LB had to decline Clinton bday gig
 

(i also posted in the thread on FM board, but since this is really a LB interview it seems, here it is for people who read just this board)

http://www.lvrj.com/news/mac-s-bucki...131501458.html

Doug Elfman

Mac's Buckingham going his own way

Posted: Oct. 11, 2011 | 2:00 a.m.

Bill Clinton can't quit Fleetwood Mac. As you'll remember, his campaign theme song was "Don't Stop (Thinking About Tomorrow)." His favorite band still is the big Mac, says guitarist Lindsey Buckingham.

So Clinton asked the band -- which is sometimes together, sometimes not -- to play Friday at his 65th birthday gala at the Hollywood Palladium. (His actual birthday was Aug. 19.)

Buckingham said no, but not for political reasons.

"I was gonna have to cancel two weeks of shows" to do it, he tells me, "because we'd have to go rehearse. It just wasn't possible."

So Fleetwood Mac's Stevie Nicks offered to perform for Clinton, instead.

Here's the Vegas connection. Nicks is performing Saturday at the Hard Rock Hotel. Buckingham is playing Friday at Aliante Station.

Buckingham says it's just a coincidence the two Fleetwood Mac stars -- and ex-lovers in the '70s -- are gigging in Vegas separately on the same weekend.

However, he says the reason Nicks is staging a Vegas show at all is to earn money to cover her costs of putting on a birthday concert for the former Mr. President.

"To get the band up and running (even for one night) is not an inexpensive proposition. So I think (Nicks') idea was to do the Las Vegas show (and a few other tour dates) just to subsidize that effort," Buckingham says. "That's my understanding of it, anyway. That's how it was put to me."

Clinton also is hosting a concert Saturday at the Hollywood Bowl, with Bono and The Edge, Lady Gaga, Usher, Kenny Chesney and Juanes.

If you want to attend Clinton's weekend, you'll have to pony up $1,000 to $1 million.

A million bucks. What's that get you? Glad you asked: a bunch of tickets to the concerts; seats at sound check; receptions with Clinton; seats at his table; a Chelsea Clinton brunch; and a golf outing with Bill. Ticket sales will go to the William J. Clinton humanitarian foundation.

Buckingham's Aliante tickets cost $53-$82. Nicks' Hard Rock tickets fetch $45-$156.

Jeepers. Those little Las Vegas rumour-mongers.
And you'd think Clinton would subsidize the band;-)

Interesting little article.

i know re rumor-mongers - you think lindsey really said all that - or maybe it's a spin of something he said that was loosely related? it's kinda weird that LB would spill all that, imo.

I guess I don't know much about playing an instrument - since I can't - and I'm not a singer, so maybe someone can enlighten me on this, but why in the world would Fleetwood Mac need two weeks to rehearse songs they've been playing for nearly 40 years?!?! Seriously? Get on stage, and play it the way it goes. How hard can it be?

Aside, it was nice of Stevie to offer to perform for Bill in place of the whole band.

That's what I was thinking, too. Two weeks???? I would think two hours would be excessive.

And, I kind of think Lindsey might not have said all that, too. I find it weird to think he'd spill the beans on the financial aspect of Stevie's business.

I mean, they would need to rehearse at least a little bit because it's been over a year since they've played together.. but you'd think after a couple of run throughs they'd be good.

However, the extensive 2-weeks rehearsal schedule would probably be to appease Stevie, since she's apparently such a perfectionist when it comes to playing shows - she doesn't like to wing it.

It's kind of funny that Lindsey is like, "at least that's the way it was put to me," as if . . . well, he's almost over-explaining. Like there had to be some rationalization as to why she was in Vegas in the first place.

As far as rehearsing, those people need therapy. Heaven knows they aren't going to play Soldier's Angel for Bill Clinton. If they rehearsed Dreams and GYOW for two weeks, they should be hospitalized.

It reminds me of Christine saying that she could play Don't Stop with her hands tied behind her back. Michele

plus lindsey is already playing GYOW, ISA, and Tusk every night w/ basically the same band - just need to replace Walfredo w/ Mick and add McVie...

They've been doing ISA and Rhiannon since before FM. Bill Clinton could perform those songs on his sax without 2 weeks rehearsal.

Also, Lindsey just say she's in Vegas because she's a heavy gambler. That would be simpler.

Michele

Michele!!! :laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:

And about that rehearsing...couldn't they just go out and play 6 songs with their eyes closed at this point? I don't think even a year off the road warrants the need for that substantial of a rehearsal time. A decent sound check should suffice...

read carefully. most of this crap is the writer's spin on what Lindsey supposedly does say.

what's the crap part? Reads pretty cut and dry to me. ;)

I think you might have to look at little deeper and see who actually owns the newspaper this is coming from... Could be a political thing.. If they aren't Clinton supporters could be a dig on him indirectly.

see, that's how this looked to me when i first glanced through it too. and whenever i heard LB talking about Clinton, he has never ever made a dig at him, even when he was explicitly asked to do it on some radio shows. that's why i think he may have said something vaguely related and it was interpreted completely differently. plus LB seems to be always very careful about what he says - there's a reason for all the repeat-talk he does:nod:.

Christ that's too much work.