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It's a shame; I had hoped for an album from the Mac including Neil. "Find Your Way Home" would have been a nice start, with some overdubs from Mike, Mick and John. Still, I understand Mick's sentiments, and perhaps he is correct that it is finally time to retire the Mac.
@Perfectchord posted:
I agree with your stated remarks here, Perfectchord, and I'd further add that past a certain point (i.e. death, of a sufficiently deep-in key member), the prospect of a reunion can quite suddenly become beyond the pale. Yes, even though Fleetwood Mac are no stranger to past key members passing on! It just feels respectful at or past some point to pack in the name, or announce that you have (even if it's just the drummer speaking for himself off-the-cuff in an interview, this is still Mick Fleetwood talking).
With any band that's cut deep grooves in them (and arguably, us), living in and out of each other's pockets for decades plus, there's probably always going to be an emotional and/or visceral Rubicon lying around, someplace laid down across the myriad forking ways. Replacing an alive-and-still-kicking Lindsey Buckingham with 2 ace musicians (one of them a legendary songwriter {and far-from-naive guitarist} in his own right!) works out to a compliment, really.
Given the specific history of the band though, I'm not at all surprised that Mick feels there's no real way forward after the passing of Chris McVie.
I'd say this, though. If Buckingham-Nicks got back together, and if John McVie ends up sliding into the rhythm section for some reason, I'd be surprised not to find Mick Fleetwood contributing in some way to the skins. I would not be surprised if they called it something else, rather than Fleetwood Mac, just as a more-than-token gesture honoring who cannot be with us for the tour (and let's hope album, since it's otherwise a pure nostalgia act - a fan can hope, can't I?).
A Buckingham Nicks Mick & John Function, perhaps? That'd be (I'd say) a neat reversal for the remains of a team where the rhythm section has toplined the bill so far, so long. An unexpected collective ego-restructuring?
I'd guess Neil Finn would not be invited if Buckingham's in. Just a suspicion. Still.
A fan can hope. Can't I?
@Steve Shealy posted:It's a shame; I had hoped for an album from the Mac including Neil. "Find Your Way Home" would have been a nice start, with some overdubs from Mike, Mick and John. Still, I understand Mick's sentiments, and perhaps he is correct that it is finally time to retire the Mac.
So had I, Steve. So very much had I. I foresaw (vainly) a revitalized Finn stepping up and away from his more experimental musings of late to uncork sweet-tipped hard hooks and itchy lyrical abstraction in his classic idiom, tempered to the no-sh!t no-nonsense (no doubt) expectations of this one-time Alpha Band!
It was not to be, alas.
None of what I say above is to be interpreted as a disavowal of Finn's recent oeuvre, by the way. He's earned the right to pursue his muse everywhere and anywhere, by mine or I-hope-anyone's estimation.