Tusk Tour Stories
 

We were talking about the Rumours tour in another thread about a week ago. I thought it would be cool if people could share their stories from the Tusk Tour. I know we have people here who were lucky enough to see them.

If you went, let us know all you can remember from 30 years ago! ;) When/where did you see them? Did you like the setlist, new songs, was Stevie boring? Was Lindsey's haircut a shock? Did John McVie go crazy?

Seriously - please share whatever special moments you can remember. They are all special and it is fun to read them.

I certainly remember. I was 9 when Fleetwood Mac came to Minneapolis on May 9&10 1980. I remember beggin my mom for like 3 weeks to let me go but she wouldnt let me said I was too young......:distress:

Funny you say that... when they came to Richfield (Cleveland) my mom said you go to the Browns vs Cowboys game with your father...

I begged to go to see FMac instead but they made me got to the football game...

I don't think they knew I was gay yet.... football??!!!

They knew-that's why they forced you to go to the game. Those players love to touch each others butts.:eek::lol:

The cool part was (it was a Mon night game) The Browns won if I remember correctly.... and I got to stay up late... which was awesome when you were 12...

Did you see the tusk tour, viv?

That's too bad, David. Hopefully all the shows you have seen now make up for it.

I did on November 10,1979. I made a whole thread about the Tusk Tour. You can look it up in our archives. It's titled THE TUSK TOUR: 1979-1980. Read it and weep.

Haha...clearly this traumatic experience made him the obsessive fan he is today. I kid...I'm actually insanely jealous of your attendance of so many shows.

I was 14. I completely fell in love with Tusk. It was june 13th 1980. I saved money for a long time in case they would come over. I had enough for two traintickets to/from Rotterdam, youth-hostel, concertticket but my parents chickened out. They didn't let me go when I tried to convince them to help me get a ticket in the presale.
I never went, and Lindsey never visited The Netherlands for a FM concert since then. Until -hopefully- oct 15 2009.

I'm sure you've heard the tape. It contains one of my top 3 live Rhiannon's ever recorded. Here it is. Enjoy: http://www.sendspace.com/file/sap87m

Yeah , thanks. I've got a couple of crappy cassettetapes since the mid 80's. this one is a bit better. Thanks.

Jennifer, Mary, Jennifer's mom, & Jennifer's stepdad drove us up to San Francisco to see the gigs at the Cow Palace. We stayed at a Holiday Inn or something like. There was a feral cat -- well, it may have been feral -- outside my window all night, & it smelled like cat urine. It mixed with the cool December air from off the bay. I got headaches in those days.

:lol: I hope the band wasn't so bad that the poor cat was the highlight of the moment, David.

I didn't think the band was all that good in those days, nailatixela. But here are some photos Jennifer took from the Cow Palace.

http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/e...TuskTour18.jpg http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/e...TuskTour19.jpg


And here's another shot by anonymous from the Cow Palace.

http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/e...Palace1979.jpg

David, that pic of Lindsey is one of the best EVER!

The looks on Lindsey and Stevie's faces in the first one...LMAO!

Thank you for posting those. :thumbsup:

I was about to say the same thing. Lindsey looks amazing in those

Well, my mom always said I could date when I was 16 and I turned 16 in the first half of November and I got to go to the Tusk concert in Ann Arbor.

I had the Tusk album, but I didn't really know the whole Fleetwood Mac background. I didn't know who everyone was. So, that was my first time really seeing what everyone did in the band and I was impressed to say the least. I liked the Tusk songs much more than I had on the album. I wanted to see them again as soon as possible.

I also saw the Jacksons that same month. Those were the first concerts I ever saw without my mother.

Not sure what my exact problem was, but when I first played Tusk all the way through, the only songs I liked were Tusk and Sara. I'm madly in love with Think About Me and Angel now, but I remember they didn't make an impression on me those first listens and I felt my money had been wasted on the LP purchase. After seeing them in concert, I listened to the whole album with fresh ears.

I would also say that seeing the Angel interaction on stage made me think shippy things and, thus, my life was ruined very early on.

Michele

I so envy you!!! My brother went to the Ann Arbor show.... I was only in the 6th grade and begged and pleaded to go..... my dad was even like--why don't you take your sister???? Well he took some chick instead :mad: He did buy me a jersey though........ but I sat home and sniffled for the night..... and no he isn't with this chick--nothing became of it!! LMAO!! So see he should have just taken me!!!! He did try to take some pics too but they look like little ants :lol:

Since you're screwed already... be proud to be on the dark side :)

I'm an old timer here so the first time I saw them was in 78 in Atlanta at The Omni. Now....for those of you who don't remember.....back in the day, before MTV and the INTERNET and VCR's, the only thing you had was Rolling Stone, Crawdaddy and Creem to give you photos and news on your favorite bands. You would not believe what a big deal it was to get that new issue of Rolling Stone. I'll never forget going out to the mailbox and finding the Tusk issue with Stevie and Mick on the cover. Oh man, I was in heaven. Plus Stevie was showing a bit of cleavage on that cover so heaven was about to kick me out for the images that was going thru my perverted little mind ( hey, I was 19, give me a break.....come to think of it, I'm 49 and still have those thoughts......never mind). Anyway, when a band came to town, it was a major deal. I mean, you knew a couple of months before tickets went on sale. A concert was the only time you could see these people move and hear them talk. It was a major deal. So, my buddy John and I have seats waaaaaaay in the back of the Omni. Not nosebleed but we are back there, but, it doesn't matter because 1) we are there about to see Fleetwood Mac in concert and 2) we are in the same building with Stevie Nicks (if only she knew we were alive...damn). We both had binoculars that were pretty poor....mine kept going out of focus.....and I did pretty much keep my line of sight on Stevie but I did keep looking over at the guy onstage with her. Was that Lindsey?.....naw, couldn't be.....Lindsey has curly hair and a beard and this guy is clean shaven with short hair.....but he sounds like Lindsey......might be Lindsey.....but he don't look like what I was expecting him to look like. That is the thing that I remember the most when I think back to seeing Fleetwood Mac for the first time on the "not quite Rumours/almost Tusk tour". Oh, I also remember Lindsey saying they wanted to do a new song from their new album and it turned out to be, "Sisters Of The Moon". That was cool. And then when Stevie pulled her top down and started dancing.......wait.......oh sorry,, that was another one of those images that got me kicked out of heaven.....well, it was worth it....it was a good image.

I was there! But it was 30 years ago, I was 18 years old, and my memory is not what it used to be........I think I had a great time!

Does anyone know what the deal was with the backdrops during the Tusk tour? They were not consistent at all, I've seen pictures of them using the Rumours backdrop with the scary trees, blank curtains, random graphics, circles, etc.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...2/79-kopie.jpg

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b388/Sanne2/311.jpg

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b388/Sanne2/669.jpg

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b388/Sanne2/713.jpg

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b388/Sanne2/853.jpg

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b388/Sanne2/892.jpg

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b388/Sanne2/143.jpg

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b388/Sanne2/853.jpg

How many times did they play at someone's high school talent show? :laugh:

From Bubba Fleetwood's post: "Anyway, when a band came to town, it was a major deal. I mean, you knew a couple of months before tickets went on sale. A concert was the only time you could see these people move and hear them talk. It was a major deal."

See - this is the problem now. They never give fans enough notice for when tickets are going on sale so we have to scrabble around for the money really quickly to get good tickets! That's why touts ccan afford to buy so many at once, because your average fan hasn't had time to get the cash together.

Four or five months notice isn't enough time to gather together some money? You people overseas got way more advanced notice than we get in the States.

The European dates were announced with 5 days to go before the first pre-sale. For the 4 or 5 months before that that you mention were spent wondering if, when and where any European dates would be. It would have been far better if the dates were announced at least a month before they went on sale.

Oh, do I miss the old days of getting your tickets. None of this presale, fan club sale, credit card sale crap. You'd go to where ever the ticket sales were located and wait in line. Could be at the venue or at anyone of the record stores around at the time. Yes, you might wait for a few hours or even overnight but it was soooo much fun!!!!!! Somebody would be playing music. Everone would be in a good mood and talking about past concerts and telling stories or gossip. And it seemed everyone in line ended getting seats in the same area for the concert. I made alot of friend that way during those years. Oh, and that Fleetwood Mac ticket from 78? I still have it and the price was....$7.50 My ticket price for The Eagles "Long Run" tour was $12.50. Oh, the pain.

Sorry. I didn't realize that is what you meant.

I wish I'd been around then! It sounds great. Only ocassionally do you get gigs where you can line up for tickets now. It sucks.

Oh, and vivfox...no problem :)

That's awesome Bubba...really....I never got to do that though I did see my first concert in '89 & that was Don Henley no less....at least prices hadn't gone through the roof yet at that time......how was the Long Run tour....?? do tell....I am an Eagles fan as well.....my first real Mac concert was Mask in '90 & my first Stevie solo was '94 for SA....plus others after that (Eagles HFO...didn't see them this last go around too high prices for me....)Mac/Stevie more solo....etc...some other artists.....anyway, thanks so much for the stories & info....did you get to see the Eagles during the Hotel California days too? do tell....Thanks....:D:shrug:

I think I' destined never to see Stevie solo unless she comes to Europe again, which she hasn't done since 1989! Sigh... Maybe when I finally stop studying and get a proper job I can act on my plan to move to the US, that will make things easier!

Wow has it really been 3 months since this thread started?? Anyways I meant to scan these a while ago but just got around to it!! :lol:

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3.../AnnArbor5.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3.../AnnArbor6.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3.../AnnArbor1.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3.../AnnArbor2.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3.../AnnArbor3.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3.../AnnArbor4.jpg

These are fantastic articles. I wasn't there that night, but I can't tell you how many events I've attended at the Crisler Arena. That makes these especially wonderful to have.

I had to laugh when they remarked upon Stevie's bleeting. So, the crowd enjoyed NTF, eh? People on here have said the same thing about preferring the band's harder, unpolished live sound back then, to the "perfect" album concoctions.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Thanks so much for uploading these.

Michele

Aw you're welcome! I'm glad someone is enjoying them :D I have to laugh at the working hard for the 12.50 ticket price!! ha ha How I WISH tickets were still that cheap!! And they called Sara "Sara Smile"---- ummmm wrong group!! :woohoo:

Oh and unfortunately I wasn't there either even though I begged and pleaded!! :mad:

Hey Glittermoondust, THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOO
MUCH FOR THESE TUSK CONCERT REVIEWS AND ARTICLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To me these are priceless. Never have I seen these before and this was and has always been my favorite FM Tour!!

Awwww you are very welcome :wavey:

10th night of The Tusk Tour
November 10,1979
New Haven, Connecticut
Venue: Veterans Memorial Coliseum

I was at this show. This was my first time seeing Fleetwood Mac and Stevie live. I was 17 years old, almost 18. There is an audio bootleg of this show available, but I don't have it. My memories of this show: Buying the ticket for this concert I had to skip a few classes in high school. Then I went to school with my ticket. I showed off the ticket to some of the "cool" kids and one of em asked if he could hold it. Then he didn't want to give it back, but obviously, he did.
I attended the show with two good friends and we had ****ty floor seats almost near the back. We had to stand on our seats most of the show to see anything at all. In those days there were no giant screens to watch in case you couldn't see the performers. My biggest memory of this night was straining to see, standing on my tippy toes. I sat down during most of Lindsey's songs cause that was the only time I could rest. During Rhiannon Stevie tried to hit the high notes but couldn't. Even then I was comparing her live vocals to those on the two bootlegs I had at the time which were 8-25-77 Live in Las Vegas and 1975's Albatross, But Not Around My Neck Please albums.
During Sara someone threw a giant red balloon up towards the stage and Stevie caught it. She held onto it for a while and then tossed it back into the crowd. Angel was a highlite for me and so was Sister's Of The Moon but honestly I can't remember anything about her performance of Sister's.
After the show we hoped we could meet the band and so we hung out for about an hour and then when we realized that wasn't going to happen we went to look for the car. In our excitement upon arrival none of us thought to look to see what section we were parked in in the parking garage so it took us another hour of walking around just to find the car. It was also a little drizzly that night so we were a bit wet also.

From Billboard Magazine
November 10,1979
Venue: Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Headliners: Fleetwood Mac
Opening Act: Danny Douma
Produced by: Cross Country Concerts
Ticket price scale: $10.00-$14.50
Total ticket sales: 9,635
Sellout
Gross Receipts: $135,647.00

This photo was taken that night. Not by me though.

Mmh, question : in the Live Wire, the journalist says that they did Storms. I thought Stevie said, this year, that they never did it before...Am I wrong ?

That's what some reviewers referred to as DREAMS back in those days. (The one's who didn't know better)