REVIEW: FLEETMAC WOOD

Fleetmac Wood is a popular London party series and re-edit project inspired by the music of, you’ve guessed it, Fleetwood Mac. Thankfully, you wont find any dodgy covers or questionable karaoke in Fleetmac Wood’s carefully crafted world, just disco-centric re-edits of all your favourite Mac tracks.

As DJ Mag arrived at much loved Dalston local, The Shaklewell Arms one Thursday, it was obvious this was going to be no regular knees up. Named after the Nicks penned hit ‘Gold Dust Woman’, arrivals to Fleetmac Wood’s 'Gold Dust Disco' had embraced the theme, with glitter face paint, tasselled shawls and billowing white blouses (mostly on men) the unspoken uniform.

Headlined by Fleetmac Wood regulars, Roxanne Roll, Smooth Sailing and Mojo Filter, the DJ’s wasted no time chipping into the legendary band’s hefty back catalogue. Each set melted seamlessly into another, with re-edits ranging from stripped down soul to spaced-out electro, wrapping up with a fat helping of fully-flared disco.

‘Don’t Stop’, ‘Gypsy’ and ‘Dreams’ roused an enthusiastic response, eliciting sporadic whoops and cries of “oh yeah!” from the swelling dancefloor throng. The slick Roxanne Roll (organiser Lisa Oxley’s DJ moniker) rework of 'Seven Wonders' went down a treat, as did a chunky bass edit of twangy foot stomper, ‘The Chain’.

A celestial revision of massive Mac hit ‘Rhiannon’ also made our ears prick and provided a dreamy respite between pumping disco cuts. Finally, a magic moment came near the end with stadium pop anthem ‘Go Your Own Way’ which proved to still be EPIC in whatever format, be it re-edit or original.

If you’re thinking this all sounds a tad camp and fluffy for a purist dance music fan’s liking, you’d be wrong. The brains behind Fleetmac Wood pride themselves on both seriously good production and intelligent DJ sets — a quality that, judging by all the hardcore Fleetwood fans in the crowd, is paying off. It’s thanks to Fleetmac Wood's re-edit concept, in fact, that Psychemagik’s Crystal Vision Remix of ‘Dreams’ came about; a glossy rework that took a serious hammering in sunset festival sets for most of last summer. 

If hosting a party centred entirely on the back catalogue of a singular group sounds limiting, no one in The Shaklewell Arms that night seemed to notice. A tasteful if slightly tunnel-visioned ode to the legend that is The Mac, Fleetmac Wood look set to enjoy a long and popular run, glitter and all.

Words: Charlotte Lucy Cijffers