Would you welcome an extended era of FM without SN?

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by aleuzzi

I'd welcome an album but the reality is they wouldn't tour without her. The shows wouldn't draw large crowds. And I don't think the remaining four would do a stripped-down tour as Lindsey did a few years ago.

I think you're right that they'd never tour without her. They're too skittish to even think of doing an album without her.

That said, I'd fully support an album with just the four of them and a tour with just them would be very interesting to me. I mean, I think a tour with all five of them is the most exciting, naturally. It's certainly better with her there and I'd look forward to her return to the fold a few years down the road, but as a once-in-a-lifetime thing, seeing what the four of them would do without her would be interesting.

Michele

[louielouie2000]

Originally Posted by sorcerer999

I believe that they could feasibly continue for another 5-8 years before some of the band members hit 80. But then I see people 80+ like Leonard Cohen who are still out there touring so who knows?

I've long said that I could see the band soldiering on into their 80s. After all, people like Pete Seger & BB King toured right up until the end of their lives, and they were far older than that. Bands like the Stones are a good deal older than FM and still going strong, too.

However, I think we're starting to see the strings unravel with this tour. FM will end up retiring not because of their physical abilities- but because they're just done. Done with the drama, the crazy schedules, etc.

Originally Posted by michelej1

but as a once-in-a-lifetime thing, seeing what the four of them would do without her would be interesting.

This is exactly how I felt when they moved forward with recording SYW minus Christine. I couldn't wait to see how it would alter Stevie and Lindsey's new music. Not because I disliked Christine, but I was just curious how it would distill the sound of the band. The same would go for nixing Stevie (see what I did there? ). I have a feeling Christine & Lindsey would intermesh more without Stevie's presence, whereas the opposite was true of Stevie & Lindsey when Chris left.

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

This is exactly how I felt when they moved forward with recording SYW minus Christine. I couldn't wait to see how it would alter Stevie and Lindsey's new music. Not because I disliked Christine, but I was just curious how it would distill the sound of the band. The same would go for nixing Stevie (see what I did there? ). I have a feeling Christine & Lindsey would intermesh more without Stevie's presence, whereas the opposite was true of Stevie & Lindsey when Chris left.

Yes, just the fact that they've worked on each other's songs from the start shows an integration between them that is promising and tantalizing to think about. Just give us their album and let us see what they're like. I mean, Tango was informative and this album would be even more so.

I always say that I dream in quintet, not stereo, but just this one time ...

They don't need to tour. In the old days, a tour was needed to promote an album, but this album won't sell more with a tour (well, unless they actually sold the album at the concert venue, which seems to be something they don't quite know how to do). People coming to the concert won't want to hear the new tunes anyway.

Profit would be the other reason to tour, but they're making a boatload of money right now. Can't that free them up to do something for purely creative reasons next year, now that their pockets are lined? Since the tour would be an even harder hurdle for them, they can forget about that and just give us an album.

Michele

[nicepace]

Yes!

A lineup of Fleetwood Mac led by Lindsey and Christine could be musically marvelous. I really don't think those two singer/songwriter/musicians need Stevie to be great. They can be great without her, and to my thinking, probably greater without her than with her, at this point.

[pauls90]

As much as I love Stevie, I would definitely be interested. I mean....I don't really play any of Stevie's contributions to Tango - but that record has some of LB and CM's best pop work on it (I will always be bummed out that Joan of Arc didn't make it though)

So here's my question: What kind of sound would you want to hear from the band without Stevie? With a lot of young trendy acts emulating them in general, what should a modern FM record even sound like??

[jbrownsjr]

Let me count the ways, YES!!!
I've loved Stevie's work with FMac. But they have always been able to push on.

It could be that she's just tired and knows that if they release another album, there will be a tour. It makes sense.

LB, Mick can always work.. They love it.
CM is rested and ready to go for 30 more years.
JM does what he's told.

SN was complaining in 2003 and 2009 tours that she was tired of touring. I think she projected a little bit when she told Christine how hard it was. It's probably harder for her than the rest. She has to stand center stage. (yes, I'll give her a little credit) And, she has the most prolific solo work.

Having said that. The creativity between LB and CM is so tantamount to this band. I invite it lovingly!

[Frankenstein]

Even as someone whose favorite songwriter of the 3 is Stevie I'd welcome this idea with open arms. Maybe Fleetwood Mac would actually be a band again instead of a huge, money-making touring entity.

[sorcerer999]

Originally Posted by jbrownsjr

SN was complaining in 2003 and 2009 tours that she was tired of touring. I think she projected a little bit when she told Christine how hard it was. It's probably harder for her than the rest. She has to stand center stage. (yes, I'll give her a little credit)!

^^^ This!

I think the reality of the situation simply boils down to "bad timing". Christine decided to rejoin the band at a time when Fleetwood Mac was finishing up a world tour in 2013. Plus Stevie toured solo for most of 2011 and 2012 promoting "In Your Dreams". Arthritis, bad knees, and a bad back? The gal was (and still IS) exhausted!!! When the year ends, Stevie will have toured for FIVE solid years with maybe three or four months off per year.

Again, as much as I would love to see her soldier on, record a new Fleetwood Mac album and then (inevitably) tour to support it, I totally understand her desire to take a couple of years off. She deserves it.

On the other hand, if she decides to immediately record another solo record and go on tour to promote it instead of recording/touring with Fleetwood Mac, THAT will piss me right the f**k OFF!

If she says she needs a year to rest from touring, then she should do just that - REST from TOURING!

[sue]

At first I thought, No, no way.
But then I got thinking, I don't think we will see the five of them tour again.
They've made a shed load of money (so Mick should be happy)
I don't think Stevie's interested in touring again or making an Album as FM.
So yes let the remaining four make a new album
Stevie will make one with Dave Stewart and do a short Solo tour..

[MikeVielhaber]

Originally Posted by sue

At first I thought, No, no way.
But then I got thinking, I don't think we will see the five of them tour again.
They've made a shed load of money (so Mick should be happy)
I don't think Stevie's interested in touring again or making an Album as FM.
So yes let the remaining four make a new album
Stevie will make one with Dave Stewart and do a short Solo tour..

Stevie is basically doing the big/small machine thing now like Lindsey except she doesn't realize it.

[twinmatrix]

After my first FM concert last night, yes, I would support an FM era without Stevie.

Christina and Lindsey were amazing. I would LOVE to see them again live! They're super entertaining!

Stevie was just a beautiful ghost of a woman.

I'm a huge Stevie fan but she really doesn't fit in with the rest of the band imo. I'd rather she pursue her solo career with a world tour while FM go on alone with their world tour.

[cactusjack]

haha, omg. I'd be fine with it as I'm really only there for Stevie. I'd be happy to follow her solo career and take a break from FMac fandom.

[Murrow]

Abso-flippin-lutely!

They've already proved that they only need four out of the five to make a decent album (cf BTM, SYW). They've had their "Now we can all be creative with no Lindsey" era (BTM line-up). Now they can have their "Stevie wouldn't pull her weight so we've carried on" era. The five-piece is still OK for the odd tour but Styx and Journey weren't prepared to wait when their respective frontment announced they were taking a break just as a tour was about to happen. The four musicians (and within the group Stevie is not one) have got their collective mojo working and there's no reason they should let SN hold them up.

I bought my ticket for last Wednesday's London show chiefly because I hoped they would have something new to promote by then. But no... same old same old. Some of the Rumours songs badly need a break now having had a good airing from The Dance onwards.

So my advice to Mick... let Stevie rest as much as she wants to. But you've got an album going and a dynamic going and she never likes what Lindsey does with her songs so... time for the Buckingham/McVie quartet I'd say.

[SteveMacD]

I'd rather have all five, and I think that's ultimately what we're going to get, but having them go on as a quartet certainly has its merits, and I'd gladly welcome it. Not having to deal with Stevie would make life a lot easier for them in terms of going on as a band. Not having Stevie's seven or eight songs would make room for more new material in the set. Even if Stevie left after the European leg, Christine and Lindsey have enough material between them to soldier on without her. Hold Me, God A Hold On Me, Isn't It Midnight, Get Like You Used To Be (with just Mick, John, and Christine), Trouble, Go Insane, Oh Well, and Monday Morning could easily be added in place of Stevie's songs.

[MikeVielhaber]

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

I've long said that I could see the band soldiering on into their 80s. After all, people like Pete Seger & BB King toured right up until the end of their lives, and they were far older than that. Bands like the Stones are a good deal older than FM and still going strong, too.

Pete Seeger and BB King weren't putting on rock shows. Mick and Keith are the same age as Christine.