I tend to think Mick has been around the Stevie-Lindsey drama that he approaches it more strategically than with any personal stakes. He has tried to smooth it over enough to keep the machine going, but he’s generally moved to whatever position is best for continuing (his payday with) the band. Right now, there’s probably some sense that they don’t want to wait for her to do a solo album and tour before another FM tour. But whatever comes out of the gates first post-pandemic is likely to be pretty lucrative.
I doubt Mick holds much against Lindsey re: negotiations or things going south with Stevie. He seems to accept that Stevie and Lindsey are opposites and will always fight. He went hard after Lindsey after the firing to shore up support for Stevie and the band. Now that she may be the holdout to an even bigger payday, he’s softening his stance on Lindsey.
It reminds me of how they all said pretty nasty stuff about Lindsey when he left in 1987. Put him down to promote the new, even better version of the band that just so happens to be playing shows near you!
This would all be easier to tolerate if FM didn’t spend the better part of 40 years selling the schtick that the band is about family and relationships and isn’t just a business arrangement among people who don’t like each other, like the Stones or the Eagles. Because that’s really what it is and perhaps always has been. It’s hard to look back at the band, especially post Tusk, and argue that money wasn’t the primary — and perhaps only — driver.
Maybe Lindsey was right about cycles. It’s just that the cycles that actually dominate FM are dysfunction and greed, not healing.
|