Fleetwood Mac Cleveland 1976 show caught Rumours just before liftoff
Fleetwood Mac’s July 23, 1976 Cleveland-area concert previewed Rumours as the band was turning chaos into superstardom.
By Poppy Nakagawa · Culture Writer
3 min read
Fleetwood Mac Cleveland 1976 is a snapshot of a band caught between two explosions: the breakthrough of its self-titled album and the coming storm of Rumours. On July 23, 1976, the group played Richfield Coliseum in Ohio, with a tape from the night preserving a charged moment before superstardom fully landed, according to Rolling Stone.
The show came after Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham had joined Mick Fleetwood, John McVie and Christine McVie for 1975’s Fleetwood Mac. Rolling Stone reported that the pair’s arrival followed years of lineup churn after co-founder Peter Green left, plus a legal mess involving a former manager who had sent a bogus version of the band on the road.
The new lineup had already delivered. Christine McVie’s “Over My Head” reached No. 20 on the Hot 100, Rolling Stone reported, and “Rhiannon,” released in February 1976, climbed to No. 11. The album later knocked Frampton Comes Alive! from the top of the Billboard 200 in September 1976.
Why does Fleetwood Mac's Cleveland 1976 show matter?
The Richfield Coliseum concert matters because Fleetwood Mac used the night to play material from both its past and its not-yet-released future. Christine McVie told the crowd the band had nearly finished a new album planned for late September, then introduced “You Make Loving Fun,” giving many fans their first taste of what became Rumours, according to Rolling Stone.
The album did not arrive that September. Rolling Stone reported that Rumours was pushed to February 1977, after the band had been working on it since February 1976.
The personal strain behind those songs was already public. An Associated Press story published before the Cleveland-area date summed up the band’s recent turmoil as including two divorces, one romantic breakup, two religious conversions and a legal fight with a former manager. In the same AP reporting, John McVie said life on the road had worn down his marriage to Christine McVie.
Rolling Stone also cited an April 1976 Random Notes item that said Nicks and Buckingham were having relationship trouble, while Christine and John McVie had already separated months earlier.
What did Fleetwood Mac play at Richfield Coliseum?
According to Rolling Stone, the band opened with “Say You Love Me,” then reached back for older tracks including “Station Man” and “Spare Me a Little of Your Love.” Christine McVie told the audience the group would try to cover old and new material.
The set also included “Rhiannon,” “Landslide,” “Oh Well,” “The Green Manalishi” and “Hypnotized,” Rolling Stone reported. Cleveland Plain Dealer critic Jane Scott singled out Nicks in her review, describing the singer’s black chiffon-and-velvet stage presence and calling her “blonde dynamite.”
The Richfield Coliseum bill was part of a “Summer Extravaganza” concert series announced by The Cleveland Press. Rolling Stone reported that Nils Lofgren opened, Boz Scaggs was later added, and advance tickets were $6, rising to $7 on the day of the show.
The venue itself is gone. Richfield Coliseum, located between Cleveland and Akron, closed in 1995 and was demolished in 1999. Rolling Stone reported that the site is now a grassy stretch inside Cuyahoga Valley National Park, far removed from the night Fleetwood Mac previewed the album that would define its next chapter.
This story draws on original reporting from Rolling Stone.