Don't stop....

The Fleetwood Mac concert last night was just ...wow! Not even the nightmare journey to get there due to railway strikes and our train being cancelled, or the long tube journey out to Wembley Arena could spoil the memorable evening that followed. Of course it had totally slipped my mind that the arena is only a partially covered venue and it was raining! Gavin had brought an umbrella which security made him throw away in a pile of ever growing umbrellas as for security reasons it was deemed dangerous!! That pile of umbrellas was not there on our exit, hmmm, a bit of a scam for staff to get themselves some new umbrellas. Dangerous? With a plastic tip on most umbrellas these days I am not sure it can do much harm. 

The evening started with Chrissie Hind and The Pretenders. Boy was it was loud! So loud that I got tinnitus and when I went to bed much later my ears were still ringing. Despite that, they were as good as they have always been, Chrissie Hind still has such a powerful voice and her well known rock chick sexy image still appeals today.

Fleetwood Mac have been on tour since October 2018 and London was their last stop of the European leg. Lindsay Buckingham was fired at the beginning of 2018 due to differences regarding the tour and replaced by Neil Finn (ex- Crowded House) - and yes they sang Don’t Dream it’s Over - and Mike Campbell (ex- Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) - and yes they sang Free Fallin’ in a tribute to Tom Petty who died in 2017. The rest of the band, who are now in their early seventies, were (nearly) as good as ever. Stevie Nicks with her cascading blonde hair still has that distinctive voice and high priestess of rock aura about her, although she did not attempt to hit the high notes as she once would have done. Mick Fleetwood, at the age of 71, performed an intense drum solo that took so much energy and vigour I am not sure many a younger percussionist could have kept up! They also played Black Magic Woman that sounded like they were Santana themselves.

The band played hit after hit and as they have had so many there were so many more they never got the chance to play. We all stood and danced from the opening number of Little Lies right until the end, it was such a good atmosphere. I realised what a fan I was when I knew nearly all the lyrics to every song! We had very good seats and luckily it did not rain during the concert. 

At the end of the concert I did wonder how +/- 80 000 people would get out of the stadium and back on to the tubes. Actually it was incredible, in true British style people walked calmly and queued politely, no pushing or shoving. The staff had a small music system playing Fleetwood Mac songs as we were queuing for the trains and it was quite moving when everyone started singing along, of course everyone knew the lyrics, what a beautiful moment that was.  

What a treat to see such a famous and much loved band from my youth. Their album Rumours was bought by me when it came out in the late 70’s, and when CD’s came out in the 80’s it was the first CD I ever bought. 


I was sorry that Adam missed it but he had an amazing time at the ball where they were entertained by Pixie Lott.


Today by comparison was quiet - the electrician came around in the morning to fix something, and then later in the afternoon I took Luke to Gatwick Airport (in horrendous traffic) as he is flying to Majorca where 14 of them have rented a villa on AirBnB to enjoy some R&R now that they are leaving university and before they start their serious jobs.


I had planned to go out and take some photos today but then it started raining and I did not feel inclined to do so. Instead you can see what I made myself for lunch, a healthy chicken salad!