The Liverpudlian tribute band Rumours of Fleetwood Mac, as the name suggests, performed a compilation of shredding hits at the Zuiderpark Theatre in The Hague last night from Fleetwood Mac’s album Rumours; an album that has frequently been cited as one of the greatest of all time, as well as several other of the band’s bests taken from their vault of rock anthems.
When I told my mother, who was born in 1962, that I had been given the chance to watch the tribute band Rumours of Fleetwood Mac, she said to me, rather sulkily; “Do you even know Fleetwood Mac?” Her remark was well warranted considering the fact that I was born in 1998 and might have had less of a clue of the rattle that the true band caused throughout her youth. Of course, I knew of their most famous tracks, namely Dreams, Go Your Own Way along with Gold Dust Woman, Everywhere, Rhiannon, etc, all of which the band executed with exactness, though it goes without saying that little old me, a Gen Z, lacked the skill in deliberating what a weight Fleetwood Mac was to this world. With that being said, last night made it clear that Fleetwood Mac’s music has an undeniable timeless elegance.
Since the Anglo-American rock band Fleetwood Mac needs no introduction, I will attempt to take age out of the factor. Although, age might be an important ingredient in devising how influential Fleetwood Mac truly was and is for music enthusiasts and the like of today. I’ll be honest, having heard the odd track here and there throughout the years, I was, at first, sceptical that the event at the Zuiderpark venue was semi-seated though upon closer inspection, I realised that there were perhaps more dedicated long-time fans than there were otherwise, so it should have sufficed. Oh, was I wrong. By the third song at least a third of the crowd had gathered in the space between the seats and the stage to dance the night away.
The tribute band’s sound was so eerily similar to that of the actual Fleetwood Mac band that I had to repeatedly remind myself that I wasn’t witnessing the real thing. This was made even more difficult by Sophie Worsley and Jess Harwood who channelled the spirits of Christine McVie and Stevie Nicks, both in voice and mannerisms. If I were forced to come up with a fault, it would be that the evening ended all too quickly. Eva Lakeman 9th June 2024
