ONE of the UK's most popular tribute acts will be performing at Robin Hill this weekend.

Fleetwood Bac will be supported on Sunday evening by Island band Lucid, and are looking forward to returning to the site of their previous Bestival performance.

Matt Pearce, who performs as Lindsey Buckingham, sat down with the County Press to share his thoughts on the upcoming event.

When and how did the idea for Fleetwood Bac first come to fruition?

Many years ago now, I think we might have now been going longer than the real band at this point! We were a bunch of people who loved the music and thought it would be great to get it out there in smaller venues for people to enjoy.

What are your memories of performing on the Isle of Wight?

We've performed on the Island several times now, including gigs in Cowes, Robin Hill and other venues. We love coming going across the water to play, it's a beautiful place.

We played on the main stage at Bestival a few years ago before Nile Rodgers and Elton John. It was a great day, great festival and an amazing crowd.

Isle of Wight County Press: Fleetwood Bac have become known for their high-energy festival performancesFleetwood Bac have become known for their high-energy festival performances

How has Coronavirus impacted the band and music industry in general?

It's been terrible and unfortunately there isn't an end in sight yet. This is our first show together since March and you have no idea how much we're looking forward playing for people again.

It's been an awful time for us and other bands to lose our livelihood, but of course it's been much harder for those directly affected by the virus or working on the frontline.

You are festival veterans, which summer events have stood out for you over the years?

Bestival was one of the most memorable, we were first on at noon, and five minutes before we started there was nobody there.

Literally one minute into the first song there were 1000's of people singing along, it was a truly amazing experience.

Do you remember your first gig as Fleetwood Bac and how were you received?

Very vaguely: we've had a lot of lineup changes since then before we settled on this latest and best bunch of people we have now.

Isle of Wight County Press: Visitors to Robin Hill will be able to enjoy a range of Fleetwood Mac hits spanning several decadesVisitors to Robin Hill will be able to enjoy a range of Fleetwood Mac hits spanning several decades

Fleetwood Mac famously had a number of internal relationships and conflicts, have you emulated them behind the scenes?

I would have to say no comment to that... Except to say there have been some comparable moments!

With Glastonbury Festival so far unable to agree terms with Fleetwood Mac about a mainstage slot, is there any way you could fill the vacancy?

Well, I guess as they sell out all the tickets before the bands get announced it's just about possible. We'd also be slightly cheaper, so fingers crossed!

What can people heading to Robin Hill on Sunday expect to experience?

We will be doing what we always do, play all the biggest and best Mac songs, while trying and recreate a bit of the magic they had live, the chemistry and personalities of this great band.

We cover all eras of the Mac and will definitely be putting in a few songs in tribute to the late great Peter Green who we sadly lost recently.

Are there any IW artists you think highly of or have a lot of respect for?

We think our support band Lucid are great, we played with them in Cowes a few years ago, and they do some nice versions of Mac songs too, but we've banned them from playing them this time!

I always loved the work of Snowy White, great guitar player, and as a kid I loved Hanoi Rocks and their late drummer Razzle was an Isle of Wighter too.

Even for a tribute band as successful as yourselves, is it viable for this to be your only career or do you have to have other jobs as well?

It was viable, but right now we're all in a limbo and wondering where we go from here if things don't resume sometime soon... So ask me in a year..!

Which modern day bands would you recommend people listen to?

Best modern artist I saw recently was Lukas Nelson, son of Willie. He's so old-school that he's almost not a new artist..! But he's worth checking out if you don't know his work.

Isle of Wight County Press: Fleetwood Bac will be supported by Island band LucidFleetwood Bac will be supported by Island band Lucid

If you had one message for young musicians at this challenging time, what would it be?

Take this time to work on the music and the songs, gigging is great but this extra time to work on what you'll be gigging is time well spent.

Thanks Matt, it's been a pleasure!

Doors for the event open at 5.30pm, with Lucid starting at at 6.30pm and Fleetwood Bac on stage at 8pm. Tickets are available to purchase by clicking HERE.