Who Expects This Band To Carry On After This Week?

[SteveMacD]

Originally Posted by BigAl84

1. Almost instant, blind vilification of Lindsey by a huge chunk of folks who acted as if they were just waiting to have a reason to finally be happy he is out of the band, why that is I don’t really understand.

It wasn’t a matter of being happy, but between the Stevie-Lindsey love-hate relationship being beaten into the ground as the band’s defining storyline and the growing reliance on prerecords, I welcomed the change, and I was happy that they brought in respectable musicians. Anyway, we got to hear Fleetwood Mac and Lindsey Buckingham rarities live in 2018 that might not have happened without the split.

That said, it seemed like he stopped trying to appease Stevie and stopped playing along with the Stevie-Lindsey storyline after Christine returned. He also seemed to have a chip on his shoulder during the Classic shows and promotions. It’s like he forgot or maybe never realized that there’s no such thing as an equal partnership in a band where one member has sold 30 million albums independent of the band and is considered an icon.

2. The amplification of all things related to Lindsey’s behavior and events 40 years ago while at the same time ignoring John McVies abusive alcoholism as well as the collective drug and party culture that affected every member of the band.

I agree, however John’s alcoholism didn’t have long term implications on the band’s ability to function. John and Christine were able to move on from it and continued to have a great working relationship as well as a good friendship.

Ken C’s recent remarks about Lindsey having the audacity to work on tusk tracks at home, but failing to mention how Stevie worked on Sara with Tom M. In an all together separate session. The shear amount of double standards and attempts to revise history is pretty shocking by fans and band members.

Not the same thing at all. After the 1975 album, the writers would separately go into studios to flush out demos. For example, John worked out the bass line on “Love Will Show Us How” during the demo sessions for Christine’s 1984 album, even though he didn’t play on the album. That’s what Stevie was doing with Tom. Lindsey was recording final album tracks at home, which is what Ken and some within the band (notably John) objected to.

3. Magically, overnight there were legions of fans who were predominantly fans because of the ‘75 lineup, magically had an affection for every incarnation of the band and then used this as an excuse to feed into Micks “we’ve always had a revolving line up so this is business as usual” defense.

I can’t speak to this, since I have always been a fan of the band as a whole. However, I remember reading lots of comments over the years, especially starting in 2009, that people were tired of the stale setlists and were going to skip shows because there was nothing new. And, while there were deep cuts in the 2018 tour, they weren’t so deep that people who were predominantly fans of the classic lineup wouldn’t have heard.

4. There was a time when fans could objectively look at the past knowing what we do know and come to the conclusion that NONE of them were saints on any level. Yet, with the events of 2018/2019 Some fans and folks like Ken C. have decided to paint this picture that everyone else was a saint to work with and it was always Lindsey being the difficult one.

Mick, Christine, Stevie, and Ken have all sung his praises, too. Lindsey was the one who pushed the hardest in the studio, he’s the one who had the creative vision. However, I think he had difficulties compromising, and I suspect that played a part in his dismissal.