Some time ago I read that Mike lived in Melbourne but having a snippet of information like that & being able to track the person down is very different. Thanks to NZ music font-of-all-knowledge Grant Gillanders I got to make contact with Mike. Kiwis of a certain era will remember him from his days with the Hi Revving Tongues who came to Oz in 1969. (They became the Tongues in the last days of this band then morphed into Caboose.)

These days Mike & his wife Peta have a Fleetwood Mac tribute band (Dreams, the Rumours of Fleetwood Mac). The current band has been in action for 2 years but the original tribute band was formed back in early 2006. Mike is their MD & as he did with the Hi Revving Tongues, he plays lead guitar in the band. Peta is their business director (for the band’s affairs) & primary vocalist.

Last time I saw a tribute band was at the Eel Pie Club in London in 2018 – the Kast Off Kinks, where that night three of the band were genuine Kinks cast-offs. And for a Kinks-tragic like me that was a great night.

But back to Mike and the Melbourne band … After re-scheduling due to Lockdown 4 (4!!) on Saturday I finally got to see Mike, Peta, and Dreams, the Fleetwood Mac band in action.

Straight off I have to say they are so polished; so professional. And loved by the crowd at Musicland where the band delivered the first half of a show that had the Foreigner tribute band delivering the second half. The focus for Dreams is the Fleetwood Mac songbook that covers the 1977 Rumours album, Tango in the Night (1987) & The Dance (1997). With that in mind they played all the songs you’d expect … Dreams, Go Your Own Way, Rhiannon …

Band members were selected by Peta for their performances, vocal skills, ability to harmonise & knowledge of music. Peta herself is in the Stevie Nicks role; keyboard player Jenny Lee is in the Christine McVie role & rhythm guitarist James Towers is Lindsay Buckingham. The other members of the band are bassist Josh Greven & drummer Warren Grima. The three main vocalists are so strong & all six are excellent musicians who come together as a united ensemble.

All ages were at the show, which was technically a seated-event with a modified no-dancing rule, meaning you could only dance in front of your chair. Watching the crowd was a joy. There was less talking to mates. Most present were watching, dancing, singing along, photographing, videoing & enjoying …