TUSK Channels Fleetwood Mac at Landmark on Main Street

It seems hard for me to believe, now, but until recently I wouldn’t see a tribute band. “Why,” I used to ask myself, “should I see a cover band, when I can see the real thing?” It turns out there are a lot of reasons: many of these classic bands are no longer touring or no longer together (or no longer alive), and often when they do tour now, it’s not the band you remember from their heyday. But a tribute band? That’s ALL about heyday – the bread and butter of a tribute band is doing precise copies of the original band at its peak. The first band to change my mind about tribute bands was Eaglemania (the “World’s greatest Eagle’s tribute band”) who performed at Landmark last season.

This season, in a similar genre, Landmark brought in Tusk (the “World’s number one tribute to Fleetwood Mac”) to perform music that for many of us was the soundtrack to our lives. They started in a dramatic fashion with the drummer and guitarist entering the stage first and starting to play as the other three musicians came out one by one. It didn’t hurt that the first song they launched into was my favorite Fleetwood Mac song – “The Chain.”

The show started powerfully, and then just kept going that way. The five musicians are extremely talented, and the show was fast paced, packed with hits, and really well thought out. Each musician got a solo, and each solo was stunning… but the most impressive was the drum mash up towards the end of the show where drummer Ton Nelson worked in the iconic drum lines from what seemed like a hundred songs ranging from Ozzy Ozborne’s “Crazy Train” to The Knack’s “My Sharona” to "Wipeout" by the Surfaris, and everything in between. Truly one of the most spectacular (and entertaining!) drum solos I have seen.

Vocalist Kathy Phillips channeled Stevie Nicks in both voice and look, and was the perfect front-woman with swirling hair and a tambourine. Guitarist Scott McDonald, the Lindsey Buckingham of the group, nailed every complex guitar solo while impressively holding down a significant amount of the vocals. Bassist Randy Artiglere and keyboardist/vocalist Kim Willams rounded out the group as the John and Christine McVie of the band. Together, they were probably closer to Fleetwood Mac than Fleetwood Mac is these days.

The show was packed with hits, including: “Dreams,” “Say You Love Me,” “Hold Me,” “Gold Dust Woman,” “Silver Springs,” “Rhiannon,” “Edge of Seventeen,” “Go Your Own Way,”and so much more. They must have played 30 songs by the time they were done, including some surprises. (Who know that it was Fleetwood Mac that originally wrote “Black Magic Woman,” later made famous by Carlos Santana?)

By the end, the audience was dancing in front of the stage, and everyone was singing along. The band closed with “Tusk” (with the earlier mentioned drum solo) and did a sing-along version of “Don’t Stop” as the encore. The harmonies between Phillips, McDonald, and Williams were fabulous and a pleasure to experience live.

My recommendation – If you like Fleetwood Mac, catch Tusk the next time they play near you, and if you’ve never given a tribute band a shot, perhaps it’s time to have a change of heart. To check out Landmark’s calendar of upcoming performances, visit www.landmarkonmainstreet.org.