Quote:
Originally Posted by Lola
Re Classic East, that whole narrative actually fits nicely into Azoff / corporate greed conspiracy theory - LB was undermining the Classic gigs put together by Azoff with his public statements that he's at this point just accepting Mac gigs for what they are - cashgrabs - and going through the motions ("just close your eyes, play the set, and take the money"). that couldn't have sit well with Azoff.
so it's not that Lindsey is not giving it well over 100% at the Mac gigs. it's that he didn't shy away from saying they are basically uninspired cashgrabs. so you could see Azoff wanting to 1) get him in line or get rid of him, and 2) making sure that FM doesn't do yet another exact same GH tour as the last 3 ones. yes the 2014-15 one was their most successful ever probably, but there was no new narrative for the upcoming tour (like rumours 5 re-united!). having LB solo with new music and creativity going in parallel would further undermine yet another GH tour, in the year when every boomer band is doing hugely expensive farewell tours. there needed to be either a shakeup or get LB in line! so pair this with SN and LB always fighting, and SN probably always pulling similar him or me threats, and now you do have a perfect storm! so maybe, Jamie and this youtube vinyl guy are right about it all being pure corporate greed, business based decision?
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People keep bringing up that comment he made about the Classics as if it were typical, but it was a one-time thing done only at Christine's prodding; indeed, he was reluctant to say it! Lindsey hardly went around undermining the Classics at every opportunity and I daresay he did not intend to go around trashing the Mac at every opportunity while they toured either. When has it ever been his practice to complain about the band publicly? That's more Stevie's thing, honestly. Meanwhile, Lindsey sings "I will stand with my band."
While his ONE comment about the Classic may have annoyed Azoff, in the end, what Azoff cares about is making money, and I am confident that Lindsey's comment deterred absolutely ZERO people from going to that show. As long as keeping LB on board was profitable, Azoff would not work behind the scenes to get him fired.
As for not wanting FM to do another GH tour... why wouldn't he? That's what the casual fan wants! Do you really think the casual fan is more interested in hearing FM dig out "Station Man" because they're sick of "The Chain"? "Oh, I heard all the hits in 2014. I'm not interested in hearing them play my favorites anymore!" (Not to mention not everyone saw that tour.) You have "Oh Well" and "Black Magic Woman" and you've exhausted the pre-BN stuff the casual fan knows. No, the casual fan wants a song they can sing along to, one that reminds them of their youth, not a little-known track from an iteration of the band they probably don't give a hoot about.
Again, I don't buy that Azoff thought a tour without Lindsey would be more appealing to casual fans. Casual fans don't want a "shakeup." They want their Rumours 5.
Would a concurrent LB solo tour have undermined FM's tour? Well, I suppose that's possible, but the point is moot if he backed down from that request.
This guy in the video's theory is that Lindsey wanted too much money and that's why this "conspiracy" took place to replace him with cheaper sidemen. However, wasn't Azoff Lindsey's manager? It's his job to get Lindsey as much money as possible! He's probably the one that negotiated Lindsey's cut!
The more I think about it, the less this is holding together for me. I think I need more to go on before I buy into this conspiracy theory.