On the contrary, this new line up may be our only chance at a new studio album and is definitely the only way we will hear blues era Fleetwood Mac songs live for the first time in decades.
I know Lindsey is an amazing virtuoso guitarist and an incredible, innovative songwriter who constantly pushes the envelope in his solo career and on Tusk and Say You Will.
But is he irreplaceable? Maybe, but no more so than Christine. No more so than Stevie. And if anyone in this band is truly irreplaceable, it's the rhythm section of Fleetwood and Mac.
Try to see the positives!

It's just hard for me, personally, hung up on fairness and justice as I am, to stomach this hypocritical move. Impossible, even. So for me personally: they have made their beds and can lay in it. If I want to hear FM's good blues era I'll listen to the original musicians play it, and if I want to hear good blues, period, I can name 75 bands and musicians I'd go listen to before this bunch. It's the FM sound WITH LB I loved. So for me, without him, what's the use.

"Excited" is a big word since I was expecting a tour with the Fab 5, but I'm definitely curious, as someone else said a few days ago "I thought I could predict what they will do but they keep surprising me"

Unfortunately I don’t see any Welch tunes being incorporated, either. Even though Bob & Wendy have both passed, I still think Bob is a pariah to the band.

As far as this tour goes, I will say I’m very interested to see what happens. What songs are played, how the set list evolves, etc. But my curiosity is more scientific than anything. I still dread this new phase of the band, and wish it would simply go away. I’d much rather FM disband than carry on without all of the Rumours 5.

That's how I see it, too. I really think the set list is going to change quite a bit after the first 5 performances or so, so it'll be really interesting to read the reviews from critics and from concert goers.

Interesting post. Like you said, for me, it's about the music, so this latest lineup change doesn't faze me too much, beyond my initial disappointment. When Christine, Stevie, and Rick left and Bekka Bramlett and Dave Mason replaced them, I wasn't very excited, but I gave them a chance and bought Time and really didn't care for it at all. And I didn't see them in concert. But the current lineup, now that is a band I'm excited about!

Re The BTM era, while I agree neither Rick or Billy were extraordinary vocalists, I definitely thought Rick was an incredible guitarist- both on the albums and live. His guitar work on the live versions of Isn't It Midnight and Oh Well, and on the recorded version of Save Me, were blistering and blew my mind. And whoever played that guitar on No Questions Asked (I'm assuming it was Rick but it could have been Billy) did an awesome job. I mean, whether you like that song or not, the guitar work is the best thing about it!

Dare I wade in? Perhaps briefly.

Lindsey will be fine. He's super wealthy, has a solo career, a family etc. I'm still not convinced they just wanted to get rid of him arbitrarily.

Despite being mainly a Buckingham-Nicks fan myself, I know there was more to them than that. I've often wondered why they didn't do more of their work from an earlier time. They should before too late. As Mick has said, there wouldn't have been a FM without Peter Green, who regularly makes lists of greatest guitar players of all time. That's a legacy that deserves to be remembered as part of this group's history.

I just wish them all the best. I wasn't going to see FM this time but with Neil on board I might.

Agree. What I meant about Rick and Billy’s playing is that there really isn’t anything unique about their sound. They are masterful musicians but they didn’t create their own unique sound the way Lindsey and Mike have.

And as stated up-thread a little:
The true Fleetwood Mac sound has always been John and Mick.
That drum and bass combo is why the songs get under people’s skin and become irreplaceable earworms.
And that’s why I showed up for the Tango shows and the Behind The Mask shows.
Despite myself, I was hugely impressed with how they sounded.

I sat out Time because the songs felt weak and I’m not a fan of Beka’s voice.

Ironically I sat out the last two tours because I see a lot of live shows and a greatest hits setlist in a big arena wasn’t worth the cash for me. Do I regret it?
Absolutely - especially after hearing how much they had improved as a band since the SYW tour.
So here we are today with Mike Campbell stepping in and I gotta admit, I’m pretty damn excited. And I’ll be excited for Lindsey’s solo shows too.

I’m not boycotting this tour. The new lineup is something I find to be compelling. I would probably skip it if they had gotten lame replacements, but they really outdid themselves. Either way, I gave up on Fleetwood Mac being anything other than an oldies act with their album being credited to LBCM, so the whole “legacy” thing people are hung up on now kind of rings hollow.

I saw the SYW tour three times (the bookend shows and one in between) and really enjoyed it, but I skipped the 2009 and 2013 tours. As much as I love Fleetwood Mac, I just got burned out on the SN-LB story line, Lindsey’s constant stream of psychobabble, Stevie’s grandiosity, and constantly asking if it’s live or is it Memorex. There was no balance and nothing especially compelling to make me want to go.

I reached my breaking point at a 2006 Lindsey solo show when he said something along the lines of he realized a dream of his wasn’t going to come true and that he needed to give himself time to mourn the loss of that dream. I was working as a social worker at a homeless shelter at the time and mourning the recent loss of my uncle, so the comment especially rubbed me the wrong way. It was a Saturday night and I wanted to see a rock show and forget about things for a while. It didn’t happen at the Lindsey show, so I went home and put on Guided by Voices, which turned out to be life changing.

Yes, I did. I wasn't interested enough in the band without Christine (who has always been my favorite member) to pay arena prices to see a concert. But I didn't feel anger toward the band, just a relative lack of interest.

Yes, definitely. I am angry at them because they think they can just kick out an essential member of the band and replace him with two guys who have no previous connection to the band, and they think no one will notice or care!

What is Lindsey saying here?

Is he saying that because he became a famous rock star as part of Fleetwood Mac, he would never realize the dream of becoming a famous rock star as part of Buckingham Nicks?

Is he referring to his relationship with Stevie Nicks? They were together for 6 years. It wasn't exactly an unrealized dream.

I think it was probably starting a new Fleetwood Mac album from scratch with Stevie after SYW, which Stevie shot down.

I’ll give you Neil, even though Mick has done some work for him.

But Mike Campbell co-wrote a Fleetwood Mac song, has worked extensively with Stevie and, to a lesser extent, Lindsey, and was in a band with Christine’s solo drummer, so he was definitely connected to Fleetwood Mac on some level. He’s no stranger, and was a pretty obvious and appropriate choice.

I may need some time to digest that thought. I guess the 'Specter of Stevie' still looms. Maybe, the lyrics to "Thrown Down" were more real than I imagined.

Cool stories, thanks for sharing your insight. I will check out Guided by Voices this week.