanently from the band after The Dance tour ended. The DVD is worth the cost simply for the sake of seeing her final full concert performance with Fleetwood Mac.

The band, no longer under the influence of illegal chemical substances as most were back in their heyday, and with state of the art sound, are at the top of their game.

The concert opens to the sound of Mick Fleetwood's pulsing bass drum and Lindsey Buckingham finger picking the intro guitar riff to the powerful Rumours track T he Chain. Christine and Stevie deftly layer in acappello vocal harmonies behind Lindsey until Fleetwood's pounding drum tom toms bring the force of the Mac Attack to bear underneath Lindsey Buckingham's soaring lead vocals..

As a rule of thumb, as Lindsey Buckingham's mood and performance go, for better or worse, so goes Fleetwood Mac. Fortunately, Lindsey shines both vocally and instrumentally from the outset.

The band performs on a circular stage configuration with Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie in the background, casually dressed in jeans, white shirts and black vests. The demure Stevie Nicks, arrayed in a black crinoline dress with flowing sleeves, commanding center stage, is framed by Buckingham, attired in a black suit on one side and Christine McVie, looking svelte in a dark pant suit, on the other side.

Kudos need to be given Bruce Gower's adept direction. He does a fine job of creating mood and motion with lighting effects and flowing camera movement without allowing it to become overly busy and obtrusive. The band members themselves remain the center of attention and are never dwarfed by the production. I thought his subtle direction method totally appropriate for the more intimate setting of the venue.

Lead vocal duties were distributed fairly equally throughout the performance.

The group followed the opening number with another Rumours track, Stevie Nick's self-penned track Dreams. Unlike her 2009 Winnipeg performance, Stevie had good energy right off the mark. She was in great voice and appeared animated, employing subtle hand gestures and swaying her body in time to the music.

Perhaps some of Stevie's improved early performance had to do with the onstage chemistry between her and Lindsay during The Dance tour. The Dance displays a lot of eye contact between the two and some of the friction between the two former lovers is still very apparent. By their 2009 tour, this friction had all but vanished and it's a shame because I believe it really added crackle to their performance.

Next up was the delightful Christine McVie. Being able to look at this performance in hindsight, and being able to draw comparisons of Fleetwood Mac both with and without Christine, I have a far better appreciation of her role in the band.

Don't get me wrong, I gave the Fleetwood Mac's 2009 Winnipeg performance a very positive review. The four remaining members are so immensely talented, and the band's back catalogue is so formidable, that Christine's absence might have almost been overlooked. But hearing Lindsey and Stevie struggling to sing Christine's lead vocal in Say That You Love Me provided this writer with a reality check.

Christine's smooth vocals, her low-key demeanor and playing style really helped anchor the group and gave balance to the more flamboyant styles of Lindsey and Stevie.

Rewatching The Dance reminded me of the important contribution Christine made to the band as attested to by the fact that Fleetwood Mac currently employs a six piece backing group to replace her! McVie's performance on songs like Say You Love Me, You Make Loving Fun and Over My Head are among my favorite songs on the disc.

Other highlights are Stevie's sultry Gold Dust Woman, Lindsay performing solo on Big Love as well as Lindsey and Stevie solo acoustic performance of Stevie's Landslide.

The visual and sonic coup de gras of the concert has to be the onstage appearance of the entire USC Trojan Marching Band to accompany Fleetwood Mac on the percussion laden song Tusk. Talk about spectacle!

Suitably, and perhaps ironically, the final song of the performance features Christine McVie 's performing her self-penned track, Songbird from the Rumours album - solo.

The song provided a bittersweet end to Christine's tenure in Fleetwood Mac and a fitting conclusion to a superb concert.

The Dance Setlist

The Chain

Dreams

Everywhere

Gold Dust Woman

I'm So Afraid

Temporary One

Bleed to Love Her

Gypsy

Big Love

Go Insane

Landslide

Say You Love Me

You Make Loving Fun

My Little Demon

Silver Springs

Over My Head

Rhiannon

Sweet Girl

Go Your Own Way

Tusk

Don't StopSongbird