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| Kristen with Lindsey Buckingham |
She's also been passionately devoted to the band, Fleetwood, for over twenty years. Kristen has some amazing concert memories. If you are a fan of Fleetwood Mac this interview's for you
If you enjoy reading stories about someone who made their dream a reality this interview is for you. Either way, keep reading, you won't be disappointed.
How long have you been a fan of Fleetwood Mac?
I’ve been a fan of Fleetwood Mac since August of 1997. 22+ years.
What drew you to Fleetwood Mac?
“The Dance” is a live, reunion album that brought the Rumours 5 line-up back together in 1997 after a decade apart. I stumbled on to the video for the song “Silver Springs” from that album on VH1 or MTV while I was flipping channels that day in August of 1997. I was hooked immediately. That moment in time changed my life.
What is the name of the first album of Fleetwood Mac’s that you purchased? What’s your all-time favorite Fleetwood Mac song? Why?
The first album I bought was “The Dance” but their album “Tusk” is the album that has had the most impact on my life. It may seem like a cop-out to say this, but it’s impossible for me to choose an all-time favorite song as it very much depends on my mood, and what I want to do about my mood. If I’m mad and want to stay mad, I’ll listen to songs by Lindsey Buckingham. Songs like “What Makes You Think I’m The One” “Not That Funny” “Go Your Own Way”. If I’m mad and don’t want to feel mad anymore, or if I’m feeling empowered, or if I’m feeling sad and want to continue feeling sad, I’ll listen to just about anything from Stevie Nicks. Especially “Storms” or “Beautiful Child”. If I just want to feel better about everything, I’ll listen to any song by Christine McVie. “Over and Over”, “Why”, “Songbird”, “Don’t Stop”.
How many times have you seen them live? What is your most memorable concert memory? Funniest concert memory?
I’ve seen them 27 times since 1997.
Honestly, all their shows are memorable. Every one of them.
Funniest concert memory…it would probably be the time Lindsey Buckingham handed me his sweat towel that was drenched in his sweat and how disgusted most people were when I told them about it.
My most memorable concert experience was being able to meet their newest members Mike Campbell and Neil Finn backstage before a show in Albany last year. Anyone who knows me knows how devastated I was when Fleetwood Mac fired Lindsey Buckingham and replaced him with Mike and Neil, but meeting them was one of the greatest experiences of my life.
You have been privileged to meet the members of Fleetwood Mac and to get to know them on a personal level. It must be a thrill for you to know that they know who you are when they see you in the audience.
I’m laughing at this one because as soon as my family and close friends read this question they’re going to go, “Uh oh, she’s opened a can of worms!” Yes, I’ve met Mick Fleetwood and Lindsey Buckingham both a handful of times. Those meetings were brief – beautiful, but brief – so I honestly don’t think they’d much remember me. Mick might recognize me due to… an incident when I accidentally became part of Fleetwood Mac’s entourage after running into him in the lobby of their hotel in Dublin in 2013. And then met him again formally at his meet & greet before their show an hour later. The look he gave me when he saw me and realized I was the same girl from the hotel lobby is one that is hard to forget.
Running into Mick in the lobby of the hotel in Dublin:
Two hours later at his meet & greet before the show.
The very first time I met Mick in Pittsburgh in 2013:
As I explained earlier, I had the incredible opportunity to, not only meet Mike Campbell (and his wife Marcie) and Neil Finn but that it happened backstage before one of Fleetwood Mac’s shows as 15,000+ fans waited for the show to start. I got to play with Mike’s guitars and even got some pointers from him. I’d waited 20 years to get backstage at a Fleetwood Mac show and it finally happened in 2019!
I’ve never met Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, or John McVie but if I ever have the chance to meet the McVies everybody, everywhere will hear my fangirl scream.
What’s it like to decide you want to see Fleetwood Mac on the spur of the moment, then make it happen? What is the farthest distance you traveled to see them perform?
The global travel began in 2013 when I jetted off to Dublin on pretty much a whim to see them. Dublin was a bucket list trip and Fleetwood Mac had just announced they were playing two shows there so I decided it was time to go.
My dad took me to my first Fleetwood Mac show for my 18th birthday in 1997. That was in Buffalo. I learned the art of “bettering” your seat from my dad when he grabbed my hand after the band left the stage, before the encore, and ran us down closer to the stage. Nowadays, I just pay the money for the good seats but before I was in a financial position to do this, this trick came in handy!
It was 2003 when I started traveling to see them and it just exploded from there. I saw them twice in 2003, three times in 2009, five times in 2013, seven times in 2015 and I outdid myself with their last monstrous 2018-2019 tour and saw them nine times, following them from Cleveland to Albany to Philly to Buffalo to Toronto, to Philly again, and then Boston to Quebec to Philly yet again. I bought the ticket to see them in Quebec City at 6:30AM on a whim (that happens to me often) not realizing that absolutely everything in Quebec is in French. My anxiety had never been higher as I rolled into Quebec City at nightfall after maneuvering out of the swirling cluster that is Boston that morning and driving up, up, up into Canada where I barely comprehended a single word on any street sign for 3+ hours. But it was all made worth it as soon as the lights when down at the Fleetwood Mac show the following night.
At my last show, in Philly, the week of my 40th birthday, Mike Campbell wished me a happy birthday from the stage during one of their last songs, and my life was officially complete.
What do Fleetwood Mac and their music mean to you?
Simply put, they mean everything to me. I wouldn’t be who I am without the support and guidance from their music for all these years. They’ve gotten me through every life crisis and emotional meltdown I’ve had since 1997. I was listening to Sirius radio earlier today. The Beatles channel was playing interviews from mega-musicians like Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen and they were speaking about what seeing The Beatles on Ed Sullivan for the first time meant to them. They both said it was life-altering. That nothing was the same for them after that. And that is what Fleetwood Mac is to me. My life didn’t really begin until that August day in 1997 when I stumbled on to Fleetwood Mac for the first time.
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