This was likely a Business Decision

[Ench]

I suspect that, at this time of their lives, that they didn't want their last ever tour to be an absolute nightmare. It may be less important what they were arguing about, and more important that they were arguing.

As people have been saying, the Stevie/Lindsey schtick is fake as fake can be. Perhaps she just didn't want to do it any more.

A FM tour without Lindsey is clearly a lesser thing than a tour without him. But, perhaps the other members (or enough of them) decided they'd prefer that to having to put up with the tour being a misery. Which more and more I'm getting the impression that it might have been.

[sodascouts]

Maybe Mick looked over at how well the Eagles were selling without Glenn Frey and thought "I bet we can sell just as many tickets without Lindsey Buckingham as long as we have Stevie Nicks."

It's a galling thought to anyone who appreciates Lindsey Buckingham, but otherwise, I can't see how breaking up the Rumours lineup could be considered a GOOD business decision.

[Lola]

Originally Posted by sodascouts

Maybe Mick looked over at how well the Eagles were selling without Glenn Frey and thought "I bet we can sell just as many tickets without Lindsey Buckingham as long as we have Stevie Nicks."

It's a galling thought to anyone who appreciates Lindsey Buckingham, but otherwise, I can't see how breaking up the Rumours lineup could be considered a GOOD business decision.

I can see this. Chris is back, Stevie is still considered the main draw. They get Mike Campbell who is kind of "related" to FM via Stevie's relationship with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. They add Neil Finn and give it a go. If Lindsey really held his ground/whatever Mick figures this is an "easier" way to go?

[button-lip]

Originally Posted by dreamsunwind

Lindsey probably did put his foot down because he wanted to do his solo dates. But according to the Tom Petty photographer (who I at first doubted somewhat, but after the announcement looks like he was mostly right), Stevie then got fed up with his 'arrogance' and his requests that she told Mick "it's him or me".

While we can't know the exact truth this seems like the likely story. They both stood their ground and it got ugly. But it should not have ended like this, they should've done whatever it took to make it work.

And we have another winner! Except that you're not posting what you think Lindsey did.
What people need to know is that Lindsey was ready to postpone his solo tour once he realized he couldn't convince Mick. But decisions were already made because Stevie wanted him out.
And Mike was already approached by them even before Lindsey knew he was being fired.

[elle]

Originally Posted by button-lip

And we have another winner! Except that you're not posting what you think Lindsey did.
What people need to know is that Lindsey was ready to postpone his solo tour once he realized he couldn't convince Mick. But decisions were already made because Stevie wanted him out.
And Mike was already approached by them even before Lindsey knew he was being fired.

man i missed a lot! i've never heard this piece of the story. do we know this, or it's just someone speculation?

what i also find bizarre is people claiming how it's obvious that LB not giving his normal 200% at the Classics but instead just regular 110% is what gives FM every right to get rid of him as a bad employee. how can anyone say this with a straight face? have you all seen the last 4 FM tours? if you haven't seen tours than read the reviews? more often than not, Stevie was practically a zombie sleepwalking through FM shows, making it clear she could care less about FM. her solo fans say she's a completely different person, engaged and happy on her solo outings. so why was she not fired anytime between 2009 and now for not giving it a 100%?

[jbrownsjr]

Originally Posted by elle

man i missed a lot! i've never heard this piece of the story. do we know this, or it's just someone speculation?

what i also find bizarre is people claiming how it's obvious that LB not giving his normal 200% at the Classics but instead just regular 110% is what gives FM every right to get rid of him as a bad employee. how can anyone say this with a straight face? have you all seen the last 4 FM tours? if you haven't seen tours than read the reviews? more often than not, Stevie was practically a zombie sleepwalking through FM shows, making it clear she could care less about FM. her solo fans say she's a completely different person, engaged and happy on her solo outings. so why was she not fired anytime between 2009 and now for not giving it a 100%?

ummm because of $$$

[iamnotafraid]

Originally Posted by elle

...have you all seen the last 4 FM tours? if you haven't seen tours than read the reviews? more often than not, Stevie was practically a zombie sleepwalking through FM shows...

She's been doing that for so long.
If one were critical, you could date
that back to everything that came
after the Mirage Tour.

Unless you're wearing blinders it's
easy to see. I know because I wore
them for a long time.

[jkmaletic]

Originally Posted by elle

man i missed a lot! i've never heard this piece of the story. do we know this, or it's just someone speculation?

what i also find bizarre is people claiming how it's obvious that LB not giving his normal 200% at the Classics but instead just regular 110% is what gives FM every right to get rid of him as a bad employee. how can anyone say this with a straight face? have you all seen the last 4 FM tours? if you haven't seen tours than read the reviews? more often than not, Stevie was practically a zombie sleepwalking through FM shows, making it clear she could care less about FM. her solo fans say she's a completely different person, engaged and happy on her solo outings. so why was she not fired anytime between 2009 and now for not giving it a 100%?

I would have actually preferred they fire Stevie at this point. It would've been much easier all around, and I don't think there would be nearly the amount of backlash that there is for Lindsey. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure most of Stevie's fans would be like, well- that's unfortunate, but oh well! Solo tour time!!

As far some saying Lindsey was willing to compromise and yet they still fired him? - that has to be complete garbage. That would just be outright insanity. The likely scenario from what I've read is both sides put their feet down resulting in the firing.

Some are also saying Lindsey was fired for not giving his best when performing? - That's complete garbage too. That guy has always given his all, and FM knows that.

Jamie

[Storms123]

Some are also saying Lindsey was fired for not giving his best when performing? - That's complete garbage too. That guy has always given his all, and FM knows that.

Jamie[/QUOTE]

And Mick even says so himself when he does his "band intros" and introduces Lindsey. He's (Lindsey) the only one who never leaves the stage for 3 hours!! There is so much speculation back and forth. I hope against all hope that the ultimatum and nastiness isn't what went down. Aside from the legacy of the band, it's just an awful narrative as a human being. I have to wonder how long it takes for Stevie's "mentionitis" to kick in. Could make for some awkward moments? While this tour won't fail, I am doubtful it will be as successful as "OWTS" was. I hope they can recover from this and give the fans and themselves one last final outing.

[Lola]

I found this on one of the Stevie tumblr blogs:



I have connections, and make no mistake that the ONLY part Stevie played in Lindsey's firing, is that she is not available to tour later next year. She has solo commitments for after this already-planned Mac tour, only for him to decide he wanted to postpone. So FM had to choose between touring now without Lindsey, or touring next year without Stevie. Alas, fans need a bad guy and they've decided Stevie's it.

Asked by Anonymous
Sure, but it also has a lot to do with the the recent past: Stevie refusing to record a new album with FM and instead wanting to tour with an older album of hers, many people were pissed about that, and it’s not hard to imagine that this was also part of the build up that led to Lindsey’s departure.

[elle]

Originally Posted by Lola

I found this on one of the Stevie tumblr blogs:



I have connections, and make no mistake that the ONLY part Stevie played in Lindsey's firing, is that she is not available to tour later next year. S

it will be interesting to see the tour dates when they come out next week. i've heard that they will start with just a few dates to test the water, since they didn't expect all the backlash. but who knows, maybe they announce the whole tour. if the tour goes into late this year, this speculation will immediately be proven obsolete.

[button-lip]

Originally Posted by Ench

I suspect that, at this time of their lives, that they didn't want their last ever tour to be an absolute nightmare. It may be less important what they were arguing about, and more important that they were arguing.

As people have been saying, the Stevie/Lindsey schtick is fake as fake can be. Perhaps she just didn't want to do it any more.

A FM tour without Lindsey is clearly a lesser thing than a tour without him. But, perhaps the other members (or enough of them) decided they'd prefer that to having to put up with the tour being a misery. Which more and more I'm getting the impression that it might have been.

I agree but that doesn't give them the right to fire him and leave many people without a job in the process. That's petty, arrogant and tacky.

Come on, it can't be that bad! Stevie is also a "me, me, me" person and I'm sure they also have to deal with her whimps, but no one ever cross the line and try to go on without her.

[button-lip]

Originally Posted by sodascouts

Maybe Mick looked over at how well the Eagles were selling without Glenn Frey and thought "I bet we can sell just as many tickets without Lindsey Buckingham as long as we have Stevie Nicks."

It's a galling thought to anyone who appreciates Lindsey Buckingham, but otherwise, I can't see how breaking up the Rumours lineup could be considered a GOOD business decision.

Eagles are selling 60% of the arenas capacity, and Glenn Frey is dead. They must have thought fans reactions wouldn't be the same because Lindsey is pretty much alive.

[bombaysaffires]

Originally Posted by Lola

I found this on one of the Stevie tumblr blogs:



I have connections, and make no mistake that the ONLY part Stevie played in Lindsey's firing, is that she is not available to tour later next year. She has solo commitments for after this already-planned Mac tour, only for him to decide he wanted to postpone. So FM had to choose between touring now without Lindsey, or touring next year without Stevie. Alas, fans need a bad guy and they've decided Stevie's it.

Asked by Anonymous
Sure, but it also has a lot to do with the the recent past: Stevie refusing to record a new album with FM and instead wanting to tour with an older album of hers, many people were pissed about that, and it’s not hard to imagine that this was also part of the build up that led to Lindsey’s departure.

this puts a more realistic context around the reports that Mick/the band mgmt had polled promoters to see which configuration of the band would sell more tickets (and then use that as their decision tool )

The essence of the rumour is true but there was no context around it. Context matters.

Still doesn't change what I think of the outcome, but it shows better how the pieces fell into place.

So with this info I can see them debating back and forth about dates, and Stevie / her camp saying "look, we already have dates booked / planned for next year, so I will not be available for any Mac dates then" and then I can absolutely see them throwing down the gauntlet and saying, "so decide if you want him or me". This would be very very very in line with the tactic she / they used during SYW negotiations about the album being single or double album... she threatened, "if you make it a double album I will not tour beyond the 40 dates we've already booked". It reinforces that of course they know she's a major draw for the audience (and they clearly believe she is the MAIN draw) and will throw out that card whenever it suits their agenda... "well fine, do what you want, but if you do Stevie will take her ball and go home". They know this will scare the pants off Mick...and....she gets her way.

They can couch it as just giving the band the facts and letting the band decide as much as they want, but it was clearly intended and taken as an ultimatum.

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by Lola

Of course, I just think the prospect of the Rumours 5 would result in the most ticket sales.

I don't know what happened (basically what I read here). I've been thinking more about what you've posted--let me see if I've got it right.
It could have been LB who wouldn't budge on his solo tour (after Stevie postponed 24K Gold tour due to Chris returning). Then they or LB discussed a concurrent tour as an alternative to delaying FM tour. When that didn't work he was fired so that he can do solo tour and FM can do their tour.

Sorry to be so thick headed here but at times I need someone to spell it out for me step by step.

Yes. That's what I was so trying to say.