Stevie had some promotion, especially since she was touring an album. There were a few things on TV, radio, and newspapers and magazines. I wasn’t interested in her at that point, preferring the band, so I can only go by what others have said. The venues were half full, but Stevie sounded better and had noticeably more energy compared to the recent past.

Fleetwood Mac primarily opened for CSN or did that package tour with REO Speedwagon and Pat Benatar. There wasn’t really anything to promote. There were some interviews here and there, though. They did that TV broadcast in France, which was probably the biggest thing they did. Their last tour date was Aug. 31 and “Time” was released Oct. 10.

Absolutely, to a point. Remember, Stevie went on tour in 1998 and 2001 while Lindsey was largely inactive, at least publicly, since the 1998 award show/HOF appearances. For perspective, Peter Green was less reclusive 1996-2002 than Lindsey. I saw a TISL show because it had been four years since The Dance, three years since USA Splinter Group tour, and I needed some type of Mac fix.

I have no problem stating or believing that Lindsey isn't a massive, super rockstar with a long list of hits. Stevie is an international superstar, but not like Cher, Janet, Tina, or Shania.
I do however believe that there are people who really enjoy his FM songs, his co-write songs and his solo songs, which is why promoters take chances and take his tours including the 2018 run and the planned 2020 run.. and a laudatory tweet from the gorgeous Rob Lowe!
There's energy from the audiences at his solo shows too. As there's energy at Stevie's...I've been asked to sit down at a bunch of Stevie shows as an aside. One lady said she didn't want to stare at my "ass".

If Stevie is to receive credit for the good attendance of the SYW Tour, I feel it's fair for me to think that more people, but not every patron, may've bought tickets to the SYW Tour than the Enchanted and TISL Tours because they wanted to see Lindsey and Stevie together. I don't think it is wild to say people came out for the 03-04 tour who didn't see Enchanted or TISL in order to see the Lindsey and Stevie show with the chemistry.

Stevie should be credited for stopping the momentum that FM had after the Dance by going off to resurrect her stalled solo career instead, while the rest of the band was waiting around for her and finally decide to go into studio without her in 2001. if all members cared about the band at the time, they could have wrapped up and put SYW out immediately after the Dance and packed a huge 1-2 punch. by the time Stevie was done with making her new album and touring around it, it was 6 years later and momentum and interest from the Dance was long dead and gone.

that said, i do remember hearing Peacekeeper on the radio a lot at the time.

talking about the marketing - Stevie and her people were always 1000x better in marketing her than FM people were in marketing the band. still the case now, although Mick's been trying, and his timing jumping on tiktok trend was good.

Fleetwood Mac is a completely different beast than Stevie solo, but her solo tours kept her, and the band by extension, in some form of public consciousness.

Lindsey has almost as much public career inactivity as Christine. He did as many tour dates between the Tusk and SYW tours (22 years) as they did on the OWTS tours, and only three solo albums, one coming out five years after leaving the band. What did he do immediately after all the pressers from The Dance/HOF were over, at least publicly? He disappeared for five years. Peter Green was less reclusive during those years.

To her credit, Stevie struck while the fire was hot and kept her name out there and solidified her new rock godmother/survivor image.

Well, back in the olden days, we had no Ledge where we got our info. I'd usually only buy music mags if FM was on the cover, so I was living in the dark.
PLUS, I'd began college then, and it was horribly unhip to like FM, so I'd put them on a back burner in my life, during the Tango years.

He and Kristen were starting a family/raising kids

Jeremy, Mick, John, Billy, Rick, and Neil all managed to record and tour while they had young children. That was Lindsey’s choice, and that was his prerogative, but it had consequences to his career.

nope. he and the rest of the band were waiting for Stevie to stop promoting her solo career and come back to the studio with them. as they always do. as they did from 2009 on too, and finally in 2017 (8 years later!!!!!) they decided not to wait anymore and put BuckVie out without her.

i really hope he finally learned the lesson that waiting for Stevie is a lose-lose for him and FM, and never ever tries that wait again. i am happy that at least in 2000s, after SN said nope to the band once SYW was out, he decided to release those 2 solo albums and extensively tour, and the same in 2009 after she said no to the band after Unleashed. but after 2012, it was again back to the same ole wait for SN to come back to FM. in his 70s it's the last possible hour to finally get it. as long as SN is in FM, her solo career has always and will always come first.

the false claims how SN advertising herself is somehow helping Fleetwood Mac name are naïve. helping the narrative that SN=FM, sure. it was always hurting the band and Lindsey's firing was supposed to be her final nail in that coffin.

LOL!!!

Nevermind the fact that they weren’t absolutely sure if Christine was actually out, that she might have just needed some time away...

Still, the biggest reason for the inactivity was the debate as how to release it. Lindsey would have preferred solo, but the label wanted Fleetwood Mac. The new brass at WB wasn’t enthusiastic about another Lindsey Buckingham album. Of course, the compromise, and maybe more accurate way to credit the album, would have been Buckingham Fleetwood McVie. Not quite Fleetwood Mac, but certainly suggested in the name. IIRC, Lindsey was planning on touring with Mick in 2001. They had dates tentatively scheduled. A show was announced in my area.

But, as mentioned, Lindsey was starting a young family and prioritized that.

Are you a parent? It's not as easy as saying others were able to record and tour.
Children are a gift and a father wants to be fully present for his wife and help her any way he can.
Springsteen did the same thing from 88 to late 91.

Whether or not I have children is irrelevant.

Yeah, it really is, especially for a multimillionaire. As I said, it was his choice, his priority. I’m not critiquing the choice, but to have it used as an excuse is pretty disingenuous. Most parents, even ones with little babies, have to work. He had the luxury of being able to take time off and chose to do so.

They recorded and toured while they had young children, that was their choice and was their prerogative, but it had consequences to the childhoods of their children. Depends which you think is more important.

Most parents who work come home (however late or early) each day. Touring is a bit different, and once your kids are in school, them touring with you (not that on the road with a band, even a band that travels as well as FM, is a stable or amenable environment for young kids) is not an option.

Mick has real regrets about how his older kids were raised as he put his career above all else. To each their own.

i see all of you riffing on this, but did Lindsey ever say that he chose to stay home / not tour / not record / whatever in those years? can anyone share an interview where he said that? or did someone just come up with that because of the overlap in timing? i don't think i've heard that in any interviews before.

also, Lindsey said on several occasions how it was easy to tour when kids were young and "portable" he said - because they could take them on the road. once they started to go to school that changed and it was not as easy. then he had to resort to facetiming home every day to stay in touch with his family.

I really love the bass/keyboard interplay on “Never Forget” (which I’m noticing more now that I’ve been studying the sheet music).

And I adore the vocal round at the end of “Honey Hi.”

[Just persisting in the delusion that a Christine thread can continue to be about Christine.]