Great new interview with Christine

[Danielle]

CHRISTINE McVie’s return to Fleetwood Mac has made many people extremely happy — none more so than the other members of Fleetwood Mac.
At one point during her 16-year sabbatical from Fleetwood Mac bandmate Stevie Nicks straight up offered McVie $5 million right there and then if she’d rejoin the band.
“I said ‘Is that all!,” McVie laughs. “I’m only worth $5 million?!”
It’s worth noting that 40 US dates of their On With the Show tour since McVie officially rejoined in January 2014 generated over US$74 million, and they’ll at least triple that when they spend most of this year touring before winding up in Australia and New Zealand in November.
Once she was back in Mac, Nicks gave her friend a silver chain, a metaphorical gift that McVie says echoes the sentiment of the band’s classic The Chain because “the chain of the band will never be broken” then she adds “not by me anyways. Not again by me”.

Read more here (http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/music/christine-mcvie-rejoins-fleetwood-mac-for-on-with-the-show-tour/story-e6frfn29-1227295404569).

[Danielle]

“The new stuff is magic,” McVie says. “I came over with really rough demos and it just clicked. Mick on the drums, Lindsay on guitar and me on piano. We’ve done seven songs, they’re just rough vocals and parts have to be replaced and added on to. The fairy dust. Stevie’s got to add her songs, I guess we’ll finish part of it before we come to Australia, then finish it off in February, release it mid year.
“And I’d suggest, and don’t quote me on the particulars, but I’d say it’ll probably be a farewell tour after that. One of us might be dead by then! I joke, of course.”

[Feather Blade]

“The new stuff is magic,” McVie says. “I came over with really rough demos and it just clicked. Mick on the drums, Lindsay on guitar and me on piano. We’ve done seven songs, they’re just rough vocals and parts have to be replaced and added on to. The fairy dust. Stevie’s got to add her songs, I guess we’ll finish part of it before we come to Australia, then finish it off in February, release it mid year.
“And I’d suggest, and don’t quote me on the particulars, but I’d say it’ll probably be a farewell tour after that. One of us might be dead by then! I joke, of course.”

Good news! Thank you for sharing.

[nicepace]

A comment from Mick in this story is interesting:

The audience itself have their own story to tell. Our funny old music is flicking switches as they’re sitting there. That doesn’t happen when you’re 19 playing to other 19-year-olds. It’s not better, it’s just more powerful, the emotional exchange that’s going on.

This explains the rationale behind doing the "greatest hits" set without any new material. For most people who listen to music, they enjoy listening to the music that was popular when they were children or teenagers. (It "flicks their switches" -- nice turn of phrase there.)

Thus you have the people at Fleetwood Mac concerts in their 40s, 50s, 60s who want to hear the songs from the '70s and '80s, and simply aren't interested in new music. Fleetwood Mac are playing to the masses. The fans (of any age) who want to hear new material will just have to wait.

I don't personally agree that hearing the old songs that are reminders of years gone by is "more powerful" than hearing new music, but I realize I'm not like everybody else.

[bombaysaffires]

About the new songs with Lindsey:

However none of that new music will be heard on the tour, which is a casual fan’s delight — a wall-to-wall greatest hits set.



There has been whispers about Fleetwood Mac playing 1977’s Rumours album in full, but Fleetwood notes the first time they tried that it didn’t go down so well.
“I remember we’d just finished Rumours and we thought it was so great we thought the audience would love to hear the whole album. So we played the whole album. And to tell you the truth we died a death. People didn’t know the songs. We changed that set within five days of being on the road.

but that was 1977 when people didn't know the album… they sure do now. I'm not advocating they perform the whole album in sequence, but to use the logic that 38 years ago when it was first released people didn't respond well seems totally irrelevant logic now when the whole world knows the songs.



about stopping the last tour for John's cancer treatment:

“It was a huge deal,” says Fleetwood. “All of us are gagsters, John is the gagster of gagster.

Big difference between being a gagster and being a gigster. C'mon, reporter.



McVie is also thrilled about spending an extended amount of time with Stevie Nicks again.
“A lot of people think there’s competition between us because we’re women in the same band,” she says.
“There isn’t at all. We are fantastically close. Because we’re so unalike we’re not competitive in the slightest. She is Stevie, the brand, the whole package. I’m what you would describe as a performer and she’s an artist. We differentiate between that, we respect each other for that and we have a terrific laugh together.”

Oh Chris, you are definitely an artist. Stevie is more the "performer" in the traditional sense, really.

[michelej1]

[Thank you Danielle]

Cameron Adams National music writer Herald Sun April 08, 2015

http://www.couriermail.com.au/entertainment/music/christine-mcvie-rejoins-fleetwood-mac-for-on-with-the-show-tour/story-fnihmfcp-1227295404569


CHRISTINE McVie’s return to Fleetwood Mac has made many people extremely happy — none more so than the other members of Fleetwood Mac.

At one point during her 16-year sabbatical from Fleetwood Mac bandmate Stevie Nicks straight up offered McVie $5 million right there and then if she’d rejoin the band.

“I said ‘Is that all!,” McVie laughs. “I’m only worth $5 million?!”

It’s worth noting that 40 US dates of their On With the Show tour since McVie officially rejoined in January 2014 generated over US$74 million, and they’ll at least triple that when they spend most of this year touring before winding up in Australia and New Zealand in November.

Once she was back in Mac, Nicks gave her friend a silver chain, a metaphorical gift that McVie says echoes the sentiment of the band’s classic The Chain because “the chain of the band will never be broken” then she adds “not by me anyways. Not again by me”.

McVie broke the chain in 1998. The singer-songwriter-keyboardist had a crippling fear of flying and a longing for a simpler life not lived out of a suitcase. (True fact: she now has a separate hotel room for her luggage.)

“I just wanted to be settled,” McVie recalls. “I wanted to live in a home and not be a nomad. It’d been, like, 35 or 40 years of that life and I said ‘No, I can’t do this any more’ and I quit.”

McVie, now 71, restored a house in Kent and lived quietly with her dogs, only venturing into music to make her third solo album in 2004 with her nephew Dan Perfect (Perfect is her maiden name).

When Fleetwood Mac would tour the UK (and she didn’t have to get on a plane) McVie would go and see her former band, discreetly, from the sound desk.

“They sounded bloody great,” McVie recalls. “But it was a strange sensation watching them. And they had this empty place where my Hammond (organ) and piano were. They kept that space empty.”

Mick Fleetwood insists that McVie rejoining the band was never discussed.

“When Chris would come see us when we spent all those years without her none of us would ever say anything,” Fleetwood says. “It was just very apparent she was never going to do this again. It was unspoken.”

That came from a personal pact Fleetwood and McVie made when she left the band.

“She was adamant she wouldn’t come back,” Fleetwood says, “but she knows I am always going to be the weasel finding ways to keep the band going. When she left, I remember going to her room. I’d already conceded defeat that she was going, but she maybe didn’t know that. She sat me down and held my hand and just said ‘Don’t ask me’.

“Whether I was going to ask her or not, that moment was something I did honour. I never, ever instigated that conversation again because I promised her in that room that I never would. That’s where we left it until she herself made decisions that made sense in her world to return to Fleetwood Mac. And boy was I happy.”

The decision, McVie remembers, came while bored on her property.

“I was just rotting away, doing nothing” she says. “I thought to myself that the only people I would want to play with again would be Fleetwood Mac. I didn’t want to form another band, I felt that was where I belonged. When I came back they felt it’s where I belonged as well.”

There were baby steps before she shared her decision with the band. McVie first had to deal with being on planes.

“I’ve been to a psychiatrist for the last few years for other various issues, one of which being fear of flying. Now I don’t care about flying, I don’t like the turbulence you get occasionally, but it’s fine.”

Her psychiatrist asked her where she’d want to fly if she could go anywhere. She said Maui, where Mick Fleetwood lives.

This was 2013. Fleetwood was in England promoting a Fleetwood Mac tour. Secretly, McVie went to Dublin where she’d rehearse with Fleetwood Mac for a one-off show at the O2 Arena in September.

Those two shows, where she joined the band for her song Don’t Stop, were book-ended by McVie playing with Fleetwood’s blues band in Maui.

Then things got real.

“Gradually the thought of me coming back into the band became a real possibility,” she says. “Everybody wanted that, including myself. But it was a commitment. Lindsay (Buckingham) said ‘You can’t just say you want to come back, you have to commit’. And I said ‘Yes, I commit. I commit. And I have committed, from now until we drop!”

She borrowed Fleetwood’s dietitian and trainer as the band wrote new material in California, again on the sly.

“Chris is the classic Old English girl who’d say ‘What are you talking about going to a gym!,” Fleetwood jokes. “Now she does yoga and she loves it. We’re older, we’re not ancient but we’re older (Fleetwood is 67, John McVie is 69, Buckingham is 65 and Nicks is 66). This is tough work. We’re on stage three hours a night.”

Fleetwood is legimitately still surprised McVie has returned.

“None of us, including Christine ... none of us had any idea two years ago that this would have possibly have ever transpired or happened again. So we are reminded of that every night with the audience. I look across the stage and go ‘Sh--, she really is there!’

“For all of us, musically, selfishly for John (McVie), myself and Chris we consider ourselves very much part of the rhythm section. And she’d be the first to say that’s where she fits, she’s a piano player who plays right in there with Mick and John. It’s so cool to have her touch back. The cream on top of the pudding is having her songs and her lovely voice back. It’s beyond a blessing.”

The surprise of the return isn’t lost on McVie either.

“Nobody thought it would ever happen. If you’d said to me ten years ago I was going to go back to Fleetwood Mac I would have laughed in your face. But it’s happened. It’s a destiny. I just think we are meant to be together. Honestly it’s got a lot to do with Mick and his passion for this band. My really dear friend Mick. What’s not to love about Mick? He’s crazy and beautiful at the same time.”

McVie is also thrilled about spending an extended amount of time with Stevie Nicks again.

“A lot of people think there’s competition between us because we’re women in the same band,” she says.

“There isn’t at all. We are fantastically close. Because we’re so unalike we’re not competitive in the slightest. She is Stevie, the brand, the whole package. I’m what you would describe as a performer and she’s an artist. We differentiate between that, we respect each other for that and we have a terrific laugh together.”

Both band members beam about what they’re witnessing on each night of this tour.

“In the audience there’s something unfolding which is way more powerful than it’s ever been, which has been magnified by the return of Christine,” Fleetwood says.

“The audience itself have their own story to tell. Our funny old music is flicking switches as they’re sitting there. That doesn’t happen when you’re 19 playing to other 19-year-olds. It’s not better, it’s just more powerful, the emotional exchange that’s going on. Truthfully, I can’t imagine that it’s not about as good as it could possibly get for a performer to have that unfold.”

McVie is also glowing with her return to the stage and what it means to people.

“It’s utter joy,” McVie says.

“You look out into the audience and you see so much joy on people’s faces. You make eye contact with people who are almost crying because they can’t believe they’re seeing the Rumours five back again, they can’t believe their eyes. It’s almost like a family reunion on stage, there’s no angst, there’s no animosity, there’s just tremendous amount of friendship.”

Fleetwood Mac stories often tend to focus on the fights, the drugs, the drinking, the relationships, the affairs and the breakups. But the happy ending is that after all of that, they’re friends.

“First and foremost we are a family,” McVie says. “Dysfunctional though we might have been, we’re not now. I believe we’re fairly grounded in our dotage. We genuinely enjoy each other’s company.”

Fleetwood Mac’s proposed summer Australian tour of 2013 was cancelled when John McVie was diagnosed with cancer in October. The band who never stopped took themselves off the road.

“It was a huge deal,” says Fleetwood. “All of us are gagsters, John is the gagster of gagster. But that was one where he had to suck it up. Putting it off and not dealing with illness wasn’t mentionable. He had to get it handled, he did and he’s 100 per cent fit.

“We’re celebrating that quietly, although John doesn’t want to hear about that, he’s too straight ahead. But that’s the most important thing above anything. I know quietly John is no drama queen, he’ll be hugely gratified we are completing the Australian dates and doing it in good spirits — and with Christine.”

McVie says she and her ex-husband remain incredibly close friends, and says his recovery is going brilliantly.

“He was quite edgy about two months ago, he had his first annual check-up and he came out with glowing colours. He’s dancing around like Mickey Mouse at the moment. He’s doing really really well, he looks great and he’s playing unbelievably.”

The band came up with the tour name The Show Must Go On (”it does seem like that’s what we’re doing” says Fleetwood) when in the studio making new music.

However none of that new music will be heard on the tour, which is a casual fan’s delight — a wall-to-wall greatest hits set.

“On the next world tour, which I truly believe there will be, there’ll be some new songs people wouldn’t have heard,” Fleetwood says. “This tour is so about a celebration of Chris coming back and songs we haven’t played in what feels like the better part of 20 years.”

It’s a sign of respect for McVie that when she left, unlike some other bands, her classic songs like Songbird, You Make Loving Fun, Little Lies and Everywhere were not performed.

“They did Don’t Stop, but that’s a communal chanting song we all sing anyway, but they couldn’t do any of the others,” McVie says. “So their set changed, for obvious reasons. Now with me coming back you’ve got some of my softer romantic songs coming back in, so it’s a really nice balance. You get the gritty, gnarly Linsday, the hardcore Stevie Gold Dust Woman stuff, we bugger about and have some fun, play our instruments and jam together, it’s fantastic.”

There has been whispers about Fleetwood Mac playing 1977’s Rumours album in full, but Fleetwood notes the first time they tried that it didn’t go down so well.

“I remember we’d just finished Rumours and we thought it was so great we thought the audience would love to hear the whole album. So we played the whole album. And to tell you the truth we died a death. People didn’t know the songs. We changed that set within five days of being on the road.

“You have a lot of great energy by including three or four new songs but you can’t whack people over the head and expect them to not want to hear all the lovely things they’re emotionally connected to. So we pay heed to that, as does any performer who has their head screwed on.”

February 2014 saw Fleetwood, McVie and Buckingham record seven songs for what will be the next Fleetwood Mac album, and the first featuring McVie since 1995.

It will be released next year.

“The new stuff is magic,” McVie says. “I came over with really rough demos and it just clicked. Mick on the drums, Lindsay on guitar and me on piano. We’ve done seven songs, they’re just rough vocals and parts have to be replaced and added on to. The fairy dust. Stevie’s got to add her songs, I guess we’ll finish part of it before we come to Australia, then finish it off in February, release it mid year.

“And I’d suggest, and don’t quote me on the particulars, but I’d say it’ll probably be a farewell tour after that. One of us might be dead by then! I joke, of course.”

A savvy Fleetwood is quick to douse the potential headlines of a Fleetwood Mac farewell tour, but admits all good things will come to an end.

“It’s fair comment,” he says of McVie’s theory.

“Having said that the Stones are always about to never do it again and they do. Or you can take Christine coming back into Fleetwood Mac, that comes under the heading of never say never. The reality is of course there’s a window, you see the other side of the window which is time itself. This is tough work.

“So we might say ‘OK we’re ever going to do that again (heavy touring)’ but that’s not to say we’re never going to make any more music or you’ll do a couple of crazy festivals now and again.

“After the next world tour we do, I’d say as far as that level of work it’d be looked at as saying goodbye. That would be fairly likely, I would think. We would want people to know when we next go out if we’re all saying ‘We’re never going to do this again’. Which isn’t to say we’re never going to play again, but we’re never going to do this at this level.

“Maybe we’d do Glastonbury or something once in a while. The Stones work and they still tour but they also do these funny, one-off things where they do something super cool just because they want to. That I think doesn’t need to disappear but touring at this level would be considered more than likely saying goodbye on the next world tour I would think. Fortunately we have a s — load of work to do before we even think about stopping!”

[michelej1]

Big difference between being a gagster and being a gigster. C'mon, reporter.


You mean John is not constantly pranking them?

Michele

[Andy Man]

About the new songs with Lindsey:



There has been whispers about Fleetwood Mac playing 1977’s Rumours album in full, but Fleetwood notes the first time they tried that it didn’t go down so well.
“I remember we’d just finished Rumours and we thought it was so great we thought the audience would love to hear the whole album. So we played the whole album. And to tell you the truth we died a death. People didn’t know the songs. We changed that set within five days of being on the road.

but that was 1977 when people didn't know the album… they sure do now. I'm not advocating they perform the whole album in sequence, but to use the logic that 38 years ago when it was first released people didn't respond well seems totally irrelevant logic now when the whole world knows the songs.




I thought the same thing. Interesting that this was even brought up in the interview, good on the interviewer! I do not believe, though, that playing Rumours from beginning to end within a FM set would work. There are just too many of the "greatest hits" (i.e. late in the set songs) from "Rumours". I feel as if a concert with this album performed from beginning to end would definitely "lull" after it's been played. Now Tusk, on the other hand, that would be incredible and could work. One can dream...

However, if they wanted to shoot a live film (ala The Dance) with the record from beginning to end...that I think could work.

[jbrownsjr]

You mean John is not constantly pranking them?

Michele

I swear that's exactly what I thought reading it. I had to question myself.. does John do jokes???

[bombaysaffires]

I swear that's exactly what I thought reading it. I had to question myself.. does John do jokes???

either that or he chokes on his food a lot.... :sorry:

[jbrownsjr]

either that or he chokes on his food a lot.... :sorry:

Among other things......................:laugh:

[FuzzyPlum]

I love Christine's phraseology
'...we bugger about and have some fun, play our instruments and jam together, it’s fantastic'

Did they really need to use that god-awful picture of Stevie at the end of the article?

[wheart]

I love Christine's phraseology
'...we bugger about and have some fun, play our instruments and jam together, it’s fantastic'

Did they really need to use that god-awful picture of Stevie at the end of the article?

I know, right? It was such a nice direct, logical interview (unlike what we usually get from Stevie and Lindsey) and then BAM there's cracked out Stevie!! Totally random.

[bombaysaffires]

Among other things......................:laugh:

well, I wasn't gonna say it........:woohoo:

[jbrownsjr]

I love Christine's phraseology
'...we bugger about and have some fun, play our instruments and jam together, it’s fantastic'

Did they really need to use that god-awful picture of Stevie at the end of the article?

I swear, I thought it was a chiffon head dressed as Stevie!! lolol.. I looked for a caption...

[michelej1]

I know, right? It was such a nice direct, logical interview (unlike what we usually get from Stevie and Lindsey) and then BAM there's cracked out Stevie!! Totally random.

It's true. You would have to shuffle through a pile of 6000 other photos of Stevie before you ever found that one to print.

Michele

[pattyfan]

I think it's funny that they said that playing Rumours from start to finish would never work. As they said in the interview, it didn't work at the time because no one knew the songs. But they basically play Rumours, sans I Don't Want to Know and Oh Daddy (and now, Songbird) anyway. It would not even be a stretch for them to do it now.

Anyway, great interview. :) And yes, not a flattering picture of Stevie at the end. It must suck to be famous and have every bad pic or stupid thing that you say (because we all have bad pics and have said stupid things) on the net for everyone to see.

Kevin

[elle]

Stevie’s got to add her songs, I guess we’ll finish part of it before we come to Australia, then finish it off in February, release it mid year.
“And I’d suggest, and don’t quote me on the particulars, but I’d say it’ll probably be a farewell tour after that. One of us might be dead by then! I joke, of course.”

this is the most concrete timeline we've heard from any of them. interesting! Mick didn't say anything nearly as concrete in that breakfast interview few days ago. but didn't Christine also say some time last year that they'll release some of the new songs spring 2015 before going to the UK? wonder whether this new timeline will hold up.

[Macfan4life]

I LOVE this interview. Thank you for posting! I cant fall more in love with Christine and this interview is another reason why. I love her honesty and LOVE the fact she wants to do another world tour (to say goodbye). I love it!

I love how Chris acknowledged how excited the audience is to see them. The band feeds off that excitement. It warmed my heart to see Chris keep blowing kisses to the front row in Miami.

The Stevie photo is freaky. Do you think it was Halloween and she looked like a zombie or witch on purpose? Even her dress is a bit old fashioned witchy. She did not dress like that in the mid 80's. It looks like she has 2 black eyes. She was that coked out to not realize how crazy she looks?

[gssmith]

A new album next year?!?! Sooner then expected. I thought 2017.
Great interview!
And that stupid pic of Stevie at the end? Haha love it

[lovethemac1]

That pic of Stevie at the end...............totally catches you off guard. Then I laughed. Then I felt bad, but man she looks crazy........:sorry:

[James89]

I would love to know what Stevie herself makes of that photo now as I think she looks bloody awful and I'm sure she would agree.

[jbrownsjr]

I think all interviews should be done by Christine. She doesn't go on and on and on and on about herself. :laugh:

Stevie is the most loving, giving, caring person of Fleetwood Mac.. just ask her..

[wheart]

this is the most concrete timeline we've heard from any of them. interesting! Mick didn't say anything nearly as concrete in that breakfast interview few days ago. but didn't Christine also say some time last year that they'll release some of the new songs spring 2015 before going to the UK? wonder whether this new timeline will hold up.

But somehow when it's quoted from Chris, it just makes sense and I believe it. She's definitely the calm center of the band, both on stage and off. I think they will follow through with this timeline. Mick said recently it would be crazy to wait another 5 years before releasing something and touring again. I feel hopeful.:)

[michelej1]

Just hearing that they will be working on the new music before Australia is very comforting and exciting.

Michele

[elle]

Just hearing that they will be working on the new music before Australia is very comforting and exciting.

Michele

As long as that includes Stevie working with them.

Otherwise it's just more of them wasting their time on the music we'll never get to hear.

[michelej1]

As long as that includes Stevie working with them.



Even if it's just Lindsey and Christine, the fact that they're working on it will keep their interest in having it released peaked. If it's just on a shelf in moth balls, even they will lose interest in it soon enough.

If they finish the songs and feel the spark again, then maybe they'll also be motivated to get the music out one way or another. Revisiting it will give them an opportunity to get excited again, even if we don't have anything to get excited about yet.

Michele

[FuzzyPlum]

Even if it's just Lindsey and Christine, the fact that they're working on it will keep their interest in having it released peaked. If it's just on a shelf in moth balls, even they will lose interest in it soon enough.

If they finish the songs and feel the spark again, then maybe they'll also be motivated to get the music out one way or another. Revisiting it will give them an opportunity to get excited again, even if we don't have anything to get excited about yet.

Michele

I'm excited.
Anyway '...we've done seven songs'... I wonder whether the previous Lindsey/Mick/John material will also be factored in.

[pauls90]

As long as that includes Stevie working with them.

Otherwise it's just more of them wasting their time on the music we'll never get to hear.

True. But the way she worded it seemed like it's wasn't a question of if but when Stevie will start. Now it almost sounds like they've had dialogue about it (which is also comforting). It was a very frank, upfront statement about their ideas for the recording schedule, so maybe the gears are moving a lot more than we realize!

[Feather Blade]

You mean John is not constantly pranking them?

Michele

Ha ha, now I am picturing John filling Lindsey's palm up with shaving cream while he naps on the plane. :D

[wheart]

True. But the way she worded it seemed like it's wasn't a question of if but when Stevie will start. Now it almost sounds like they've had dialogue about it (which is also comforting). It was a very frank, upfront statement about their ideas for the recording schedule, so maybe the gears are moving a lot more than we realize!

Right! she didn't make Stevie's participation sound questionable or uncertain. I think if she wasn't sure about what Stevie was planning on doing she would have chosen her words differently...or maybe Stevie hasn't made up her mind yet and Chris was just speaking in very general terms. But I sure hope that's not the case.

[elle]

I'm excited.
Anyway '...we've done seven songs'... I wonder whether the previous Lindsey/Mick/John material will also be factored in.
it was 8 songs 6 months ago, they are regressing. ;)

no, this is on top of Lindsey/Mick/John 2012 material. Lindsey has way too many songs recorded already for them to all fit on FM album. guess he should put out solo album in parallel with the Mac one in 2016 - they can do cross-promotion. :D

True. But the way she worded it seemed like it's wasn't a question of if but when Stevie will start. Now it almost sounds like they've had dialogue about it (which is also comforting). It was a very frank, upfront statement about their ideas for the recording schedule, so maybe the gears are moving a lot more than we realize!
the way she worded it sounds as - Stevie needs to add her songs, we'll start on that before AUS, and finish it all up in Feb 2016. in the past they made it sound like everything but the SN parts is finished on those 8 CM/LB's songs. there's no reason for them to go into studio and work on finishing anything if SN is not there.

Right! she didn't make Stevie's participation sound questionable or uncertain. I think if she wasn't sure about what Stevie was planning on doing she would have chosen her words differently...or maybe Stevie hasn't made up her mind yet and Chris was just speaking in very general terms. But I sure hope that's not the case.
i hope you are right.

Lindsey has a lecture / Q&A in LA at the end of the month. hopefully people ask him about the album and plans - as they do Mick at every m&g. would be very curious to hear what Lindsey says in that kind of semi-public setting.

[aleuzzi]

Of all the interviews given by various band members, thus one has made me feel the best about the new material. Even if the seven songs aren't as finished as we originally thought, Christine's enthusiasm about them, and the timeline she offers here are encouraging. Studio work before going to Australia is a great idea and should be good for them as musicians.

Will Stevie be there? I don't even care that much if she is or isn't at this point. The momentum between Christine and Lindsey is pretty exciting--and hardly surprising. Their mutual respect and rapport is a given.

[hightower_1001]

While I love Stevie with all my heart and adore her music, the good and the bad, I would be very interested to hear new music from Fleetwood Mac if it would just be Lindsey and Christine and the songs they worked on. It would be exciting to hear what they come up with and what direction they would go in.

[PenguinHead]

I swear, I thought it was a chiffon head dressed as Stevie!! lolol.. I looked for a caption...

Random thoughts:

That is a rather disturbing photo of Stevie.

It's a laughable notion to consider performing Rumours in it's entirety. They have milked that album to death. With the exception of I Don't Want to Know, the rest of those songs have been the bedrock of their shows since 1977. Performing it in sequence holds no intrigue whatsoever. How more redundant can one get? But as one astute Ledgie noted, performing the Tusk album would be a worthy event.

One of my favorite album by Elton John (circa 1975) is Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy (a song biography about him and his lyricist Bernie Taupin). A bonus CD featured a show with him performing the entire album when it was just released. Here is how he began the show: "We've got a new album out. I'm sorry it's 3.25 pounds, but I'll tell you about that later. We're going to do the whole album. It usually bores people to tears to play things people don't know, but we're going to take that chance." For fans, this is a rare treasure.

He did perform a several hit songs at the end of the show. But this was just a one-off show. The subsequent tour was more balanced with more familiar songs. But it's great to have a document of "once in a lifetime" live performances of all the songs. Only one song from that album survived to be performed in future shows.

I'd like to see Fleetwood Mac doing something sort of like that when they have retired from recording and doing large scale tours...to have them just pop up now and then and do something interesting on a small scale, like mining songs overlooked and less traveled; songs that can be reinvented in live performance.

Do we know of any professional film/recordings of their current tour? Are there plans for it? Perhaps that will happen at the end of their tour. Though it would be redundant to have yet another mutation of the all their road-weary songs, it would be nice to have a professionally recorded/film release of a show from this historic tour. At least it would a nice placeholder while we wait for the new album.

It is reassuring to hear Lindsey, Mick and Christine talk in terms that make it seem like it's an inevitability Stevie will finish the new album with them. I hope she feels that it's the right thing to do. She has committed a year of her life to be on the road with them; a month or so of studio time is not a lot to ask for.

[Jondalar]

I don't even care about Stevie's songs for this next album. What Lindsey and Christine created on Tango was magic and I can tell that they are both extremely excited about the songs they just recorded together.

I just wish that Stevie would throw in some songs so we can get an album and hear what Lindsey and Christine created. Plus, I want to hear the Christine/Stevie harmonies again.