After thinking about this (Neil in Fleetwood) for a couple of weeks now I feel pretty strong that he made the wrong decision. Ticket sales do not look good and if you read Fleetwood's facebook page and other areas where their fans are commenting, they are pretty irate that Lindsey is not in the band and is essentially being replaced by two other singer/players....basically saying that this will not be Fleetwood Mac without him and a fake version (etc, in stronger words than that). So, in short, I feel sorry for Neil that he is in this position, especially at this point in his career. He deserves better than what will be half sold concert venues and getting some of the negative Fleetwood Mac fan comments. The good part is that he will be great vocally/guitar wise but unfortunately can't blow them away with his own material.
renzo posted:After thinking about this (Neil in Fleetwood) for a couple of weeks now I feel pretty strong that he made the wrong decision. Ticket sales do not look good and if you read Fleetwood's facebook page and other areas where their fans are commenting, they are pretty irate that Lindsey is not in the band and is essentially being replaced by two other singer/players....basically saying that this will not be Fleetwood Mac without him and a fake version (etc, in stronger words than that). So, in short, I feel sorry for Neil that he is in this position, especially at this point in his career. He deserves better than what will be half sold concert venues and getting some of the negative Fleetwood Mac fan comments. The good part is that he will be great vocally/guitar wise but unfortunately can't blow them away with his own material.
The ticket sales will be fine. Many of the venues (interestingly in the south) are almost sold out. Some folks are clearly waiting to see how the tour goes before buying tickets but that's expected when the main creative force in the band is fired. I hope Neil and the band record a few new songs for an EP to release before the tour as that could help a lot.
Our Birmingham is a walk up town usually.
Southern Cross posted:I just listened to a new interview with Mick Fleetwood on Sirius XM, Channel 106 ‘Volume West’. He called in from Maui on Memorial Day. (His interview starts about 29:30 into the show, and he begins talking about the upcoming tour just before 40:00.)
Thanks for posting all this!
Big thanks from me too, Southern Cross! 
Now hoping to find the audio online somewhere...
Jaffaman posted:It won't be the first time Neil's been on a tour with Stevie Nicks and Mike Campbell. Split Enz toured US and Canada with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers in 1981.
And wasn't there some story that Split Enz (the lowly support band) were refused permission to go anywhere near Stevie Nicks during that tour? LOL.
May I add an anecdote? In 1983 Stevie Nicks came to the University of Missouri to perform, and I was a student and lived in a house on campus. One of our members was on the student activities committee, so they borrowed our nice couch from the formal, for Stevie's dressing room.
(I shan't include the lewd comments, but you can imagine.)
https://www.facebook.com/abcne...s/10156448485374516/
Neil and Liam discuss the elder Finn joining Fleetwood Mac.
Just looking at previous set lists from similar legacy artists at the iHeart festival. You can expect anywhere from 5 to 8 songs from Fleetwood Mac. U2 had the longest set of 8 songs in the last three years at iHeart in Vegas. Fleetwood Mac is probably the oldest group that has ever played iHeart. Older solo artists like Elton and McCartney have played iHeart though. Elton played 5 songs and McCartney played 8. iHeart usually caters to a younger more mainstream radio crowd.
Well it looks like the Neil Finn/Fleetwood Mac partnership is working at least from a financial standpoint. The first leg of their tour grossed 48 million with an average ticket sale of 14,000 sold per concert for 28 shows. That's an average of 1.8 million gross per concert. Not bad ...
I wonder what Neil’s cut of that is !
I don't blame him for doing it. If it were me, I'd put most or all of it into trust and set up my family for generations.
Saw the show in Denver tonight. Neil looked great and was in fine voice. The place was packed - not quite a sell-out, but probably around 95% full....pretty amazing considering the band had just played here in early December on the first leg of the tour.
I read today about Buckingham and his surgery. Voice could be gone. Feel bad for him. I guess all the stuff pertaining to tour and being replaced did not help at all. Still think Neil and gentleman from Heartbreakers should have really thought about this....the aspect of replacing another artist in the band and just the all around respect pertaining to that. I know money was a drawing factor but should have looked at this deeper in my opinion. It would almost be like Crowded House going on the road and a main member, even Neil, being replaced. At least that is what it seems..unless somehow my thinking is wrong but I can’t look at this differently unfortunately.
renzo posted:I read today about Buckingham and his surgery. Voice could be gone. Feel bad for him. I guess all the stuff pertaining to tour and being replaced did not help at all. Still think Neil and gentleman from Heartbreakers should have really thought about this....the aspect of replacing another artist in the band and just the all around respect pertaining to that. I know money was a drawing factor but should have looked at this deeper in my opinion. It would almost be like Crowded House going on the road and a main member, even Neil, being replaced. At least that is what it seems..unless somehow my thinking is wrong but I can’t look at this differently unfortunately.
I agree with many of your points, but I think Lindsey was headed for heart trouble at some point anyway, considering his family history. But I agree, the stress of how he was treated over the past year probably did not help his health.