To be upfront here while I am a fan of the band, I definitely prefer Stevie and Christine to Lindsey. I have been and remain excited to see the new incarnation of the band. I also have tickets to see Lindsey who I have seen every time he has toured my area. I am excited for his show. I think there are a lot of takeaways from this article. I wasn't there and based on what I read I can see where this just went wrong in so many ways. Here are some takeaways from my viewpoint:
1.
Stevie DID issue the ultimatum. How she presented it is not entirely known as we are wading through a bit of telephone for what got back to Lindsey via Irving Azoff. She may have said "Everyone - I'm 68 years old and we're still fighting the same fights. I just don't think I can do this anymore with him. I have to leave the band." Then everyone convinces her to stay saying they will fire him (maybe Mick's decision and he called everyone to get them to agree to it). OR it may have been "He's the worst person ever. Fire him now or I walk." We do not know which way it was issued - all we know is that it did come down to a him or me but there is a world of difference between even those two "him or me" statements.
2.
Lindsey DID ask to delay the tour. He did not, seemingly, ask to delay as long as has been inferred in other interviews. To be fair here this section has always been a bit confusing from the CBS interview as far as how much time he allegedly asked for and I think as spectators we all believe a four month extension is not too ridiculous especially when they waited for Stevie to end her tour to even plan this one. That said there clearly was a request to delay and it was one of the fights.
3.
Stevie did get her friend Mike Campbell in the band. Given the fact that this was a surprise to Mike to get this call and given that Stevie has known Mike for decades it seems unlikely to me that this was significantly pre-meditated. Tom died four months before this call. How premeditated could it be? Seemingly the Lindsey tour delay conversation had already happened and already gone poorly but Tom probably was alive when that happened or had just passed away (just a guess). If he had just passed away then I could also see the delay conversation be even more dramatic "We could die at any minute..."
4.
Lindsey still, LIKE STEVIE, likes to get his way. One of the pieces here (and again as a Stevie fan I grant you I am reading it with the viewpoint) that sticks out to me is this
Quote:
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“It wasn’t about it being ‘Rhiannon,’ ” he says. “It just undermined the impact of our entrance. That’s me being very specific about the right and wrong way to do something.”
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Read that again. He's STILL arguing about it. I can see where at 68/69 years old that would get tiring. No one, not even the most ardent Lindsey fan can argue that his perfectionist mentality and belief that he is always right can be a roadblock in healthy relationships (which to be fair nearly all humans suffer from this from time to time). Stevie is guilty of this too, of course but it seems strange to me to know something was one of the reasons you parted ways with your band and you still are inferring "It's unfortunate, especially because I wasn't wrong and they did things the wrong way by letting Rhiannon be our intro music."
5.
No one has spoken since the ultimatum went down. It is ridiculous that no one has replied to him. Regardless of legal worries which I can imagine there are some and probably still lingering - it is insane for not one person to even pick up the phone so that it's not in writing if that is such a concern. Hard for either side to move forward from such an impasse and this seems to rest squarely with the band and their advisors. As for Lindsey saying it was all Stevie. He actually doesn't even KNOW the conversation that happened. He knows what was told to him by Irving but he clearly states in the article (and from his instagram) that he hasn't had any contact with the band. This is horrible but means even he is inferring exactly what happened based on what a 3rd party (granted an involved 3rd party) is telling him.
I am sad this happened but I can also understand it happening and be excited for the opportunities this presents ALL the performers involved. I'm happily going to see this incarnation of the band Fleetwood Mac and I will happily see Lindsey and get to hear 40+ songs between the two set lists!