The winds of fame and excess had blown
Fleetwood Mac in wayward directions by the time of their 1982 album
Mirage. They experienced a massive commercial breakthrough after reconfiguring the band with the addition of
Stevie Nicks and
Lindsay Buckingham in 1974, and spent the remainder of the `70s basking in the glow of chart-topping success and worldwide fame.
Mirage emerged somewhere in the comedown of that success, following 1979's befuddling and experimental
Tusk and opting for a more subdued and straightforward soft rock sound than the often-unhinged material that made
Tusk a head-scratcher for some fans. This approach took them back to the number one slot on multiple global charts, but the wild spirit of their more adventurous records was alive and well on-stage for the relatively short tour the band took in support of the album.
Mirage Tour `82 consists of recordings made during a two-night stop at the Los Angeles Forum. While different versions of the concert audio have been available over the years, this edition represents the unabridged set list the band played on most nights of the tour, and includes six songs not previously released in any form. Among those tracks are a rowdy, nervous send-up of the
Rumours single ¿Don't Stop,¿ along with especially emotional performances of other
Rumours tracks ¿Dreams¿ and ¿Never Going Back Again.¿ The band goes further back in the
Mac catalog for a spirited version of the
Peter Green-era scuzzy riff rocker ¿Oh Well,¿ and takes the energy down with ballads ¿Landslide¿ and the moody and haunted ¿Sara.¿ Though
Mirage was somewhat toned down in comparison to the wooly weirdness of
Tusk, the band still turns up the energy on songs from the album like ¿Hold Me¿ and ¿Love in Store,¿ translating the laid-back tunes into rockers capable of moving an enormous crowd. Even the typically misty and mystical
Nicks-penned tune ¿Gypsy¿ has a newfound electricity on
Mirage Tour `82. There's an excitement throughout this release that doesn't always come through in
Fleetwood Mac's studio work of the same period. The immediacy of the live setting reveals a group of precise musicians who were still able to tap into the emotional chaos inherent in their band as they perpetually unraveled throughout their time at the top. Even the
Buckingham/Nicks iteration of
Fleetwood Mac was so much more than just a few ubiquitous FM radio hits, and this lively and ever-so-slightly over-the-top document of their post-
Rumours output is not only an excellent reminder of their depth, but how much of their catalog is just as strong (and often far more interesting) than their best known work. ~ Fred Thomas
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