By RANDY ALEXANDER
Staff Writer

CAMDEN—Fleetwood Mac certainly jogged a lot of memories at the E-Centre Friday night. About 25,000 people's worth, to be precise. Oh, the place was packed, all right. Packed so tightly, you couldn't see a blade of grass on the great lawn. They were all there to see the definitive version of Fleetwood Mac, the classic rock supergroup whose tangled interpersonal history made this reunion of Lindsay Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, John McVie and Mick Fleetwood seem all the more unlikely. They got a Standing O before the house lights went up.

Nonetheless, this band of ex-lovers, ex-substance abusers and ex-bandmates has done more than simply hold itself together in the four months since the oft-played May reunion concerts taped for a VH-1 special and new, chart-topping live album, "The Dance" (Reprise). Fleetwood Mac, which arrives tomorrow at the Continental Airlines Arena for its second New Jersey stop on the tour, is actually playing like a cohesive unit. Passion, fun, showmanship and yes, even some lingering sexual tension was emanating from the E-Centre stage Friday night.

Talk about Retro Fever. It was a night in which Fleetwood Mac kept playing one deeply embedded classic after the next for 2 l/2 hours and still couldn't squeeze in rock radio staples such as "Hold Me," "Monday Morning," "Little Lies," "World Turning" and "Over My Head."

A night in which Buckingham consistently reminded us how much the Mac has been missing since he became this lineup's first defector in 1987, just as "Tango in the Night" was being released.

AND A NIGHT in which new tunes like the calypso-tinged "Bleed to Love Her" and the satanic sound effect-enhanced "My Little Demon" and "Temporary One," with its driving harmonies, were sturdy and true to vintage Fleetwood Mac.

But like an increasing number of old bands whose members are equally recognizable, Fleetwood need to flesh out its core unit with added musicians. Neale Heywood and Brett Tuggle wielded their guitars in the shadows to augment Buckingham's lead fretwork. Percussionist Lenny Castro complemented Fleetwood's drumming like an added set of limbs and locked in brilliantly for a perfectly syncopated "Second-Hand News." And Sharon Celani and Mindy Stein embellished the band's soaring harmonies.

Much of the music appeared to be delivered at a more deliberate pace —the better, in hindsight, to observe each song reinvent itself as it unfolded and allow every nuance to be heard.

Most renditions were pristinely note-for-note. Others, like "Say You Love Me" and "Go Insane," a Buckingham solo offering, were freshened up in occasional "unplugged" setups. As they've been doing all tour, Fleetwood Mac opened predictably with "The Chain," its characteristically autobiographical "Rumours" era anthem about holding binding ties together during blustery times. By the second number, "Dreams," it was already evident there were vocal places Stevie Nicks wasn't going anymore, and that was fine. Better she establish those limitations early. Still, her throatier delivery proved as alluring as her seemingly genuine desire to convey the emotion of lyrics that in most cases were written 20 years ago. Her vocal husk made "Gold Dust Woman" even closer in kinship to Courtney Love's recent cover version, and quavered appropriately on "Gypsy.".

BUT IT WAS the surprises that really jolted this enigmatically lifeless set. Buckingham stretching his guitar way out to solo on "I'm So Afraid," and tossing in more guitar heroics on "Go Your Own Way." Nicks slowly and seductively navigating her way through "Landslide," cozying up to Buckingham and holding "snowwwwwww-covered hills," then ending in a touching embrace with her ax-paramour. And Nicks and Buckingham showing more heat on the evening's highlight, "Silver Spring," a forgotten B-side excavated from a 1976 burial. It doesn't even matter at this point if Fleetwood Mac still likes one another. (Apparently they do.) Most of their best music was made when they didn't. The members kept telling the crowd how much they enjoyed being back together, how much fun they were having, and how much they were playing for the audiences as much as themselves.

How much did Fleetwood Mac mean it? Hard to say. But if they were indeed going through the motions, it was an Oscar-winning performance of inspired execution.