May 20, 1980 review: Fleetwood Mac plus Christopher Cross in the Aud



Superstars starting to show signs of wear and tear.

May 20, 1980
Fans Forgive Flubs
As Fleetwood Mac
Pours on Romance
The spotlight picks Christine McVie's blond head out of the darkness and 14,000 voices cheer wildly in Memorial Auditorium Monday night as Fleetwood Mac begins the show with one of McVie's best romantic visions, "Say You Love Me."
It's a fine night for romance. Look at all those couples in this home-from-college crowd. Fleetwood Mac is playing their songs – songs that have been part and parcel of young love for the past five years.
These same five years have seen the couples within Fleetwood Mac go their own way, to paraphrase one of their songs, but their collective partnership holds fast. At the close of the night, they’re actually hugging each other in congratulation.
The concert succeeds on the strength of that feeling. McVie melts the heart with her clear soprano and her comforting sentiments. Then Stevie Nicks brings fantasies to a boil in her flowing shawls, prancing across the edge of the stage and singing about the supernatural.
Nicks retires from the all-black stage when the focus passes to McVie or to guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, a twitchy, stick-like figure, shirtless under his white suit. His mission is to make this mellow band raucous.
His plan includes an old blues Peter Green did with the group a decade ago, the bashing “It’s Not That Funny, Is It?” from the “Tusk” album, boisterous harmonies and an endless series of urgent guitar phrasings.
Nevertheless, the songs seem to deliver more thrill in recognition than in execution. Till the crowd rises to applaud the first notes of “Tusk,” the midsection of the show lags. And the instrumental breaks lack definition.
Other shortcomings include the sound mix, which is overwhelmed by Buckingham’s guitar and Mick Fleetwood’s drums, and Nicks’ alterations to “Rhiannon” and “Sister of the Moon,” which are less charming than the original melodies.
But none of this is serious enough to alienate the crowd’s affections, as McVie finds out when she flubs a piano chord in the middle of her ballad “Songbird,” which closes the two-song encore.
“We all make mistakes,” she says between verses. But she needn’t apologize. At this celebration of love, you don’t have to say you’re sorry. You’re only sorry when it ends.
“If we could stay here,” Nicks says, lingering, “we’d stay.” She hugs the “Happy Birthday, Stevie” sign fans have handed her.
Opening was Christopher Cross, a tall drink of water from Texas who hit it big with his very first single, “Ride With the Wind.” The crowd clapped along with the hit – ah, the power of radio – but beyond that, Cross’ modest talents seem to have been outdistanced by his sudden success.
* * * * *
IN THE PHOTO: Fleetwood Mac in 1980. Sleeve of the live album from the tour.
* * * * *
FOOTNOTE: "Tusk," released in late 1979, was Lindsey Buckingham's attempt to go boldly beyond what the band had done on its landmark “Rumours" album in 1977. It didn't work, despite three hit singles – the title track, McVie's "Think About Me" and Nicks' "Sara" – and a massive 11-month tour with 112 shows. It sold just four million copies worldwide, compared to 40 million for "Rumours."
Every one of the shows was recorded and filmed, then compiled into a double album, "Live," that came out just before Christmas 1980. The tour, which was drenched in booze, marijuana and cocaine, already seemed to be taking its toll when it got here to Buffalo, which was the third date from the end of the second North American leg of the itinerary.
After a European leg that included six nights in London's Wembley Arena in June, it continued into a third North American leg, finally ending Sept. 1. According to later accounts, by that point nobody could stand the sight of one another. Not surprisingly, Nicks, Fleetwood and Buckingham went their own ways with solo albums in 1981. After the "Mirage" LP in 1982 and a very short tour, the band went on hiatus.
Here's what they played in the Aud, according to setlist.fm:
Say You Love Me
The Chain
Don't Stop
Dreams
Oh Well
Rhiannon
Oh Daddy
What Makes You Think You're the One
Sara
Not That Funny
Save Me a Place
Landslide
Tusk
Angel
You Make Loving Fun
I'm So Afraid
World Turning
Go Your Own Way
Sisters of the Moon
Songbird
The songlist on Wikipedia for the second North American leg includes one more song, "Blue Letter," right before the closing "Songbird."
There's no Buffalo setlist for Christopher Cross, but he already was on his way to selling more records than "Tusk" with his debut album. It won five Grammy Awards in four major categories and its biggest hit, "Sailing," which went No. 1 in the U.S and Canada, has become an anthem for the Yacht Rock movement. He's still touring. He was featured on Royal Caribbean's "The 80s Cruise 2025" in March and is playing Australia in April.

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