Paying tribute to Mac’s Brummie
THE return of a popular Fleetwood Mac tribute band to the Midlands next month will have special significance.
Rumours of Fleetwood Mac, who have been personally endorsed by Fleetwood Mac founding member Mick Fleetwood, play the Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton, on April 4 and Symphony Hall, Birmingham, on April 12.
The original Fleetwood Mac, a British-American supergroup, had a string of hits from Albatross through to Go Your Own Way, Dreams, Little Lies and Everywhere to name but a few.
One of their members, singer, songwriter and keyboardist Christine McVie, grew up in Birmingham and studied sculpture at Moseley School of Art.
She died on November 30, aged 79, after a brief illness.
Fleetwood Mac fans can now celebrate her music in the company of a tribute band that has received 100 million views on YouTube and played to almost a million people around the world. “The tour is tinged with sadness as Christine left us so suddenly,’’ says drummer and founder member Allan Cosgrove.
‘‘We thought it would be fitting to do some of her special songs
and we’re pretty excited to play them – some of which we have never played before.”
Amazingly, Rumours of Fleetwood Mac came about by accident, as Allan reveals.
“It was never really planned that we’d be a tribute to Fleetwood Mac, even though we are all fans of their music,” he says.
“The five original core members of the band got together to record an American advert, and had to sound like the US band Heart.”
Allan continues: “When we heard the playback the producer, Brian Rawling, who had worked with the likes of Cher and Tina Turner, said that we sounded more like Fleetwood Mac, and we agreed.”
It was then that the idea of a tribute band came to Allan, but he needed the blessing of the original band.
“We later recorded a couple of songs off Mac album Rumours and sent them off to [fellow drummer] Mick Fleetwood. He’d been a mate ever since I was in The Merseybeats, and he gave us the thumbs up.
“Since than he’s seen us perform and has even joined us on stage.”
Another link with the genuine Fleetwood Mac band came in 2015 when RFM managed to secure the services of Rick Vito Rick was in Fleetwood Mac from 1987 – when he replaced Lindsey Buckingham – until 1991; and was a part of the line-up that recorded the albums Tango in the Night and Behind The Mask.
Allan adds: “We’ve had some great players over the years, but the one thing that doesn’t change is the music. All the musicians have a love and understanding of the music of Fleetwood Mac.
“A lot of people have grown up with this music and it’s precious to the fan-base. What we play is not our interpretation of the songs, it’s more like playing the album. It is note for note and we try to recreate the spirit.’’