The hardest thing right now

[elle]

Originally Posted by BigAl84

Some of the best moments in Fleetwood Mac’s final tours, reuniting all five of the classic lineup, came during the Stevie Nicks/Lindsey Buckingham solo showcases. Every night, Christine would sit next to John on the piano bench, out of sight from most of the audience, just the two of them whispering and giggling together. They always huddled like two old friends, just sharing a private laugh. It was such a touching sight — so sweet and civilized, in the middle of all that emotional sturm und drang. She brought that warmth out in people. Even these people..

i was able to happily capture some of that Christine-John sitting on the amp interaction in DC

[Macfan4life]

The Mac has been a dead band for awhile. The band itself does not make new music but did regroup to play the hits for cash grab tours. Since this thread is related to Chris, can we not honor her blunt honesty and admission that Fleetwood Mac was over. She said this years ago. She told the truth and Mick forced her to back track. After what Stevie did to the band I think she is smart enough to know she could never go back now that Chris is gone. She would not play with Lindey and Chris but will play without Chris? I dont think so. Stevie was hesitant to tour with the band without Chris in 2003. John is pretty much retired too. Will Lindsey play somewhere with Mick someday? I would probably guess yes. That may happen. I think one reason Chris went for it when Lindsey was fired was because she acknowledged this is probably the last time she could do this.

BigAl
There was a funny thread many years ago speculating what John and Chris chatted about on the amps during Stevie's LONG Gypsy intro. I would watch them every night and wish I could hear their conversation instead of Stevie's.

We cant be bitter. Its a miracle these past 9 years what she has done. We all got to reconnect with her and she touched us once again. We got monster sold out arenas and small intimate theaters plus a duet album with Lindsey and a reissue of solo songs CD. When I heard Songbird play in 2014, I sat there in awe because I never thought I would hear that song again live. I did and I am so thankful.
The bitterness hides the brilliance. Imagine for a moment she wanted to come back but could not get over her fear or she did not want to impose on the band since they carried on without her. Her passing would still be tough but because she has done so much these past 9 years does make it more difficult to accept. A woman in her 70s rejoining a rock band and doing what she did these past 9 years is nothing short of spectacular.

[Penguin Emeritus]

Originally Posted by elle

i was able to happily capture some of that Christine-John sitting on the amp interaction in DC

Thank you for posting that. This is why I'm glad to be back at the ledge. I need to see all these things, it helps my heart. ♥

[blinker12]

Originally Posted by Penguin Emeritus

Thank you for posting that. This is why I'm glad to be back at the ledge. I need to see all these things, it helps my heart. ♥

Yes thank you to those who posted these amp-sitting videos of Chris and John. How absolutely lovely that they got to have that time together in what turned out to be Chris’s twilight years. It makes my heart feel so glad that she got to do this instead of isolating herself in her English castle.

[Penguin Emeritus]

Originally Posted by blinker12

Yes thank you to those who posted these amp-sitting videos of Chris and John. How absolutely lovely that they got to have that time together in what turned out to be Chris’s twilight years. It makes my heart feel so glad that she got to do this instead of isolating herself in her English castle.

Yes, those are my thoughts exactly. What a gift that was for her, and for all of us....and for all of them, too, really.

[elle]

Originally Posted by Penguin Emeritus

Thank you for posting that. This is why I'm glad to be back at the ledge. I need to see all these things, it helps my heart. ♥

you are so welcome and i'm so glad you got to come back to the fold of the site you started and kept going and then Michele kept going for all of us all these years - so now we have some place to come back to and spend this time together celebrating Christine and her full, well lived life and huge legacy.

[anusha]

This thread speaks to me in so many ways. Chris’ passing has reawakened my deep irritation and distaste at Stevie and Lindsey for the nonstop display of pettiness that has marked their presence in Fleetwood Mac. It really does go all the way back to Rumours but obviously came out in sordid detail when she orchestrated his firing, though there is ample evidence of poor behavior from both of them over the past four decades. For people who are capable of making such lovely music, they really have shown themselves to be selfish and nasty so very many times. I am sad that their narrative was the one that was front and center, especially after 1997 when it became their true cash cow.

The one consolation I do have is that Chris probably was fine with her role and with the two drama queens absorbing the spotlight. And in the end, the tributes we see speak to the person she was, and how she was loved.

[BigAl84]

Thanks to all for replying to this thread. I guess Christine's passing made me really long for the drama between band members to cease. To be more like Christine! I'm so glad that the press got everything right about Christine in the end and the rest of the world considered her to be the classiest adult in the room, which fans have been saying for decades. Its wonderful that the writeups about her have not been littered with drug and rehab references. Other members won't be so lucky.

[UnwindedDreams]

The reason why there will never be communication with Stevie and Lindsey is because Stevie's team and allies such as Brad Jeffries and Vanessa Carlton have spoken of Lindsey like he should be in a penitentiary.
But then you have Chris and Mick who at most said something like it's happier and without tense anymore on the last FM tour.

I don't accept Stevie has made peace by not talking to him anymore because she always mentions his name. But she doesn't mention key players in her story like Rick Nowels, Tom Moncrieff, or Jimmy Iovine (other than Stop Draggin' My Heart Around).

BigAl, I think Chris' email to Lindsey after the suit settled should give you some warmth and know that when the time came, Christine had nothing but love for all of her bandmates, including Lindsey.

[J.Miller]

Originally Posted by BigAl84

After 2018/2019 I thought I had put to bed and dealt with the fact that the original 5 would most likely never perform again. The passing of Christine really makes that final. I was introduced to the band in 1997. My first love with the band wasn't the Rumours album, it was their live performances. I don't lament a final album with all 5, but the realization that they'll never hit the stage as a complete unit is a gut punch.

I also don't want to see Lindsey and Stevie go to the end with bitterness between them. How great is it that Christine and John were able to be friends and put the past behind them, seemingly decades ago. I love this passage from a recent Rolling Stone article about Christine:

Some of the best moments in Fleetwood Mac’s final tours, reuniting all five of the classic lineup, came during the Stevie Nicks/Lindsey Buckingham solo showcases. Every night, Christine would sit next to John on the piano bench, out of sight from most of the audience, just the two of them whispering and giggling together. They always huddled like two old friends, just sharing a private laugh. It was such a touching sight — so sweet and civilized, in the middle of all that emotional sturm und drang. She brought that warmth out in people. Even these people.

When it comes down to Lindsey and Stevie, it's so sad to see their animosity baked into their public persona, like an expectation of their coexistence. Time is so finite at this point in their lives. Knowing their animosity will be part of their epitaph is an incredibly hard pill to swallow. When the time comes, we probably won't see passages like the one written above in the context of Lindsey and Stevie.

https://youtu.be/RP95ZvV2fo4 I actually recorded one of those Chris and John McVie interactions. It isn’t much but I thought it was cute. Enjoy.

[J.Miller]

Originally Posted by BigAl84

After 2018/2019 I thought I had put to bed and dealt with the fact that the original 5 would most likely never perform again. The passing of Christine really makes that final. I was introduced to the band in 1997. My first love with the band wasn't the Rumours album, it was their live performances. I don't lament a final album with all 5, but the realization that they'll never hit the stage as a complete unit is a gut punch.

I also don't want to see Lindsey and Stevie go to the end with bitterness between them. How great is it that Christine and John were able to be friends and put the past behind them, seemingly decades ago. I love this passage from a recent Rolling Stone article about Christine:

Some of the best moments in Fleetwood Mac’s final tours, reuniting all five of the classic lineup, came during the Stevie Nicks/Lindsey Buckingham solo showcases. Every night, Christine would sit next to John on the piano bench, out of sight from most of the audience, just the two of them whispering and giggling together. They always huddled like two old friends, just sharing a private laugh. It was such a touching sight — so sweet and civilized, in the middle of all that emotional sturm und drang. She brought that warmth out in people. Even these people.

When it comes down to Lindsey and Stevie, it's so sad to see their animosity baked into their public persona, like an expectation of their coexistence. Time is so finite at this point in their lives. Knowing their animosity will be part of their epitaph is an incredibly hard pill to swallow. When the time comes, we probably won't see passages like the one written above in the context of Lindsey and Stevie.

https://youtu.be/RP95ZvV2fo4 I actually recorded a bit of Christine and John talking to each other. It is not much but I thought it was cute.

[Macfan4life]

I was watching a 2017 interview of hers today and she was saying how much her love of performing brought her back to the band. This was right before Lindsey was fired. Her voice was struggling and her ability to play was being limited. Yet she carried on. Yes she hit a few frogs and clunkers on some nights but NEVER piped in fake lead vocals or autotune. Got to admire that. Jon Bon Jovi lost his ability to sing and they pipe in fake lead vocals for Jon (and he is much younger). She was such a trooper and went on with the show. She gave it her all up to the end. Roberta Flack and Linda Ronstadt are alive but lost their ability to sing and perform many years ago.
God Bless you Chris
Fly Songbird Fly

[jbrownsjr]

Originally Posted by Macfan4life

I was watching a 2017 interview of hers today and she was saying how much her love of performing brought her back to the band. This was right before Lindsey was fired. Her voice was struggling and her ability to play was being limited. Yet she carried on. Yes she hit a few frogs and clunkers on some nights but NEVER piped in fake lead vocals or autotune. Got to admire that. Jon Bon Jovi lost his ability to sing and they pipe in fake lead vocals for Jon. She was such a trooper and went on with the show. She gave it her all up to the end. Roberta Flack and Linda Ronstadt are alive but lost their ability to sing and perform many years ago.
God Bless you Chris
Fly Songbird Fly

[J.Miller]

Originally Posted by BigAl84

After 2018/2019 I thought I had put to bed and dealt with the fact that the original 5 would most likely never perform again. The passing of Christine really makes that final. I was introduced to the band in 1997. My first love with the band wasn't the Rumours album, it was their live performances. I don't lament a final album with all 5, but the realization that they'll never hit the stage as a complete unit is a gut punch.

I also don't want to see Lindsey and Stevie go to the end with bitterness between them. How great is it that Christine and John were able to be friends and put the past behind them, seemingly decades ago. I love this passage from a recent Rolling Stone article about Christine:

Some of the best moments in Fleetwood Mac’s final tours, reuniting all five of the classic lineup, came during the Stevie Nicks/Lindsey Buckingham solo showcases. Every night, Christine would sit next to John on the piano bench, out of sight from most of the audience, just the two of them whispering and giggling together. They always huddled like two old friends, just sharing a private laugh. It was such a touching sight — so sweet and civilized, in the middle of all that emotional sturm und drang. She brought that warmth out in people. Even these people.

When it comes down to Lindsey and Stevie, it's so sad to see their animosity baked into their public persona, like an expectation of their coexistence. Time is so finite at this point in their lives. Knowing their animosity will be part of their epitaph is an incredibly hard pill to swallow. When the time comes, we probably won't see passages like the one written above in the context of Lindsey and Stevie.

Originally Posted by Macfan4life

I was watching a 2017 interview of hers today and she was saying how much her love of performing brought her back to the band. This was right before Lindsey was fired. Her voice was struggling and her ability to play was being limited. Yet she carried on. Yes she hit a few frogs and clunkers on some nights but NEVER piped in fake lead vocals or autotune. Got to admire that. Jon Bon Jovi lost his ability to sing and they pipe in fake lead vocals for Jon (and he is much younger). She was such a trooper and went on with the show. She gave it her all up to the end. Roberta Flack and Linda Ronstadt are alive but lost their ability to sing and perform many years ago.
God Bless you Chris
Fly Songbird Fly

https://youtu.be/bDsQ-P4ZEYg We went to see Fleetwood Mac in 2019 in Nashville. That night Christine sounded quite well compared to some uneven performances earlier in that tour. I even remarked out loud that she was all the way back to her better performances since she returned to the band. The video I posted here was the final time I will get the pleasure of see the wonderful and beautiful Christine McVie. A lot of people were starting to leave as the song started. They shouldn’t have.

[Mr Scarrott]

Originally Posted by J.Miller

https://youtu.be/bDsQ-P4ZEYg We went to see Fleetwood Mac in 2019 in Nashville. That night Christine sounded quite well compared to some uneven performances earlier in that tour. I even remarked out loud that she was all the way back to her better performances since she returned to the band. The video I posted here was the final time I will get the pleasure of see the wonderful and beautiful Christine McVie. A lot of people were starting to leave as the song started. They shouldnÂ’t have.

I couldn't bring myself to go to the Lindsey-less show in 2019. I think I made the right choice- the imaginative set initially tempted me but it had largely been pared down by the time they came to London- not the band's fault, just under-informed and confused audiences. The videos I have seen of Christine on that tour do seem to show a growing frailty, both vocally and physically so I kind of worried about her back then. She was certainly spouting the company line,but I never believed she approved of Lindsey's firing. The 2015 tour was a gift of an only occasionally benevolent god, and Christine was largely magnificent and a joy to behold. Yes, there was a flub here or there , but it made it all heroically real, a fascinating glimpse of a woman who had been through everything her profession could throw at her in her first fifty odd years, who then retired, and then did it all over again. I would never have been able to thank her enough for that.