Fleetwood Mac Play Surprise Farewell Gig for Clinton President's staff surprises him with Fleetwood Mac farewell

Fleetwood Mac surprised President Bill Clinton on Saturday night just outside the White House by performing at a farewell party organized by his staff. Though the band members hadn't played together in nearly three years, they pulled together an eleven-song set that included "Don't Stop," Clinton's campaign theme from 1992.

"We got a call maybe two weeks before the event," says Lindsey Buckingham. "I said to Stevie [Nicks], 'Do you think we can pull this off? We need to rehearse, right?' They wanted an hour, so we figured we could put together the workhorses for the set."

The band performed without Christine McVie, who departed shortly after the band's 1997 live comeback album, The Dance, though Buckingham claims that the set still "went very smoothly."

As for the rest of the band, Buckingham said the experiences were a mixed bag. "I think Mick [Fleetwood] just enjoyed the event. John [McVie] is a staunch Republican, so I think he was just taking it all pretty much in terms of the event itself. You also have to take the fact that [Clinton was] sitting twenty feet away. It didn't make me too nervous. I think it did make Stevie a little more nervous, because she doesn't have a guitar to hide behind."

For Fleetwood Mac, the performance served as the second of two bookends for the Clinton administration. In addition to Clinton using "Don't Stop" during his campaign, the band appeared at his inauguration eight years ago to perform the song. But in bidding the president farewell, the band offered a lengthier set that featured "The Chain," "Dreams," "Landslide," "Gold Dust Woman," "Go Your Own Way," "Rhiannon," "Tusk," "Big Love," "Gypsy" and "So Afraid."

"We were involved in a small way in ushering in his administration, so it was nice to kind of complete that cycle," Buckingham said of Clinton's era in office. "Before we did the last song, I said we were just pleased to be here at the end, just as in the beginning . . . Especially in light of what we have coming now, you have to appreciate a lot of the things that he did and what he tried to do and even the things he couldn't do."

ANDREW DANSBY

Fleetwood Mac Play Farewell Gig For Clinton

Band performs 'Don't Stop' — president's 1992 campaign theme — and other hits at surprise party.

Eric Schumacher-Rasmussen:

Fleetwood Mac helped outgoing president Bill Clinton get ready to go his own way at a surprise gig on Saturday at the White House.

The band, which hasn't toured or released an album since 1997, played a farewell party organized by Clinton's political staff, according to Reuters. In addition to "Go Your Own Way," Fleetwood Mac played "Don't Stop" (RealAudio excerpt), the song that served as Clinton's campaign theme in 1992. The group also played the song at one of Clinton's inaugural parties in 1993.

Originally formed as a blues-rock outfit with guitarist Peter Green in 1967, a revamped Fleetwood Mac with Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham helped define California rock in the 1970s with such hits as "Dreams" (RealAudio excerpt), which was also on Saturday night's setlist along with "Landslide" and "Gypsy," according to the news service.

Spokespeople for Fleetwood Mac could not be reached for comment Monday morning (January 8).

Fleetwood Mac plays for Clinton at W.House

WASHINGTON, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Rock group Fleetwood Mac reunited at the White House to surprise President Bill Clinton at the end of his eight-year term with songs such as "Don't Stop," his 1992 campaign theme, and another fitting tune, "Go Your Own Way," White House officials said on Sunday.

The surprise concert on Saturday capped a farewell party thrown for Clinton by his political staff that also included skits and videos produced by different White House offices. Current and former political aides attended the bash, held in a pavilion on the South Lawn of the White House, officials said.

They said the concert was a total surprise for Clinton.

The popular 1970s rock group no longer tours together, but reunited in 1997 for a concert tour and CD release. Saturday's reunion did not include Christine McVie, said the band's publicist, Mitch Schneider.

Schneider said the group, originally formed in London in 1967 with Mick Fleetwood and John McVie making up the rhythm section, also played "Dreams," "Landslide" and "Gypsy," at the White House.