Stevie - MOJO - 'The Story Behind Christine McVie's Live Return'
 

http://www.mojo4music.com/7148/fleet...live-comeback/

Fleetwood Mac: The Story Behind Christine’s Live Return

Lindsey Buckingham nearly blocked last night’s onstage reunion, reveals Stevie Nicks in MOJO scoop.

By ANDREW MALE SEPTEMBER 26, 2013

Stevie Nicks has talked to MOJO about Christine McVie’s on-stage return to Fleetwood Mac last night at London’s O2 Arena.

Speaking in an interview to be published in MOJO 241 (UK shelf date October 29) the diminutive Mac singer confirmed that while McVie, who left the group in 1998, has “just returned to do one song” it could have been “a few songs” if it hadn’t been for one particular stumbling block.

“Lindsey [Buckingham] is very funny about that,” Nicks told MOJO’s James McNair. “I think his words were ‘She can’t just come and go’. That’s important to him, but it’s not quite so important to me. Much as Lindsey adores her; and he does – she’s the only one in Fleetwood Mac he was ever willing to listen to – he doesn’t want the first night reviews to be all about Christine’s one song, rather than the set we rehearsed for two months.”

McVie was met with rapturous applause last night when she joined her old band to play keyboards and sing Don’t Stop, and she will be appearing with the group again at their final O2 show tomorrow. But, while the route to the stage hasn’t necessarily been a smooth one, Nicks also added that “it will be wonderful to have her back up there with us. And from there who knows.”

In a candid, funny and emotional interview, Nicks goes on to discuss her childhood, her solo career (“Fleetwood Mac weren’t that impressed”) the “unresolved” aspects of her and Buckingham’s relationship, and the bizarre night she slept on the floor of Prince’s purple kitchen.

I realize Lindsey is a perfectionist & an uncompromising idealist... but come on. Christine was in Fleetwood Mac before he joined. She remained in Fleetwood Mac after he left. She was married to John for many years. She is in the rock & roll hall of fame along with Lindsey. The woman should have a right to step on a Fleetwood Mac stage any time she damn well pleases.

You'd think Mick, John, and Stevie would have ganged up and put Lindsey in his place on this. Surely they all know how badly us fans have been aching for this for the past 15 years. And how we'd love to hear more than 1 song, too. Not to mention, I'm quite certain Mick, John, and Stevie are probably hoping for Christine's return even more than the rest of us. Plus, it's the digital age... regardless of Christine performing 1 song or 12, it'd be out there on the internet for posterity. :shrug:

As I've said in the Christine in London thread, it's all about the ego.

Shoot, then he'd probably do something dramatic, like leave the band again...I mean, be a little gracious for one of the people who built the foundation of the band you're living off of...

Lindsey does have a point on not wanting the first night to be about "the Christine McVie show", but I wish he let her perform a few more songs on the second two nights, at least.

Heck, I don't even see why it shouldn't be the Christine McVie show! I do understand the idea that all of the other band members have spent months rehearsing and then on the road, but still, if she has the skill to just jump right in, then why not?...I'm just frustrated.

I feel your frustration, my friend. I love the guy and respect his talents, but he can be a little [CENSORED] sometimes. :rolleyes: Besides, it's only two nights.

Lindsey needs to grow the F up!! Come on. It's two nights out of the entire tour. He can read through glowing reviews of every show they've played and will continue to play for rest of the tour if he needs his ego stroked that badly. This really, really surprises me and somewhat reduces my respect for Lindsey. To me, his attitude is petty, childish and yes, ego driven. He, of all people, should try to have a little empathy and understanding of Christine - her reasons for leaving in the first place and her desire to return to the stage. And yes, Lindsey, she can "just come and go" because ultimately it's not up to you. Her fans have given her that right. Her fans say it's OK and that's all that matters.

It's not that Lindsey's concerns aren't valid - they are, and it makes sense. It's just that it seems a bit ridiculous at this point in the game. Fleetwood Mac doesn't have anything to prove. They're going to have glowing reviews whether or not Christine is there.

I was gonna say the same thing. :nod:

Oh my lord. This is why I need to check before posting and not write late at night. I don't think you can change thread titles can you? Off to go hide in shame for the misspelling of Chris' surname. Oops, my apologies...

I think there are some complexities to the situation that need to be acknowledged. I'm sure Lindsey has a very big ego and has enjoyed having to share less musical space post-Christine and all that, yes, but there are other things at play here. Christine changes the dynamic of the band completely. It is something of a different band with her, and adjustments are made when she's there vs. when she's absent. I think the idea that she could potentially flit in and out of it as she sees fit could be very frustrating indeed, given that, and I can see Lindsey's trepidation.

Yes, it's only one song for two nights. That's why he agreed to it. But I imagine he'd want to avoid setting a precedent for having a "part-time" member of the band who's only there when it suits her. I'm not saying Christine would've become that, in fact I'm sure she wouldn't, and she probably only really wanted to do one song anyway. But I do think he just wanted to draw a line. I can understand why he'd want to be cautious. It all seems fair enough, to me.

The outrage here would be more warranted if the article said that Christine was planning on playing with the band and then Lindsey stepped in and said "no", so she didn't. But that isn't what happened.

Fixed it for you.

Obviously a line has to be drawn somewhere, but if, hypothetically, she is to rejoin, I don't see Christine as the type who would just go in and out as she sees fit. A more likely scenario is that she gives her terms, they work with it and try to compromise, after which she's in for the long haul. What, IMO, is frustrating for many people is how Lindsey saw performing a few more songs on the London shows as her "coming and going" :shrug:

But we need to keep in mind that the quotes from this article are taken out of context from a conversation that Lindsey had with Stevie. And the analysis written is all based on speculation on her part. Christine isn't the type who would just "come and go", but Stevie would probably be on board with such a scenario if it were to come up, and it's Stevie that Lindsey was responding to. We don't know the whole conversation that Lindsey and Stevie had, but these quotes are not necessarily Lindsey's complete feelings on the entire situation.

This is why we need Lindsey's, and if we can, Christine's sides of the story. Hopefully they both give their POV so we get a grasp of the full context of this whole "Prodigal Pianist" saga.

I'm with the majority here - Lindsey's concerns are null and void. We're talking about a band that only does the nostalgia circuit. A band that has little to no interest in performing new material. A band that shows little to no interest in even *recording* new material.

Given those circumstance, and given that Christine can probably play these songs with one eye closed, one hand behind her back, and half awake while drunk, she should absolutley be able to come and go as she pleases on stage.

If this were a young band with a long future ahead of them, or even a band that is actively recording and defining their current 'sound' and touring to promote that material, then I'd be on the other side.

Lindsey doesn't see it that way. Most of us see it that way. Stevie probably sees it that way. But I don't think Lindsey does. I think he fights the nostalgia-act label to the best of his ability. After all, he wanted to a release a new Mac album this year, he recorded many songs for it, and an EP was released instead as a compromise on his part. And out of the 4 new songs they released this year, two of them are being performed on tour. :shrug:

But yes, those who look at it differently are no doubt much more relaxed about the whole idea.

Right. I don't mean to bash Lindsey's concerns or his work making this four-piece work. It's just that he's only one....and as much as I believe he wants to make FM work, and as much as I believe he wants to record more and tour more and play new songs...I just don't see it happening without concessions being made for Christine.

And how weird is it that they have held on to these new songs the whole tour? I'm pretty sure many of us expected them to be dropped four or five shows in.

I think it's great. Both songs work really well live, and Sad Angel especially fits into the Mac canon with ease. You'd never know it wasn't a minor hit from days gone by. That they haven't been dropped is a pleasant surprise to me. And I pretty much hated the whole EP release. ;)

Same. He genuinely wants to keep the band together (perhaps the only one who want that more than he does is Mick), but while I'm glad he's starting to mellow out and improving the attitude, he's still got a long way to go. Deep down, they all know they need Christine (and Christine needs them). They all just need to sit down and communicate all these concerns after the tour.

Perhaps, if all goes well, they can leverage the Vegas gig as a way of fully welcoming her back into the fold, but that's just me. Just like The Dance was for Lindsey.

And yes, it's a wonder they held out those songs for so long. Not really digging the EP either.

.........and the rumours are flyin............

If he actually wanted a new album, he could easily get one by working with Christine. WB would back that and Stevie would back that and I think Christine would agree and would have agreed in SYW, if she didn't have to tour. If he's not interested, well no album. He can stop talking about it wistfully then.

He wants an album with him and Stevie, but fans don't want that and neither does Stevie from what I can see. He actually got his way more with Christine in the band, because she actually sides with him, increasing his leverage. If he hasn't realized that in all this time, I guess he never will.

As far as his comments about this tour appearance, it's true we haven't heard his side of it and we haven't even heard all of Stevie's side. Maybe she will elaborate more in Mojo. Also, I don't even know why she's saying this to Mojo. I question her motives. But I have feared what she said in my mind ever since she said Christine would only be doing one song two nights.
I suspected Lindsey was the reason and it troubled me. I've been troubled all along. There was one interview months back, after Hawaii, where Lindsey said Christine was never returning to the band Christine but could come up and do one song or whatever she wanted and I thought "aha" because I wanted that comment to be true. I wanted her to have carte blanche to do whatever she wanted in London (not come and go the whole tour) and I was afraid he wouldn't allow that and I thought, "Oh I will hold you to that, LB." What she did in Hawaii showed me she was game to do more with FM, since she did more with Mick's own band, who she hadn't worked with during her pinnacle years.

I don't trust most of what Stevie says and hardly think she can explain Lindsey's rationalization without getting some things wrong, but if she's correct, Christine wasn't going to change his stupid setlist. She could just sit in on the songs. She could just do World Turning and then play unobtrusively on his and Stevie's songs.

By her not performing the first night, then all the reviews would be about him and Stevie anyway. All Christine would do the second and third nights is give them another burst of publicity, which her appearance last night IS doing.

For BTM, he came and did Landslide, GYOW and even Tear it Up with the boys, Rick and Billy, who had more to complain about him being there than he has to complain about Christine being there. There are five of them in the eyes and ears of most of the world. He can't live long enough to change that.

Michele

I love this whole post. :thumbsup:

Well what gets me if he really did say... "She can't just come and go as she pleases"

Really? Does that sound like Christine McVie??

I mean that indicates to me that Christine somehow suggested that she:
A. Wants back in. or B. Was going to tag along like a full time member in London. or C. Mick and Stevie are suggesting Christine gets carte blanche.

He made the comment a while back that Christine's songs didn't come off well live. I couldn't disagree more especially after watching this youtube. I think her voice sounded fantastic, and the keyboards were that quirky sound that I love. Her Mirage stuff didn't come off very well live, but how many Lindsey Mirage songs do they do? Eyes of the World...

I think and still believe today that LB is finally running what's left of FMac, and enjoying being looked upon as male and doesn't want to battle with female. He has never really liked sharing the spotlight with 2 women and probably never will. To him, I think it doesn't matter that he himself has left the band too, it makes no matter that he himself joined them on stage after he left the band, and it doesn't matter that he rejoined FM and has done mostly nostalgia music with them in the last 15 years.
But.... I also believe that deep down inside he loved seeing Christine there as much as we did. Don't worry Lindsey, you have 48 out of 50 dates to shine and get your ya ya's out. :)

I think Lindsey got to do what he wanted during most of FM. As Christine said in the Best Buy interview, they all form a bed on which Lindsey can roll around and do what he likes. So, I don't think he had to battle with her that much when she was there. I think he was upset that she left, didn't think she would stay away when they started doing SYW and kind of had an attitude of, "Well if she wants to be out of the band, that's what she gets" after that.

In fact, Stevie actually said that in one interview, "If that's what Christine wants, that what she's going to get" and I think it was a verbal expression of Lindsey's viewpoint. Stevie said it, but it sounded like Lindsey to me. Like Christine made her exit and now she's going to lie in it.

If she wanted to come back touring and recording, then I think he would want that. But I don't think he wants anything less and would rather continue with what he and Stevie have carved out in the interim years without Christine.

I feel he's shooting himself in the foot.

Michele

A. Lindsey is such a dick for doing that

B. Stevie is almost as bad for revealing this at least so soon. Painting lindsey in such a bad public light.

I don't know how many breaking bad fans there are on the ledge, but for those who are you know how one of the main on going arcs is the relationship between Walt and Jesse going back and forth and every season there's that one event that severs the 2 of them from each other and turns them into enemies, well this article is that moment that I believe will be reversing the recent Stevie/Lindsey reconciliation.

It just smells of a bit of hypocrisy. Especially since they had the Tango tour booked and he backed out. And then after they worked on BTM, he came and guested. (Remember the reviews all talked about his appearance.)

I understand his reasons and I was glad back then that FM continued on without him. I think he is shooting himself in the foot too. He needs a breath of fresh keyboards and vocals. In my opinion, that EP sounds tired.

Um, I don't know what to say, because I don't know if either Walt or Jesse will kill each other -- if Jesse's already dead, don't tell me. IDWTK. Anyway, I hope we've gotten past the point where Stevie and Lindsey will murder one another. In fact, they acknowledged that in their SYW Mojo interview that it was a relief (and a surprise) to not have murdered.

I'm behind on Breaking Bad. I can't catch up before the finale and I don't see how I can stop myself from being spoiled. You can't even go to a restaurant without hearing someone discuss the show and the internet is completely awash in it.

I bow to you Vince Gilligan. But I've loved you long before Breaking Bad was even a gleam in your eye. Please write something for Mulder and Scully. You are so hot right now, if you are behind an X-Files movie, you can get the funding for it. Please complete my life, Vince. I love you.

Michele

The last Break Bad ep had me lying on the floor in the fetal position. Wow, is that show intense.. :shocked:

I don't think Stevie painted him in a bad public light at all and I don't think she or he would interpret it that way just because he didn't feel it was ok for Christine to play more than the one song as a special guest. Christine may have not wanted to infringe either if she had been asked to do more.

The only people who are making LB out to be a bad guy here are the fans. His opinion and reasons were viable. It's just that everyone really misses Christine.

I'm dying. To sustain that kind of tension and interest from the first season to the last is a miracle.

I don't know how I got so far behind. I regret that I couldn't live this finale playing out with everyone.

Michele

Yes this past episode and the one before especially the one before called ozymandias had me not able to get to sleep afterwards. I'm not saying anything specific for your sake Michelle but wow! Never experienced feelings
LIke that from any tv show.

And my Stevie Lindsey. Walt jesses analogy works without taking this last season into account. So don't worry about what's to come.

I think he will interpret it as her complaining about him. But even though he probably won't repeat what she said, when asked he is going to say something negative himself, being the "she burned her bridges" fiend that he is. I mean, he's not going to make himself sound any better than Stevie has made him sound from the comments we've already gotten.

Michele

What a great show!! I slept with the light on.. lol

No his opinion and reasons are not viable. She's Christine freaking mcvie. She was in the band long before Lindsey and her presence would not distract from this magic set you rehearsed for 2 months. It would only enhance it. And since when does Lindsey give a crap about reviews anyways.

What's the difference what night it is? It'll be the highlight of any of the reviews. And didn't the shows sell out? What does Lindsey care about the reviews?

Seems weird to me... I'm not even sure this interview took place... :shrug: :lol:

It's illogical. It's like the whole, "Well, if she recorded with us and her song became a hit and she wasn't there to play it in concert, the world is going to end." It's a stupid excuse for .... I don't know for what. For his position that, "if she is not going to be in the band full time, recording and touring, then I don't want her."

It's such an incomprehensible stance to take. RECORD with her. She doesn't want to tour. He can tour all by himself with Stevie. FM albums will sell better if she records with them and then he can be alone with Stevie on the road with no keyboard and extra testicles. How is that not a win-win for everyone?

Michele

Well, the interview took place and I guess we'll get the full blast of it very shortly. But maybe there will be more context. Wildhearted was just lamenting the fact that the media just took Stevie's comment about Reese Witherspoon being too old and ran with it, when that's not exactly what she said.

Maybe Stevie said something different and even if she didn't, it's not what Lindsey himself said, but I know Lindsey is not going to say anything better than what Stevie said, even if it's different, because he's a nut on his own.

He's lucky that I don't wait until the quiet time in Say Goodbye and yell, "She CAN just come and go, Buster."

Anyway, on Friday, Stevie can you please stop Buck-blocking? Stop cornering Christine on the side with your hugs. Lindsey walk across the stage closer to Christine. Christine hug him back immediately. Everyone just make things right.

Michele

I don't doubt for one second that Lindsey misses her either. We've seen over the years how much of a blast Christine and Lindsey had jamming with eachother (very noticeable on the Mirage video) and I think they have a lot of mutual respect for eachother as musicians.

From what Stevie said, I didn't interpret that as Chris not being welcome back. I read it as "ok, Christine is going to come and do Don't Stop, and that's brilliant, but we've put all this hard work into this show for 48 dates so far and did all the promotion, preparation etc for it so it will only be for Don't Stop"..I mean, the tour sold out before any mention of Christine's name - that hype only started after her appearance in Maui. So if Chris wanted to come back, she's welcome to, but she'd have to work hard like the others did. Last night's show was like a fine tuned machine, it ran perfectly and was absolutely amazing - I can understand why Lindsey would not want to disturb that as they've fine tuned it to perfection.

If Christine had been on board from the very beginning for the whole tour, it would be a different story.


I agree completely. Lindsey is acting a little bit too much like Fleetwood Mac is HIS. Which it isn't. At all. And if anything, Christine has far more right to be on that stage under the name "Fleetwood Mac" than Lindsey does, having been associated with the group since 1968.