I was fortunate enough to see Fleetwood Mac on this particular tour when the band played Biloxi, Mississippi--and I was even more fortunate to be sitting within arm's reach of the stage, directly in front of the wall of energy the band generates. While nothing can really duplicate the experience of a truly powerhouse live concert, LIVE IN BOSTON comes very close to capturing the authority of what I experienced that evening, and that says a great deal for both the band and this concert film.

Christine McVie's absence, the loss of her cool blue voice that so perfectly balances out Buckingham and Nicks extremes, the loss of her uniquely beautiful songs--that's regrettable, but I must say the band doesn't let it slow them down any. From such Mac standards as "Go Your Own Way" from the classic RUMORS to picks from the recent SAY YOU WILL, everything crackles with energy.

Nicks' voice, always a delicate instrument, has darkened with time and is no longer as ethereal as once it was, but her richness of tone more than makes up for the loss; songs like "Landslide" and "Beautiful Child" sound better than ever. Buckingham's poetry-in-motion guitar playing and electrically eccentric vocals combine with a manic physical energy to create a huge musical and physical presence. And while the unassuming John McVie fades into the background to work his wonders on bass, Mick Fleetwood is positively demonic in the star drum trap--and the two roll it out like thunder. It's just a knockout all the way.

The previous DVD of THE DANCE tour is perhaps more technically perfect--but while excellent, that performance was more formal in tone; LIVE IN BOSTON is simply raw rock and roll, ready to blow the roof off. True, the accompanying CD is weak--but CD or not CD, if you'll pardon the bad pun, is no major question. This is a concert DVD that will simply blow you away. Worth every cent!

GFT, Amazon Reviewer


Great band, great tour, DVD could be better.   November 28, 2004
Chris McLeod (San Bernardino, CA. USA)
16 out of 16 found this review helpful

I am a huge and passionate Fleetwood Mac fan. I was lucky enough to see this last 'Say You Will Tour' 6 times throughout 2003 and 2004. My last concert being May 23, 2004 in Jacksonville, FL. where I had the great opportunity of being front row, and interacting with the band (playing Lindsey's guitar and much more)- technically I actually had 3rd row tickets, but security let the first 4 rows move up front and stand at the stage.

I was greatly anticipating the release of this DVD set. I purchased it on the day of its release, and I still love it..in fact I actually watched it about an hour ago.
I will start off with what I love about this DVD, and later get into what I do not love.
First off it's just great to have a new DVD since the Dance video. It's also great to have a video filmed from an actual concert, compared to the Dance when the crowd was invite only.
Lindsey Buckingham is portrayed best here, and his wildness on stage is really shown. I felt it at the concerts and I could feel it watching this DVD as well. He has proved himself to be a musical genius. You really get a sense while watching what he's actually like in concert.
Stevie Nicks, through all her criticisms that every video performance receives her...shines. She has always been deeply scrutinized, especially when performing live. Some fans and especially critics have it in their heads that this 56 year old woman (55 when this was taped) should be EXACTLY like she was in 1975 screaming her vocal chords out to RHIANNON.. I guess you would like her to still be on drugs as well??

Anyway...'Say Goodbye' is one of the highlights of the DVD. It is a new song from their SAY YOU WILL CD, and this live performance is much better than the album version. The way they perform it live, is somewhat slower than the album version. Stevie's voice is so delicate in this song, and this is one of the intense moments of the set.
'Beautiful Child' has been one of the highlights of this tour. Never performed live until this current tour, it is truly a delight to hear. Stevie Nicks sings this tune with such intensity , while watching you feel like you are sitting in her home watching her sing it for the first time.

Stevie gives her trademark "GOLD DUST WOMAN" scream, and wears her trademark gold shawl. She even breaks out her cream colored high heeled platform boots of days gone by for GYPSY.
"Come" another song from SAY YOU WILL, really shines on this DVD as well. Although Lindsey doesn't play a whole lot of guitar in this song, he focuses much more on his crazed screaming and intense flirting with the ladies in the front row. The backing band really deserves credit for the incredible music in this song. Carlos Rios, and Neale Heywood play some incredible and hard pounding electric guitars in this one. While Mick's drumming is great, Steve Rinkov's backing drumming is what makes this particular song. Also we cannot forget "the backbone of Fleetwood Mac" John McVie on bass, which is very prominent in "COME."
Another highlight is Stevie Nicks' solo hit "STAND BACK." I have been reading the reviews her, and I too think her performance was superb. It is a moment within the show that really allows Stevie to rock out. Many of her Fleetwood Mac tunes are not what one would call "upbeat" songs, so this solo addition to the site really adds a lot to the show. You get to see her do her classic twirls, here. During Stand Back she probably twirls about 10 consecutive times, gives a few kicks and does all that famous dancing Stevie Nicks is known for, love it or hate it!
Stevie dedicates "LANDSLIDE" to her former lover and band-mate Lindsey Buckingham, and she performs a memorable rendition of this classic.
"TUSK" is another musical performance which the backing band deserves much credit. This is another tune which Lindsey plays little guitar, opting for another crazed vocal and stage performance instead. The USC Marching band is not here, but their horns are nicely sampled in via today's new technology. A video of the USC Marching Band is also shown in the background during the song. You get to watch Lindsey yell "TUSK" "TUSK" and then chase Stevie Nicks around the stage as they perform a mock boxing match.
Now, my disappointments with this set. The editing, the editing, the editing is all that needs to be said. This show was filmed over two consecutive nights - Sept 23 (with an invite/winners only crowd of 1000 lucky fans) for closeup purposes as well as audio, as well as the actual concert on Sept 24 - both at the Fleet Center. This is all fine and dandy, except those who edited failed to do a great job in putting this all together. Once in "RHIANNON" Stevie's vocal continues for about 1 sec after her face is away from the mic. This is a problem caused by filming over two nights, and not watching little mistakes like that.
I agree with a previous reviewer that there is too much camera cutting in certain songs, that are not even fast songs. In slow songs the camera should be a little more "Steady" and focus on one thing, rather than jumping all over the stage. It makes it have a much less intimate feel. I agree also that there is not much point in all the long distance shots. We KNOW they draw a huge crowd of 20,000 + and a couple of nice crowds shots would have done it. It seems as if the editers wanted to remind everyone of the size of the crowd, except in THE MIDDLE OF SONGS.
The sound is great, except sometimes it seems to fluctuate. In slow songs like "SAY GOODBYE" Lindsey's guitar seems to get louder in some parts, where it really doesn't do that in the actual concert. I feel the need to turn the tv down a little in certain parts. However, overall the audio mixing is great and the sound is pretty tight.
Another little problem I have is this being 2 DVD's. Certainly it could have all fit on one DVD, as did the Dance video which still had superb quality (I would say a little better quality than this DVD)..Was the purpose so the price could be jacked up? Well, I dunno that's for everyone to decide. Regardless, it's pointless for this to be a 2DVD set...it kind of interrupts the show if you are watching the concert in its entirety to have to change discs in the middle.

Overall I was quite satisfied with this DVD. I strongly recommend it to those who love this great band. It has it's technical problems, but the band is superb. The sound is incredible for the most part, the video is the only rough part at times. The packaging is nice...although most of the pictures in the booklet are not actually from THIS particular concert, that's ok. I would say even without Christine McVie, Fleetwood Mac managed to really shine. This tour was the 3rd highest grossing tour of 2003, and there's a reason. THEY ROCK!



The Mac Rawk Bawston   August 6, 2004
Mike Sarzo (Glenn Dale, MD USA)
12 out of 13 found this review helpful

Being a longtime member of the online Fleetwood Mac fan community, I have come in contact with some of the fans who were in the audience for this performance. The audience was only about 1,000 if that, but they sounded like a full arena. And, seeing two stops on the tour, I can tell you that Fleetwood Mac definitely turns up the intensity when they're performing for a potentially huge audience.

Making a song-by-song comparison of the songs on The Dance or any prior videos to Live in Boston would take much too long, so I'll just throw in some highlights.

"The Chain" was better on the Mirage concert video and it was better on The Dance video. There was practically no communication at all between Stevie and Lindsey. In The Dance, Stevie's glaring at Lindsey during this song. In the Mirage video, they're both glaring at each other.

"Rhiannon" has become very tame in concert lately, but Stevie seemed to display more intensity for this version than she did on The Dance. However, it still pales in comparison to her earlier days when she was a dervish on stage for this song. There's just a different kind of intensity now, more of the smouldering variety.

"Gold Dust Woman" was at its very peak on The Dance, so there was no topping that here. The Tango In The Night video was also not nearly as good as The Dance version. "Gypsy" just loses too much live. The Dance version was marginally better than this one or the Mirage video version because it was recorded live in a studio.

"Eyes Of The World" was better on the Mirage video because Christine was there, but you can tell it's a fun song for the band and Stevie is having a blast with that song. It was interesting to hear Stevie sing Christine's parts on "Don't Stop" but I've wanted Stevie to play a larger role in that song anyway.

One of the few songs that was dramatically better on this video than on any previous video was "Stand Back." Stevie has not performed that song with as much energy as she has displayed on that video in over 20 years. The Live in Boston version of that song easily beats the Tango In The Night version or the Live at Red Rocks solo version. No question.

As for the CD, it's ridiculous that they only included 10 songs and they picked mostly the ones that every Fleetwood Mac fan already had many times over. The only songs I was really excited to get on the CD were "Stand Back" and "Eyes Of The World." Not only that, but the editors spliced in Christine's vocals in some songs and replaced the end solo in "Go Your Own Way" with the version from The Dance CD.

"Stand Back" and "Eyes Of The World" give this CD the four star rating.


Superb music but flawed presentation   July 5, 2004
anthemic (Australia)
11 out of 12 found this review helpful

I am a diehard Fleetwood Mac fan who attended five concerts in Australia and watched this DVD three times over 96 hours. Despite my fanatical tendencies, I can still be critically objective about Fleetwood Mac.

I am ambivalent about this DVD at best. One the one hand, it is great to have a DVD recording from the current tour. It allows you to relive the concert and to reconnect with idiosyncracies such as the boxing sequence in 'Tusk', to Stevie's 'Say You Will' dance, and Mick's drum solo. There are beautiful moments captured from the acoustic delicacies of 'Say Goodbye' to the epic 'I'm So Afraid' or the spellbinding 'Gold Dust Woman'. Musically speaking - whether you attended a concert or not - you will enjoy the music. Not only is the music superb but the performances are great. Some fans will miss Christine but they should also look at it as an opportunity for the band to head in a different creative direction - and therefore offer us something different as well.

Lindsey is the most active member of the band in this concert. You really get the sense that it's his moment to take center stage. The dialogue between Stevie and Lindsey (whether staged or not) really comes through. The sound and lighting is stunning.

The problem remains in the visual presentation of the concert. I found it alienating and and lacking in emotion. For starters, the editing is too rapid. This makes the concert's pace very snappy. That pace is fine for faster songs but Fleetwood Mac songs are often hypnotic and packed with emotional fibre - that a camera shot would be better to sit and pause for a while to capture that emotion. The film does not know when to be still. Compare any song to 'Silver Springs' from 'The Dance' DVD and look at how the camera sits on Stevie for a while before cutting away to a different band member. In short, the editing is not always appropriate and doesn't allow the audience to engage with the emotion as much as it could.

Secondly, there are too many long shots which creates further alienation between the band and the viewer. Again, this is an editing issue. The idea of a film concert is to bring the viewer closer to the band. It is awful to have Stevie sing a slow song only to cut to a long shot from the back of the Fleet Center. Nicks' fans will hate the fact that you hardly see close-ups of Stevie's face. That may have been a conscious choice on her part but that adds to the alienation as well.

Therein lies my ambivalence: I cherished the DVD because the music is superb but I was disappointed by the visual presentation. I don't mind rapid editing but I think it should be appropriate for the song. Hopefully one day, it will be re-edited. In the meantime, I'll listen to the DVD rather than watch it. That said, it's still a worthwhile purchase.


Wish I Was There   February 10, 2007
P. Papadakis
6 out of 6 found this review helpful

Not even the absence of Christine McVie could get me to lower my score to 4 stars. Lindsey Buckingham makes up for any flaws in this concert. His chops on I'm So Afraid alone would be worth the cost of the DVD. Mick Fleetwood has calmed down a bit, but he still does a great job and Stevie is still Stevie.