Fleetwood Mac may have officially split, but their music was still alive and well in Smothers Theatre on Sept. 13, thanks to Classic Albums Live’s performance of 1977’s Grammy-winning album “Rumours.”
Classic Albums Live is a Toronto-based concert series that aims to recreate classic albums start to finish, “note for note, cut for cut,” according to the group’s website. They have dozens of musicians, often leading to the group booking shows across several cities on the same night. The group has performed over 48 albums live since its founding in 2003, including a 13-hour marathon concert in 2006 where they played the Beatles’ entire discography.
“What a spectacular start to the season,” Thousand Oaks resident Frank Bruno said after the show.
The 90-minute-set saw the black-garbed eight-musician roster play the entire “Rumours” album followed by a series of other Fleetwood Mac hits: “Sara,” “Big Love,” “Over My Head,” “Say You Love Me,” “Landslide,” “Seven Wonders,” “Silver Springs,” “Sisters of the Moon” and “Rhiannon.”
“We don’t talk between songs, we don’t dress up like the artist,” group veteran and guitarist Rob Phillips said. “We play the album on its own, the way it’s meant to be heard.”
The set opened with Clifton Broadbridge, Julie Mahendran, and Abbey Mullendore emulating the vocals of Lindsey Buckingham, Christine McVie and Stevie Nicks respectively, on “Second Hand News.” Audience members were especially perked up during the following song, “Dreams.”
Phillips played beside three guitars, still two less than fellow guitarist Dave Blasucci, who kept swapping between the five guitars encircling him during “Don’t Stop.” In total, there were 11 different guitars on stage, which served to recreate each guitar sound needed for an accurate performance.
The crowd gave a standing ovation after Broadbridge’s loud and lengthy guitar solo ending in “Go Your Own Way.” Every musician except Harrison lent vocals to the song’s chorus, including bassist Ian Goodtimes. Several younger crowd members danced during the band’s performance of the song.
Audience members also bobbed their heads to drummer Dale Harrison’s pounding bass rhythm during “The Chain,” another one of Fleetwood Mac’s most recognizable songs.
After finishing “Gold Dust Woman,” fittingly performed under bright orange stage lighting, the group shifted to playing a curated collection of Fleetwood Mac’s greatest hits, including but not limited to “Landslide,” “Say You Love Me” and the 8-minute live version of “Sisters of the Moon.”
Background vocalist Sally Zito snapped, played the triangle and danced throughout the second half of the set.
The group ended the show with a faux-encore performance of “Rhiannon,” which was explicitly announced prior to being played. The audience gave a standing ovation to the band upon its conclusion.
The Sept. 13 performance was Classic Albums Live’s third at Pepperdine. The group previously covered the Beatles albums “Abbey Road” in 2020 and “Let It Be” in 2022, also in Smothers Theatre.
Rebecca Carson, the managing director of the Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts, said she picked “Rumours” for the group’s latest performance because she considers it to be “the greatest rock ‘n’ roll album of all time.”
“I really like the idea of picking an album that people can’t see,” Carson said. “I also feel like there’s so many songs on ‘Rumours’ that span age ranges.”
Several of the performers shared that they grew up listening to “Rumours.”
“My parents had it, and so I listened to it from a very young age, and sung along to all the songs and harmonized to it,” Mahendran said. “I guess it’s close to my heart for that reason.”
Carson, who books the Center for Fine Arts’s events roughly a year in advance, said she hopes to host Classic Albums Live at Pepperdine again.
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Contact Henry Adams via email: henry.adams@pepperdine.edu
