Kelsey Heng on April 13th, 2015

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Following up last November’s stop in Los Angeles, iconic rockers Fleetwood Mac returned to continue their “On With The Show”  tour. On Friday night, the Forum celebrated the idolized lineup that created “Rumours,” one of the era’s greatest albums and one that cemented the band’s place in history.

||| Photos by Kelsey Heng

With a 16-year retirement now behind her, Christine McVie has returned to the band for a reunion worth witnessing. Her sweeping alto harmonies and beloved love songs were a glaring missing piece for so many recent years. Now with her return, Lindsey Buckingham cheerfully declared this night a “circular karmic moment and new chapter in the story of this family.”

And it’s a family with plenty of backstory — one that has been anything but hidden to the public eye. Buckingham paused the show to emphasize that fact, saying, “We are a group of individuals and a band that has seen its ups and downs, but that is what makes us who we are. And we have been able to prevail through the good and the bad.”

The comings and goings of members is nothing new to the group or its fans, as toxic relationships and dark periods plagued years of the band’s monstrous success. The bands survival through all the rifts and rivalries is one thing, but the ability to now continue their story 41 years later (and all over the age of 65) is a chapter worth equal acclaim.

The 2 1/2-hour show included more than 24 songs, many of which highlighted McVie’s vocals and her own writing, including “Everywhere” and “Say You Love Me.”

Gypsy style icon Stevie Nicks and guitar legend Buckingham have enough stage presence to drastically contrast that of McVie’s spotlight-averting demeanor. Nicks, clad in her usual dark flowing mystic attire with ribboned tambourine in hand, twirled through “Dreams” and “Rhiannon” early in the set. She handed off the audience’s attention to Buckingham for “Second Hand News,” “Tusk,” and his personal mantra “Big Love.” All three drenched with youthful high-energy and guitar solos perfected over a lifetime.

Joining then on stage together, Nicks and Buckingham seemed to turn back time with “Landslide” as they slowed to the ending gripping each other’s hands as only former lovers could before letting out the last lyrics.

With the past so fresh in the minds of everyone, Nicks spoke eagerly of the band’s early San Francisco days, going from neighbors to band mates, quickly opening for the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Santana, her own Velvet Underground clothing store backstory to “Gypsy,” and her days dreaming of moments and success like they have now.

The first encore opened with “World Turning” with Fleetwood’s comically energetic audience participation drum solo that concluded with his arms outstretched and his grin declaring, “much fun was had by all.” Following the stadium sing along of “Don’t Stop,” they slowed to an end with “Silver Springs” and its fitting spellbinding lyrics “you won’t forget me”.

The real encore immediately followed as the night’s prodigal McVie returned alone to the stage at a piano for “Songbird,” a storybook ending that, as Fleetwood said, “makes this all so complete.”

||| Live: Fleetwood Mac plays again at the Forum on Tuesday night.