Tribute to Peter Green: Fleetwood Mac in Concert

In loving Memory... Peter Green (1946-2020)

I learned the sad news this afternoon that Peter Green, the founder of Fleetwood Mac had passed this morning.  He was 73 years old.  Not many people seem to be aware, but Fleetwood Mac began in the ‘60s as a Blues band.  I tell that story in a blog post back in 2011, found here: Fleetwood Mac.

Since tomorrow night is the last Sunday of the month and I usually play a concert, I thought it would be a fitting tribute to do a Fleetwood Mac concert.  The only one I have featuring Peter Green was the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California, on 25 January 1969.  The picture of Peter Green above was taken at that show.  Peter Green would leave Fleetwood Mac in 1970.

The problem using that concert for my set tomorrow is that the performance is only 43 minutes long, far short of the two hours I need to fill.  I looked at other Mac concerts and I soon noticed that I had one that filled the space close to perfectly.  It also happened to be my favorite Fleetwood Mac concert.  It was the last concert ever played by the classic lineup of the late ‘70s, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Christie McVie, Lindsay Buckingham, and Stevie Nicks.  I add this concert to the set and I now have just over 2 hours and should only go less than 5 minutes over.

This concert was actually a reunion, ten years after they went their separate ways.  They got together for a single live performance on 23 May 1997, in Burbank, California.  What made this show remarkable was the encore.

After finishing Go Your Own Way, each band member says good night and exits the stage.  The house lights stay down and the crowd roars for an encore.  Then in the darkness, drumming can be heard.  Mick Fleetwood had returned to the drums and was playing the opening beats of Tusk.  The rest of the band comes back on stage and joins in.

The crowd is so mesmerized that no one noticed what was happening behind them.  The USC Marching Band had lined up at the top of each of the aisles.  The USC Marching band had made a guest appearance on the studio record of this song back in 1979.  As Fleetwood went into a drum solo, the band descended down all of the aisles, marching double-time, amid the spectators.  Most were startled or taken by surprise.  First the USC drumline joined in with Fleetwood’s drumming.  Then the rest of the band joined in, reprising their part of 18 years earlier.

It was one of those moments in Rock history where if you witnessed it, every hair on your body stood on end.  The entire auditorium was charged with electricity and Fleetwood Mac and the USC Marching Band played on stage together.  But they were not done!

After Tusk ends, Christie McVie can be heard to say, “I’ve never done this one with a brass section before.”  They then went into Don’t Stop, one of their biggest hits ever.  The USC Band stayed on stage and did it with them, playing and dancing along.  Halfway through the song, the members of Fleetwood Mac began to put down their instruments, one-by-one, and slowly leave the stage, eventually leaving the USC Marching Band to finish the song without them.  Mick Fleetwood was the last to exit the stage and the classic lineup of Fleetwood Mac had played their final notes together.

We will relive those moments at the end of tomorrow’s concert.

Join us tomorrow at AWT, 7-9 PM, as I first Play a Fleetwood Mac concert from 1969 as a tribute to the late Peter Green, and then a second Fleetwood Mac concert, one of their best, ever.  Hope to see you there.

Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham on Stage with the USC Marching Band