Fleetwood Mac Tour 2018/19*

The aural equivalent of a Tombstone Pizza.

 

Fleetwood Mac Setlist at Pepsi Center, Denver

"World Turning" .... these days it's down in B ... It used to be in D .

The last time I laid eyes on Mick Fleetwood was.... not at a concert, but many years ago on a flight out of LAX. He was up in first-class.
About those "balls" of his .... this is from his 1990 book: (in the raunchiness of 1968 gigs) "I got into the spirit of things by nicking a pair of big wooden balls from the end of pub lavatory chains and letting them hang from my belt whenever I played. My long-awaited drum solo consisted of my stepping out in front of the drum kit and dancing while clacking these balls together, playing with my balls. I still have these wooden balls, and I never play without them. In fact, they've become somewhat totemic; if I didn't have them or something happened to them, I'd be very loath to play at all."

 

As if the perpetual crazy eyes weren't enough!
Mick Fleetwood - Create, Discover and Share Awesome GIFs on Gfycat

 

Live Nation Files Trademark Lawsuit Over Fleetwood Mac Merchandise


This ones interesting, the lawsuit is specifically calling out the upcoming San Diego show! I saw FM last San Diego show and the bootleg shirts were completely different than the offical. Now this year in tacoma, they used the exact same logo design. I am all about the bootleg shirts- many times they are better designs than the offical, and always cheaper, at least by a third-

 

Fleetwood Mac Setlist at Save Mart Center, Fresno

Fleetwood Mac Setlist at Viejas Arena, San Diego
No "All Over Again" in San Diego ? .... Can never be sure if it wasn't played, wasn't identified, or did someone leave early to beat the crowd, perhaps assuming that "Don't Stop" was the final song...

Here's another "Hold Me" ... this one from Las Vegas 11/30.
Looks to me that the song ended slightly early, catching Campbell by surprise....

 

Sucks that they are totally ignoring Tusk(album). I know it's usually regarded as Lindsey's album, but it's one of their best and there are several good Chris/Stevie songs on it. They are playing things too safe with their current playlist...verges on bland.

 

Not bad! Neil does a nice job with this song.

 

Yes, I continue to be struck by that .... that in 2018 a Fleetwood Mac concert has no songs from TUSK ....

So last night they were at the L.A. Forum for the first of 3 shows, their last shows of the year , and a "homecoming" of sorts ..... L.A. is the only city to get more than a one-night stand on this tour, and it's also noteworthy that they still have a night off after every show, even in L.A. .... There have been a lot of nights off on this tour, and that costs ....

Also noteworthy that Lindsey's tour ended a few nights ago in Bethlehem PA .... Is he back home in L.A. now ? Is FM's Forum run part of his "homecoming" ?

Would hell freeze over if he was a special-guest ? .... 28 years ago this week, in 1990, FM's final show of the Lindsey-less Behind The Mask tour was at the L.A. Forum ... and Lindsey was a special-guest ....
Pop Music : Fleetwood Mac Ends an Era and Sheds No Tears

 

Sara should be a staple just like Don't Stop and Go Your Own Way are. It's one of their Top 5 songs! I hope they retire the song "Tusk" forever.

 

it is funny, many bands seem to try to keep up with what their current reputations are, and TUSK is definitely their 'serious claim to artistic fame' and to me the 'oh it's really lb's solo lp' thing is just bunk, he didn't even write half of that lp....but maybe the band thinks of it that way as well? as you say, so much great stevie and christine stuff, including stuff most casual punters EXPECT to hear like 'sara' and stuff they'd probably recognize and enjoy, like 'think about me'----tis strange.

FWIW, even buckingham-mcvie played exactly ONE song from it---the title track. maybe the critics think about tusk way more than the people who made it do....

 

L.A. Times Review: Thinking through Fleetwood Mac's tour without Lindsey Buckingham

 

My wife's only question for the concert was what they were playing from Tusk. While I'm thrilled the song Tusk is FINALLY omitted from setlists, it seems a miss to not have something from this great record.

 

There would be a certain symbolism in banishing Tusk (the album) from the setlist, as Lindsey has brought it up in every single interview he's done since -- how he didn't want to make Rumours again and they weren't happy when it didn't sell and they forced him to make more conservative music and so on.... it's the great symbol in his mind of the difference between his creative aspirations and theirs.

However... they did play "Storms" at the first few gigs.

 

It’s strange because Stevie hit her peak as a songwriter during the Tusk/Bella Donna period. Her contributions to Tusk, as a whole, may represent her strongest on a FM album.

 

I agree that this might mean something to the remaining four members, but I would guess any symbolism would be completely lost on much of the audience.

And of course it ignores the growing status that the "Tusk" album has enjoyed over the years among critics, musicians and younger people.

My daughter bought the special Record Store Day version a few years ago.

 

"Fleetwood Mac's unremarkable early days"!?

So much for all critics having the same opinion...

 

Quote from the article:

In an encore, Campbell and Nicks brought in another selection from outside Fleetwood Mac’s songbook: Petty’s indelible “Free Fallin’,” which the group performed as photos of the beloved rocker, who died last year, flashed across a giant video screen at the rear of the stage.

For anyone with a stake in Southern California’s musical legacy — the tradition Fleetwood Mac moved here to join — the moment was undeniably poignant.

But that didn’t mean it wasn’t also kind of weird: a tribute to the dearly departed from a band that can treat its living like trash.

 

I don't think it's symbolic at all, I just don't think any of the songs fit in the setlist. The only real non-Lindsey hit is "Sara," which, let's be honest, is sort of a less-catchy, almost rough draft (musically) of "Gypsy," which they're already playing.

When bands with huge catalogs put together setlists, I genuinely believe there's far less emotional thought or context put into it than fans seem to think. I really think it's just like "okay, we just played something weird/quiet so we need a big hit here" or "we need a mid/uptempo song here" or "now is a great time for a big sweeping emotional ballad."

They're already doing three Peter Green songs and something from Time, while I agree the rest of the setlist is perhaps disappointingly safe after some early-tour surprises were dropped, I can see how they'd feel adding another deep cut from Tusk might not add anything to the show assuming 90% of an arena crowd is just there to hear the hits (which is probably accurate). I think "Never Forget" or "Think About Me" would be wonderful, reasonably mid/uptempo choices, but they'd probably involve Christine dropping one of her big hits (assuming there's a 21-22 song hard limit).

 

I don't think I disagree, really all three contributed some of their best material to the album, but none of them translated into lasting hits. I think "Sara" is pleasant enough, but I think there's a reason it's been overshadowed over time by other FM songs, because it may be a good song, but it just wasn't a great single. I've always been surprised "Think About Me" wasn't the first or second single, but I could easily see Warner wanting a Stevie song as a second single.

 

Yes. Christine is kind of the opposite though — I’ve always felt another big reason Tusk foundered commercially was that it’s the only album of that period where she didn’t deliver any hit songs, "Think About Me" only being a modest success. She's probably not too motivated to do any of her other songs from the album.

 

Yeah, I don't seriously think they're doing it as some kind of slap at Lindsey. They don't play many songs from Tusk in general apart from "Tusk" itself -- for example on the Dance tour that was the only song they did -- although they dipped into it more during the period where it was just Lindsey and Stevie and they could play more deep cuts.

 

Hey, if they have to keep Mick's balls they should keep Lindsey's tusk... just sayin'...

 

I don't think it's because her songs are bad, though. It's just that none of them were released as singles early enough in the process. The album had been out for 6 months by the time "Think About Me" was pushed as a single, so it really had no chance. (That album clearly wasn't going to be a mass-market seller like the previous two)

 

No, but I don't think they are as strong as her songs on other albums, either.

 

Maybe. I think they're good though. But nothing any of them did had real single potential, IMO. Tusk is my favorite FM album to listen to, probably because I've never burned out on any of it's songs from overexposure like I have other Mac records. But in a hits-centric arena show, it makes sense to me why it's been ignored (and typically has been over the years, for the most part, with a few exceptions).