Chicago Tribune Article: "Fleetwood Mac, Revisited" - Page 2

Keith · #16 06-21-2003, 04:24 PM

the steep ticket prices has kept me in check.. i've been to only the D.C. show. It was a $144 well spent, because my favorite band made me feel young again.. I'm still enjoying the boots from the tour... it's so good to know that Fleetwood Mac still has the live magic... but $125 a ticket is steep. I'm sure it's expensive to tour.. but then our band loves to spend a lot of $$$ to be as comfortable as possible on tour.. if my $144 goes to help make Stevie more comfy in an expensive hotel.. then be it.. she is still out there on tour making beautiful music in her high top reaboks.... I do hope they return to the East Coast, as I would love to hear them again..

i heard 'Say You Will' on 94.7 yesterday.. D.C.'s classic rock station.. they played a rock block from FM - Oh Well, Rhiannon, Say You Will (album version), and Don't Stop.. it was good to hear the new one on the radio.. sounded classic! :-)

DownOnRodeo · #17 06-21-2003, 07:57 PM

Strand - have you ever seen an episode of Young Indiana Jones Chronicles where Indy has to fo persuade a crazed European-accented film-maker to wrap up the shoot. Sounds like they based him on that von Stronheim character. Thanks for the info.

shackin'up · #18 06-21-2003, 08:40 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Tusk57
Okay so Lindsey wasn't exactly forthcoming in his answer. He did crack a smile when the reporter hit him with that question. However in my humble opinion, you guys are sounding like a bunch of Socialists. If he can get that much for a ticket, then more power to him. If you don't like it, nobody is forcing you to pay it. I know if I had the talent he does, I would sure like to get paid whatever the market will pay. I don't begrudge him or Fleetwood Mac. They paid their dues. They have a lot of overhead to deal with. Anway, it's none of our business when you get down to it. They are a great band and don't come around that often, so I don't mind shelling out the big bucks to see them in action.

Well, beside the fact that I'm a convinced socialist, this point of view doesn't put anything extra to the discussion: Lindsey himself has started it by singing "you can't plant no seed where there's only greed....so sorry tusky57, but we didn't start the fire....

gerald

Tusk57 · #19 06-21-2003, 10:55 PM

I admit it would be nice to see them only, let's say $10 a ticket like back in the old days! However, more to the point---
Lindsey's own lyrics actually get him out of the apparent pickle he is in...to wit, "you can't plant no seed where there's only greed" is a double negative and really means that you CAN plant a seed where there's only greed! Now I will stand back and begin to accept apologies from the budding socialist, shackin'up.

Johnny Stew · #20 06-21-2003, 11:01 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Tusk57
Lindsey's own lyrics actually get him out of the apparent pickle he is in...to wit, "you can't plant no seed where there's only greed" is a double negative and really means that you CAN plant a seed where there's only greed!

Lindsey is more clever than we thought!

strandinthewind · #21 06-22-2003, 03:55 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by DownOnRodeo
Strand - have you ever seen an episode of Young Indiana Jones Chronicles where Indy has to fo persuade a crazed European-accented film-maker to wrap up the shoot. Sounds like they based him on that von Stronheim character. Thanks for the info.

I am pretty sure that was based on Eric Von Stroheim. Pretty much every crazy European Director is. Interestingly, Eric VS is the director that caused Gloria Swanson (one of my all time fav's ) to break up with Joe Kennedy (father of Pres. John Kennedy). That is actually quite a story

jwd · #22 06-22-2003, 10:53 AM

This tour is ridiculously high-priced!! NO ONE needs to be that pampered on tour. It's time for Fleetwood Mac to start giving back to its' fans. How many people can't afford to go that would go and see the band play?! I'm sure it's quite a few. If the band were doing it for the music they would make sure the prices were much cheaper. It's just all a bunch of bullcrap in my opinion. I'm so glad the interviewer called Lindsey on that. Lindsey is part of that corporate structure that he hypocritically slams in WTWCT. Practice what you preach buddy!! But I still think you're one hell of a guitar player!

Joe

Vianna · #23 06-22-2003, 12:42 PM

Rock bands are, in a way, like royalty-or like it used to be anyway. They have little connection to the common people unless thay decide to go out there and have contact with them. Lindsey stays holed up in a studio for months on end. I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't know a ticket price-that's just how out of ordinary life he is. They all have accountants and managers that take care of all that sort of mundane stuff for them. Not that that necessarily excuses them-it's just how it is.

Tusk57 · #24 06-22-2003, 03:37 PM

jwd I see your point. Lindsey is trying to have it both ways and then when someone had the balls to call him on it, he did the old song and dance routine---threw up a lot of dust and hoped to skate through to the next question and maybe nobody would notice. If I where him, I'd forget about writing a song like that. I think he tried to be like a John Lennon and be a populist to the masses. Stick to the more personal stuff like Stevie does. You can't get into too much trouble there. There is nothing wrong with being rich and raking in a ton of money. He earned it. That is the american way. By the way, that would be a novel idea to write a pro-greed song. Ha ha!

Tusk57 · #25 06-22-2003, 04:06 PM

Touche, touche trackaghost!!! Give me forty lashes with a wet noodle, then have a beer on me!

Bill

dissention · #26 06-22-2003, 04:42 PM

It's obvious from Lindsey's comments that he is in it just for the money, just like the other band members. I think Stevie summed it up on the All Access show with "This isn't about art, it's about finances." Now, you can spin that statement and twist it into some relationship bull**** but, as Strand said, a spade is a spade.

Lindsey has said it himself: the reconvening, even for a new album, is about money. He couldn't release his stuff unless it was under the Mac name, so he released it under the Mac name. Whether or not the music is good, it doesn't matter; it was put out for money.

His comments about the ticket prices are just a bunch of malarkey. "I don't know anything about ticket prices." Yeah, even though you're in the entertainment industry and make your money off of ticket sales, you don't know anything, Lindsey. Please. This band is becoming sad.

The music is great, but the people making the music leave a lot to be desired in the moral arenas. Their attempts to cash-in are disgusting and reprehensible.

Also, the god otherwise known as Tom Petty doesn't ever charge more than $60 a ticket. Yet he has publically stated that even with such low ticket prices, him and his band each take home millions. Take that, Fleetwood Mac!

PS: I'm sure my comrades would agree (you know who you are!): Fleetwood Mac should fire their PR people and put Edina in charge!

blodge · #27 06-23-2003, 01:38 AM

Wow, some of you have gotten uncharitable in your assessment of Lindsey's truthfulness. I don't even think it's all that unusual for artsy types (whether commercially successful or not) to distance themselves from the business end of operations. It's not what interests them. They'd rather be writing their music or their literature or painting their art. All that other stuff is for the managers and the accountants.

As for his statement that he was unaware of ticket prices six months ago, I don't think that's surprising, either. When do you think was the last time Lindsey Buckingham shelled out from his own wallet to see a concert? I wouldn't be surprised if it was in a year with the first three numbers of 197. He probably knows better now, but six months ago?

Intentionally or unintentionally, these people live different lives than us. It doesn't necessarily make them elitist. (That would come from them believing they are better than us, instead of more fortunate.)

I don't like shelling out all that money, either. But I'll do it as a once-in-a-lifetime thing.

As for Stevie's desire for the finer things, my mother loves the finer things. I found out why when I was in high school. She grew up in the depression and went to school every day in the same dress. The other kids made fun of her. When she got older and actually had the money, it meant a lot to her to be able to buy nice dresses and things. I saw my mom in a whole new light, and it wasn't that she was shallow and materialistic. Perhaps after having struggled to get by as a waitress while hoping to make it as a musician, Stevie yearned for something better. Now she has the means. Anyone want to deny her some creature comforts?

dissention · #28 06-23-2003, 08:57 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by blodge
Wow, some of you have gotten uncharitable in your assessment of Lindsey's truthfulness. I don't even think it's all that unusual for artsy types (whether commercially successful or not) to distance themselves from the business end of operations. It's not what interests them. They'd rather be writing their music or their literature or painting their art. All that other stuff is for the managers and the accountants.

As for his statement that he was unaware of ticket prices six months ago, I don't think that's surprising, either. When do you think was the last time Lindsey Buckingham shelled out from his own wallet to see a concert? I wouldn't be surprised if it was in a year with the first three numbers of 197. He probably knows better now, but six months ago?

Intentionally or unintentionally, these people live different lives than us. It doesn't necessarily make them elitist. (That would come from them believing they are better than us, instead of more fortunate.)

I don't like shelling out all that money, either. But I'll do it as a once-in-a-lifetime thing.

As for Stevie's desire for the finer things, my mother loves the finer things. I found out why when I was in high school. She grew up in the depression and went to school every day in the same dress. The other kids made fun of her. When she got older and actually had the money, it meant a lot to her to be able to buy nice dresses and things. I saw my mom in a whole new light, and it wasn't that she was shallow and materialistic. Perhaps after having struggled to get by as a waitress while hoping to make it as a musician, Stevie yearned for something better. Now she has the means. Anyone want to deny her some creature comforts?

Being ignorant to ticket prices and the price that is put on your music is just that: ignorance. It is simply ludicrous to think that these people know nothing about the prices on their music. It's a ridiculous statement. Personally, I don't buy the "artsy" argument. Artsy types know the price put on their products just the same as we do, trust me. When they say they don't, they are purposefully playing out the mystique of being an artist. Plus, you can't make your money off your product without knowing how much the product is.

Lindsey was caught contradicting himself and tried to spin his way out of it. Plain and simple.

And they make the impression that they are superior to us; no one assumes that. $1,200 for a meet and greet? Over a hundred for tickets? The whole JT and fan club fiasco? C'mon! Maybe they don't necessarily think that they're better than us, but they obviously think they're hot **** to be able to command such high prices.

The real question is: why is it so much more expensive for FM to tour than it is for other bands? Does it have anything to do with all the little perks they demand while touring? Without demanding such high prices, would they have such perks? No. They know how much money to charge and then some. They've been in this business long enough to know these things. Ignorance as an excuse doesn't work.

What all of this makes me wonder is what is WTWCT REALLY about? I think it's just a bitter song about the "unjust" treatment Lindsey got from WB for an album he was never going to release anyway. It has nothing to do with greed or the state of the world; it's all about Lindsey's unfair treatment.

What goes around comes around.

CarneVaca · #29 06-23-2003, 09:13 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Tusk57
Anway, it's none of our business when you get down to it. They are a great band and don't come around that often, so I don't mind shelling out the big bucks to see them in action.

That's about the most senseless -- and I'm trying to be polite here -- assessment I've read on these boards about ticket prices. How do you figure it's none of our business? Are we not the consumers?

Tusk57 · #30 06-23-2003, 09:23 AM

Carne, I meant by saying it's none of our business not about how high one has to pay to get a ticket (of course you should), but about how they spend the money they get from you buying said ticket! Or, for that matter, if they "really need" all that money, since they are rich already. I'm tired of people whining about other people who are better off then they are. I suggest they get off their butts and go make a pile of cash themselves which usually means get a skill that is marketable---such as playing one mean guitar!!!