Fleetwood Mac has just announced a two-leg, 52-date North American tour. The trek, which will feature Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell and Crowded House frontman Neil Finn taking the place of ousted bandleader Lindsey Buckingham, launches on October 3rd at Tulsa, Oklahoma at BOK Center and eventually winds down next April 5th at Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRj0jk9FXDI
Mick Fleetwood said in an official statement announcing the tour: “Fleetwood Mac has always been about an amazing collection of songs that are performed with a unique blend of talents. We jammed with Mike and Neil and the chemistry really worked and let the band realize that this is the right combination to go forward with in Fleetwood Mac style. We know we have something new, yet it’s got the unmistakable Mac sound.”
The entire group said: “We are thrilled to welcome the musical talents of the caliber of Mike Campbell and Neil Finn into the Mac family. With Mike and Neil, we’ll be performing all the hits that the fans love, plus we’ll be surprising our audiences with some tracks from our historic catalogue of songs. Fleetwood Mac has always been a creative evolution. We look forward to honoring that spirit on this upcoming tour.”
Christine McVie, who released an original album with Lindsey Buckingham last year, and was on tour with him only five months ago, told Rolling Stone: “I had a great time with him on the road and making that record. I was surprised to hear the news because it happened after I went back to London that the decision was made. But life moves on and I wanted to carry on with these guys.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJWPJXVE3r0
Stevie Nicks went on to say the band plans of touching upon the band’s pre Buckingham / Nicks era — something that she hinted Lindsey Buckingham did not want to include in the act: “There are 10 hits we have to do. That leaves another 13 songs if you want to do a three-hour show. Then you crochet them all together and you make a great sequence and you have something that nobody has seen before except all the things they want to see are there. At rehearsal, we’re going to put up a board of 60 songs. Then we start with number one and we go through and we play everything. Slowly you start taking songs off and you start to see your set come together.”
Nicks went on to say about Buckingham, “Our relationship has always been volatile. We were never married, but we might as well have been. Some couples get divorced after 40 years. They break their kids’ hearts and destroy everyone around them because it’s just hard. This is sad for me, but I want the next 10 years of my life to be really fun and happy. I want to get up every day and dance around my apartment and smile and say, ‘Thank God for this amazing life.’”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbZ3vQSRtDE
The latest lineup of Fleetwood Mac appeared on CBS This Morning and spoke about the upcoming tour — with Mick Fleetwood finally breaking his silence on Lindsey Buckingham’s exit. Fleetwood was asked if the stories are true that Lindsey Buckingham was indeed fired from the band: “We don’t use that word, because I think it’s ugly and it’s not a question of that. Lindsey has huge amounts of respect and kudos to which he’s done in the ranks of Fleetwood Mac and always will. But, it’s like a marriage that came to an end — and there are reasons why. And as a band, we need to move on and we have. It became just a huge impasse and hit a brick wall, where we decided that we had to part company. This is absolutely a new band. This is the new lineup of Fleetwood Mac.”
JUST ANNOUNCED: Fleetwood Mac tour dates (subject to change):
October 3 – Tulsa, OK – BOK Center
October 6 – Chicago, IL – United Center
October 10 – Louisville, KY – KFC Yum! Center
October 12 – Lincoln, NE – Pinnacle Bank Arena
October 14 – Des Moines, IA – Wells Fargo Arena
October 16 – Indianapolis, IN – Bankers Life Fieldhouse
October 18 – Kansas City, MO – Sprint Center
October 20 – St. Louis, MO – Scottrade Center
October 22 – St. Paul, MN – Xcel Energy Center
October 26 – Cleveland, OH – Quicken Loans Arena
October 28 – Milwaukee, WI – Wisconsin Entertainment and Sports Center
October 30 – Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena
November 1 – Pittsburgh, PA – PPG Paints Arena
November 3 – Ottawa, ON – Canadian Tire Centre
November 5 – Toronto, ON – Air Canada Centre
November 7 – Columbus, OH – Nationwide Arena
November 10 – Edmonton, AB – Rogers Place
November 12 – Calgary, AB – Scotiabank Saddledome
November 14 – Vancouver, BC – Rogers Arena
November 17 – Tacoma, WA – Tacoma Dome
November 19 – Portland, OR – Moda Center
November 21 – San Jose, CA – SAP Center at San Jose
November 23 – Sacramento, CA – Golden 1 Center
November 25 – Oakland, CA – Oracle Arena
November 28 – Phoenix, AZ – Talking Stick Resort Arena
November 30 – Las Vegas, NV – T-Mobile Arena
December 3 – Denver, CO – Pepsi Center
December 6 – Fresno, CA – Save Mart Center
December 8 – San Diego, CA – Viejas Arena
December 11, 13 – Inglewood, CA – The Forum
February 5 – Houston, TX – Toyota Center
February 7 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center
February 9 – Austin, TX – Frank Erwin Center
February 13 – Birmingham, AL – Legacy Arena at The BJCC
February 16 – New Orleans, LA – Smoothie King Center
February 18 – Tampa, FL – Amalie Arena
February 20 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL – BB&T Center
February 22 – Columbia, SC – Colonial Life Arena
February 24 – Charlotte, NC – Spectrum Center
February 27 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena
March 3 – Atlanta, GA – Philips Arena
March 5 – Washington, DC – Capital One Arena
March 9 – Atlantic City, NJ – Boardwalk Hall
March 11 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
March 13 – Newark, NJ – Prudential Center
March 15 – Hartford, CT – XL CENTER
March 20 – Albany, NY – Times Union Center
March 24 – Baltimore, MD – Royal Farms Arena
March 26 – Buffalo, NY – KeyBank Center
March 31 – Boston, MA – TD Garden
April 5 – Philadelphia, PA – Wells Fargo Center
