That is nothing more than my opinion, and clearly stated as such. Well, I honestly believe that at least 90% of the fans would much rather prefer FM with Stevie. The only FM without Stevie I would LOVE to see is the incarnation with Bob Welch.

If it were clearly stated as such, there wouldn't be a debate.

You initially said anybody, and now it's 90%, which clearly means that SOMEBODY would be okay with Fleetwood Mac without Stevie, which negates the comment "I don't think that anyone would want to see the band without her in it" because clearly there are some who would be okay with it.

Me too. I'd totally buy into that whole Stevie-witch thing if the Bob Welch version of Fleetwood Mac got back together.

Little late for the Bob Welch reunion.

Here is an article the local newspaper did on Steve, the drummer who did Go Your Own Way

http://journalstar.com/blogs/ground-zero/a-little-more-about-steve-the-substitute-fleetwood-mac-drummer/article_a7b4cc3c-1bbf-5563-b0fa-5b09b3887b6a.html

nice article, thanks for finding it! here's the whole text:


A little more about Steve the substitute Fleetwood Mac drummer

5 hours ago • By CORY MATTESON | LINCOLN JOURNAL STAR0

On Tuesday, Fleetwood Mac is scheduled to perform the band’s planned tour date in Grand Rapids or wherever. The next stop matters little to Lincoln concertgoers, who saw the show here cut somewhat short on Saturday night. But that wasn’t before the band brought out “Steve” to fill in for an unfortunately ill Mick Fleetwood on “Go Your Own Way.”

Steve performed admirably in Fleetwood’s absence, drawing a “Yay, Steve” from Stevie Nicks at the end of his “big audition,” as she called it. He also got some stray “Steve” chants at the end of the show from fans who perhaps hoped he could lead the band through the rest of the scheduled set. (You can hear concertgoers asking if he could keep playing during a fan recording of “Go Your Own Way” that has over 7,000 views on YouTube already.)

So who’s Steve? Steve is Steve Rinkov, and he’s been a drum tech with Fleetwood Mac for over a decade. He's also worked with Lenny Kravitz and Pearl Jam, to name a few. In 2004, Rinkov did an interview with Cheryl Ferguson on a public radio program about careers, “The Recruiter’s Studio” where he talked about inadvertently landing a drum tech job, and then a performing role with Fleetwood Mac. During Rinkov’s conversation with Ferguson, he also gave some insight into why he might not have been able to cruise through the band’s catalog on command this Saturday.

“You’re not there to play the instruments,” he told her, referring to band rehearsals. “Nobody wants to hear it.”

So the technicians aren’t forming Fleetwood cover bands when Mick, Christine, Lindsey, Stevie and John take tea breaks. But that doesn't mean Steve can't play some Mac. He backed Fleetwood on some songs during the show at the Pinnacle Bank Arena, as he has for years. And Rinkov told Ferguson that he was not nervous, but excited, those first times he joined the band on stage. Here's what Rinkov had to tell her about going from a drum tech to playing with the band years before he sat in for Mick at the head kit during the Lincoln show. (Here's the entire interview.)

“I was minding my business, I swear," Rinkov said. "I was just minding my business. Because you learn early on, you learn early-early on -- and if you don’t already know, someone will not be shy about telling you -- you’re not there to play. You’re not there to play the instruments. Nobody wants to hear it. Nobody wants to hear it.

"Our rehearsal days, the band would show up at, you know, noon to two o’clock in the afternoon and in some cases I’d be working with Mick, and the sound crew would have to be there until one o’clock in the morning. And the last thing anyone wants to hear is someone else banging away on a drum set or wailing away on a guitar when they’re just really not supposed to.

"In rehearsals one day, I swear I was minding my own business and we had done one small show for a group of Best Buy retail executives. And it was just 10 days into rehearsal that we’d done that show. And I think that’s when Lindsey Buckingham and Mick Fleetwood heard me play drums. Because they walked in when we were soundchecking.

"About a week-and-a-half, two weeks later, they were rehearsing a song from the new album, from the 'Say You Will' album. And on that song, there are two drum parts that were recorded separately. And out of the corner of my ear, I swear I heard, what I had to question -- did I really hear it or not? -- I heard Lindsey say, ‘Well maybe Steve can just play that part.’

"And I’m typing away on my computer and I’m looking up and I’m thinking: ‘No. Back to work.’ And Mick looks over his shoulder and goes, 'Have we got any drums here?' We had every drum that Mick Fleetwood owned there. So I said, 'Yes we do, as a matter of fact.' And (I) probably was just finishing another word by the time I had the drums all set up and ready to go.

"And so that was it. That was one song. Within literally a couple of days, one song became two songs and two songs became three."

Ferguson then asked Rinkov if he was nervous about getting to play with the band as a backing drummer.

"No, no," he said. "Nervous wasn’t part of it. Excited. It’s a weird thing. Being nervous about playing drums is just something that has never happened to me. It’s never happened to me. The first show of the tour, which was Columbus, Ohio, which is where my father’s from. So my aunt is there. I have cousins there, And I’m at an arena that holds I think like 17,000 people and there isn’t an empty seat in the house. And I was excited. I wasn’t nervous at all. I couldn’t wait to do it and keep doing it. It was a blast."

Steve, if you see this, it'd be great to know how the brief starring role went for you in Lincoln.

Reach the writer at 402-473-7438 or cmatteson@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LJSMatteson.

It is a great article. Steve seems like a character. I have never heard his speaking voice, but I can imagine what his speech pattern is just by reading those sentences and the repeated phrases. I am glad he has a role he enjoys in the band and that they recognized his skill even though he wasn't putting it on display. Michele

I wonder how he's making out tonight in Grand Rapids.

Any Ledgies attending tonights show.

There is no "Ill be there' thread started yet for the Grand Rapids show.

Is Steve's brief appearance on drums the first time ever that someone other than Mick Fleetwood played drums with Fleetwood Mac? (I mean, other than the backing drummers and percussionists they've been using for years.)

If so, this was truly a historic occasion, since Mick is the only band member who has been in the band from the very beginning and has played every gig.

Well, he did make it to the end this time, so I guess that's good? :lol:

http://onwiththeshow-bn.tumblr.com/p...robin-bartells
http://onwiththeshow-bn.tumblr.com/p...-c-mark-rendel
http://onwiththeshow-bn.tumblr.com/p...c-sabswill7596

[Mick often gets oxygen during a show, though. On one occasion in a high altitude, I saw Lindsey take oxygen onstage as well.]

Star Tribune, Jon Bream 1-19-2015

http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/289080251.html

Drummer Mick Fleetwood acknowledged that he was feeling under the weather when he addressed the sell-out crowd Friday at the end of Fleetwood Mac’s concert at Xcel Energy Center.

Indeed, we heard rumors that he was getting an IV and oxygen before the show.

On Saturday in Lincoln, Neb., things didn’t go so well for Mr. Flu-wood. He began vomiting backstage. The show was curtailed by several songs, according to the Omaha World-Herald.

Here is what Kevin Coffey reported in the World-Herald:

“Mick is really sick. We don’t know exactly what to do,” Stevie Nicks said, adding that Fleetwood suddenly became ill and was throwing up backstage.

Set to play more than two hours, Fleetwood Mac cut its set short by eight of its planned 24 songs and finished almost an hour early with “Go Your Own Way” and “Songbird,” and they had to call on a drum tech to get behind the kit to finish.

“We’re so sorry,” Nicks said. “In all of our 40 years, this has never happened.”

“It’s really unfortunate,” Lindsey Buckingham added. “We’re really sorry, guys.”

Honestly, I still don't get people who don't care who plays drums at a FM concert or don't see Stevie as an integral part of the band, because she does not play an instrument.Why bother to see FM then in the first place? See a Cover band, it's cheaper and fun, too.

Nobody's suggesting it as a long term solution, just a way to finish the remaining eight songs in an emergency situation. You know, on with the show.

Some people just don't like Stevie. In terms of instrumentation, Fleetwood Mac could survive her departure. Vocally, Lindsey has toys that can fill "her parts" on the songs in the studio.

Because Christine and John McVie and Lindsey Buckingham are in the band.

try booking a tour without Stevie. See how well Lindsey's "toys" could fill her vocals/charisma/stage presence

:lol: how did the thread about Mick being sick and about interesting Steve Rinkov story turn into a thread about Nicks? some people just can't resist but insert her into every scenario... guess Mick was not interesting and important enough for them. kinda sad. or too funny.

How did a thread about Mick getting sick mutate into a debate about Stevie's relevance in the band? Whatever...:shrug:

I feel bad for Mick and the fans who missed out on a big chunk of the show. But that audience can claim being at one of most notable, if unfortunate incidents to happen in the history of the band performances. Does anyone know at what point in the show Mick had to stop? Stevie certainly was the alpha dog of the group when informing the audience.

This incident has just jarred my memory of two moments I completely forgot. I attended a Maria McKee show in the early 90s. She just put out her fantastic second album and I was seeing her for the first time. She came out and immediately told the audience that she was sick and said she would perform as much as she could. She had a large band with a horn section; it seemed like it would have been a great show, but she only managed to get through about five songs before calling it quits. It was really disappointing, but what can you do, especially when you're a solo performer? Fans can only have empathy and understanding. I saw Jethro Tull once in the 80's in Boston Gardens (I went through an intense, but brief infatuation with the group). They performed for about an half hour then abruptly stopped. No explanations; no goodbyes. The bright lights of the arena came up, and everyone was shocked in a "What the hell just happened?" manner.

If Fleetwood Mac weren't so lock-step and tight-knitted, they could ad-libbed the rest of the show in some manner. But they just don't have those abilities; once they go off script they get completely lost and then grind to a halt. They could have turned this into a historic show for all the right reasons. Lindsey could have done some solo numbers. Surely they must have some songs in their wheelhouse could perform. Aside from stripping down some of their set lists songs, they could have performed unrehearsed numbers. Surely they would be expected to sound rough and unpolished, but that would be the charm about it. They could have garnered suggestions -- taking requests and questions from the audience, making them part of the show. Turn it partly into a talent show, and call out members of the audience with specific skills. Just some ideas to fill the time.

Some artists have the skills of engagement, with the confidence to be impromptu. Tom Petty and Elvis Costello come to mind, though I know there are better examples. It's an arena of entertainment just doesn't suit Stevie and Lindsey; that level of exposure and looseness makes them uncomfortable. Neither of them have that kind of showmanship in them. The only band member who does is, ironically, Mick!

THIS exactly!