The event marked the first time that the Rumours-era group played live together in six years, with Buckingham, Nicks, Fleetwood and Christine and John McVie giving a performance of optimism tinged with poignancy – albeit for just that one song. “I didn’t feel overly connected to any of it, really,” Buckingham told Westword in 1993. “It was short and sweet. There were a lot of questions about whether this suggested a long-term reunion, and those were quickly put to rest by me. And that was it.”
Regrouping and emerging as a new band
The performance stirred up a huge amount of interest in the band, but it would take four more years – until the live reunion album The Dance and its accompanying tour – for Fleetwood Mac’s classic line-up to put their differences behind them. In the meantime, in the wake of Nicks’ and Vito’s departures, Fleetwood Mac did what they’d been doing since their first ever gig – they regrouped and emerged as a new band. Former Traffic guitarist Dave Mason and country-blues singer Bekka Bramlett were recruited, and the group, minus Christine McVie, embarked on a tour opening for Crosby, Stills & Nash in 1994.
Later that year, sessions for Fleetwood Mac’s 16th album, Time, began, and the finished album emerged the following autumn. Opening track Talkin’ To My Heart introduced listeners to the new-look Fleetwood Mac, with a duet between guitarist Billy Burnette and Bekka Bramlett that wouldn’t have been out of place on country-rock radio stations. Dave Mason also made his presence felt early on with the brassy rocker Blow By Blow, the English singer delivering a full-throated vocal.