[chiliD]

Originally Posted by Andy Man

While I agree with everything being posted, I think we have to be very realistic with Fleetwood Mac at this stage in their career.

The band has the mixed blessing of being a band that, in their prime (75-87) was a very commercial band. It is hard to think of another rock band during that period that could rival Fleetwood Mac's success on the singles charts (obviously there were other popular and single-successful groups, but very few that could top FM). Thankfully, FM made intelligent pop music and therefore their hits actually have some 'meat' to them and are not throw-away pop. Nonetheless, FM has the burden of massively successful commercial singles that most audience members would expect to hear. I remember very much leaving the O2 last year (the last night with Christine on 'Don't Stop') and some of those people around where I was sitting with my group complaining that the band did not play songs like 'Everywhere', 'Say You Love Me', 'Little Lies', etc. When you are a band with that many singles that most people in attendance want (and expect) to hear, you have to give in to the majority.

Think of any other band that you only know the singles of. I bet that if you went to one of their shows you would primarily be interested in hearing the popular stuff, the songs you know. It is the same with Fleetwood Mac. While I am very grateful that the band has thrown in songs like 'Storms', 'Sisters Of The Moon', 'Not That Funny', and 'Say Goodbye' on the previous two tours, a set which featured a lot of rarer material would leave the majority of the audience dazed and confused.

As a more recent fan in my twenties, I do believe that we 'young' FM fans would be open to the band playing less-known material (both pre-Rumours and after); there are many younger FM fans that have a great appreciation for music. However, at the rate that FM is charging for tickets, FM would probably not want to risk mixing the set too much; people have payed a lot of money to hear the classic songs they all know.

That's been their fatal mistake of creativity...caving in to the middle ground and grinding off the edge of their material. There've been plenty of bands & artists who SHUN the "hits" and still have rabid concert following (Pink Floyd & Neil Young immediately come to mind). There's is absolutely NOTHING wrong WITH leaving the audience "dazed & confused". That's what ART is all about. Shaking the comfort level of the audience. You're not guaranteed to hear "Layla" when you see Clapton (and if you do, it might not be how you EXPECT to hear it)...you're not guaranteed to hear ANYTHING you know of Bob Dylan when you see him in concert. You can never predict what you'll hear from David Bowie, either on record or in concert. Bands like the Allman Brothers (or their younger spin-offs, the Tedeschi Trucks Band or Gov't Mule ) never play the same song the same way twice.