BY LARRY NAGER
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Two '70s institutions retooled for the '90s teamed up Friday, as the reunited Fleetwood Mac opened the renovated Crown.

Both have cleaned up their act. The arena was virtually unrecognizable from its former life as Riverfront Coliseum, with new, theater-style seating and an immaculate, streamlined concourse filled with improved concessions and restrooms.

Fleetwood Mac, on the other hand, did its best to be the same band it was 20 years ago, but without the soap opera of tangled relationships that imploded the band in the 1980s.

They pulled it off, returning the predominantly middle-aged crowd of 15,283 (a sellout in that seating configuration) to the band's Rumours heyday. From the opening song, "The Chain," the group lifted the audience out its comfy new seats and kept people on their feet through 90 minutes of memories.

There was Stevie Nicks, in stronger voice than ever, twirling through her sultry sorceress routine on "Gold Dust Woman" and "Rhiannon."

Mick Fleetwood, beating his drum synthesizer bodysuit in duet with percussionist-for-hire Lenny Castro.

Cool and classy Christine McVie, presiding over her piano for her pop-rock classic "Everywhere" and a folksy, banjo-driven reworking of "Say You Love Me."

Her ex-husband, the ever-stolid, John McVie, toeing his workmanlike bass line.

And Lindsey Buckingham, the first Mac member to bail in 1987, but still the band's passionate rock 'n' roll heart, as he turned in a powerful solo version of "Big Love" and backed Ms. Nicks on a tender "Landslide." That ended in a hug which, after all those years of estrangement, earned the standing ovation as much as the song itself.

When Fleetwood Mac got back together, it was easy to chalk it up to mercenary reasons. But on the ninth date of the tour, it was obvious the band was enjoying itself as Mr. Fleetwood whacked his drum kit with a manic grin. Ms. Nicks, the crowd's favorite, seemed happy even when singing backup, as she balanced on the tallest pair of platform shoes this side of Kiss.

Augmented by two backup singers, a rhythm guitarist and a keyboardist - guitarist as well as Mr. Castro, Fleetwood Mac lived up to its part of the bargain, playing their songs "just like the record" for a crowd that had spent several generations wearing out copies of Rumours.

By the time the band returned for their first encore, "Don't Stop," they had successfully turned the clock back a couple of decades, that song's warning of "Don't you look back" notwithstanding.