Fleetwood Bac
They dressed the part, looked the part, and sounded the part.
It is six years since the real Fleetwood Mac last performed in this country, and with the passing of Christine McVie in 2022, and the band now effectively on permanent hiatus, a Fleetwood Mac tribute act now seems like the only alternative for the fans. Claiming to be the UK's first, and most authentic, of these is Fleetwood Bac. Their five piece line-up captures the very essence of the classic 'Rumours' era. 'Rumours' is still the fifth best-selling album of all time, and the line-up of Mick Fleetwood, Stevie Nicks, Lindsay Buckingham, Christine McVie, and John McVie is considered by many to be the definitive Mac. But how close can Fleetwood Bac get to the genuine look and sound of that legendary band?
The answer, if their Saturday night show at Epic Studios is anything to go by, is pretty damn close. To be fair, Epic is the perfect venue for a tribute show of this scale and magnitude. The stage, lights and sound are all guaranteed to help make every act look and sound great, and this becomes even more important when a tribute band is aiming to recreate a classic stadium performance. No disrespect to smaller venues, but you would never have expected to see a band like Fleetwood Mac performing on the stage of your local boozer.
The Fleetwood Bac show consists of two sets and, not surprisingly, songs from the album 'Rumours' feature large, and kick straight off with 'The Chain'. It is a behemoth of a track, which originally had Nicks and McVie sharing vocal duties, and ending with that closing bassline and screaming finale that became the soundtrack to almost every Formula One race broadcast on BBC television from 1978 onwards. It is a brave move – other tributes might have saved it for their swansong, but Fleetwood Bac absolutely nail it, and the two singers are bang on the money.
And between those seven songs from 'Rumours' are included some rarer Fleetwood Mac gems. 'Oh Well', written by founder member Peter Green and lifted from the 1969 album 'Then Play On', is a blistering blues song that was still being played on my college bar jukebox when I headed to London in 1976. Christine McVie's 'Say You Love Me', from the band’s eponymous 1975 album, makes the cut, as does early song 'Landslide'. 'Edge of Seventeen', the gentle and beautiful song from Stevie Nicks’ solo album 'Belladonna' is performed in part two of the show, and is immediately followed with the marching-band euphoria of Lindsay Buckingham's magnificent and stirring 'Tusk'.
After closing the main set with 'Rhiannon' and 'Everywhere', Fleetwood Bac provide their cheekily teased encore, and two final songs from 'Rumours' - 'Don't Stop' and 'Go Your Own Way'. After which we all get to go our own way, back out onto Magdalen Street. It was an evening of unrivalled nostalgia for the more mature members of the audience (of which I count myself as one), but it was also fascinating to note the number of youngsters present tonight, most of whom would not have even been born when 'Rumours' was first released. My own special moment arrived with 'Songbird', but the entire evening was a triumph, and once again helped break many of my taboos and prejudices about tribute acts. This was mostly a credit to the five members of Fleetwood Bac. Their musicality and passion shone throughout. They dressed the part, looked the part, and sounded the part (even to the point of cheekily adopting the American pronunciation of Nor-Wich). You cannot ask for more than that from a tribute act.
