- While there’s still no word on official tour dates for the farewell tour, Fleetwood Mac will be performing on Jan. 26, 2018 at Radio City Music Hall in New York, NY.
- Oct 11, 2018 Mick Fleetwood made it clear to us back in May, Lindsey is not welcome back. He's been replaced on the tour by Mike Campbell from Tom Petty's Heartbreakers.
- Fleetwood Mac has toured off and on again over the years, but for the latest tour, the band has replaced Lindsey Buckingham. Fleetwood Mac Tour 2018.
- The legendary rockers are ready to rock their 2018-19 tour, which kicks off tomorrow in Tulsa, Oklahoma. They're hitting North America this fall with some big and exciting changes. In replacement of original member Lindsey Buckingham will be Neil Finn of Crowded House and Mike Campbell of Tom Petty's Heartbreakers; longtime members Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, and Christine McVie will be on the trek too.
Beginning in 1967, the group featured founder Peter Green on guitar, Mick Fleetwood on drums, Jeremy Spencer on guitar and John McVie on bass. Over the course of the next seven years, artists like Christine McVie, Danny Kirwan, Bob Welch and Bob Weston would come and go as Green and Spencer departed.
1975 began with the addition of Buckingham and Nicks, then an off and on item, and Lindsey would take his first sabbatical in 1987. Christine and John McVie married and divorced and Christine left the band multiple times, rejoining most recently in 2014.
All of which is to say that maybe it shouldn't have come as quite the shock it did when Lindsey Buckingham, amidst much acrimony, departed Fleetwood Mac again earlier this year.
Tagged: Fleetwood Mac An Evening with Fleetwood Mac It's a new chapter for the Fleetwood Mac family. The legendary rockers are ready to rock their 2018-19 tour, which kicks off tomorrow in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
While that departure has riled up fans looking to place blame, what matters as the band embarks upon a North American tour is that Mick Fleetwood made perfect picks to replace him.
LAS VEGAS, NV - SEPTEMBER 21: Mike Campbell of Fleetwood Mac performs onstage during the 2018 iHeartRadio Music Festival at T-Mobile Arena on September 21, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for iHeartMedia)
As Tom Petty's erstwhile sideman through projects like Mudcrutch and The Heartbreakers since 1971, Mike Campbell became one of rock's most underrated guitar players. Always able to make a song better, Campbell rarely looks to steal the spotlight with a flashy solo (though, as he showed on stage last night in Chicago, he's more than capable of doing that too).
New Zealand born singer and songwriter Neil Finn fronted rockers Split Enz in the late 70s and early 80s before moving on to even greater success as the voice of new wave rockers Crowded House in 1985.
'Welcome, Chicago!' said Stevie Nicks to open the show. 'Here we are for our second show in one of my very favorite cities!'
Fleetwood Mac performed as a twelve-piece act Saturday night in Chicago with Mick Fleetwood, John and Christine McVie, Stevie Nicks, Mike Campbell and Neil Finn augmented by additional guitar and keyboard players, a second percussionist and three background vocalists.
The group's stage on this tour is very simple, free of the technological trappings that accompany most arena rock shows, with the group performing in front of a single video screen.
From their 1977 classic Rumours, 'The Chain' opened Saturday night's show. As has generally been the case on recent Fleetwood Mac tours, their biggest album received the most focus, with seven tracks from it in the setlist so far on this tour.
That performance put the spotlight on Neil Finn early, who nailed his solo on the track. He'd go on to provide stellar vocals and guitar throughout the evening.
Finn is the flashier of the new additions. Now the youngest member of Fleetwood Mac at 60, he spun and bounced across the stage throughout the show. Mike Campbell, on the other hand, seemed perfectly content to hide in the shadows despite the stature and quality of his lead guitar playing.
LAS VEGAS, NV - SEPTEMBER 21: Neil Finn of Fleetwood Mac performs onstage during the 2018 iHeartRadio Music Festival at T-Mobile Arena on September 21, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for iHeartMedia)
'Many, many years ago I heard this song and it opened a lot of doors in my own heart,' said Mick Fleetwood, introducing an acoustic cover of Crowded House's biggest hit 'Don't Dream It's Over.' 'It's unbelievably fitting,' he continued referencing Finn's new place in the band as Stevie Nicks joined him on vocals, singing one verse of the 1986 hit.
The group went out of its way to introduce their new members, putting a Fleetwood Mac spin on 'I Got You' by Split Enz early and the Tom Petty classic 'Free Fallin' later. Nicks once again took on the vocal of her longtime friend and collaborator and Campbell's familiar strumming of the Rickenbacker on it was a comforting reminder of his past.
'During this set, we're going to pay respect to our history,' said Nicks Saturday on stage at Chicago's United Center. 'We have reached back in the history of Fleetwood Mac which is really exciting because it's a whole different thing,' she continued, referencing the group's often overlooked roots in the U.K. blues tradition.
Aside from the absence of Lindsey Buckingham, the most stunning part of the current tour is the desire the group has to dig into their vast catalog for tracks that predate the involvement of Nicks and even Christine McVie.
'Listen, I'm personally really happy to be here with this band,' said Campbell. 'This song is written by Peter Green. Hopefully you know who he is by now,' he continued, eyes locked on Fleetwood, both smiling, as a stripped down Fleetwood Mac consisting of just six players took on, arguably, the group's biggest early hit in 'Oh Well.'
Nicks and McVie left the stage and blues guitar drove the gritty jam as Campbell delivered not just rollicking lead licks but lead vocals too on iconic lines like, 'I can't help about the shape I'm in / Can't sing, I ain't pretty and my legs are thin / But don't ask me what I think of you / I might not give the answer that you want me to.'
Tracks like 'Tell Me All the Things You Do' and 'Hypnotized' were performed Saturday night in Chicago for just the second time since 1977. And what's incredible is the group's ability to balance those deeper dives by following them up with more pop leaning Fleetwood Mac hits like 'Everywhere, 'Rhinannon' or 'Dreams' and making all of it work.
Nicks took the lead vocal on 'Black Magic Woman,' a song made popular by Carlos Santana in 1970, though it was penned by Peter Green and released by a very different Fleetwood Mac in 1968.
It was on 'Black Magic Woman' where Campbell started to look comfortable. His guitar work on the track provided the type of moments fans didn't often hear on Tom Petty records. Campbell made his way across the stage during the track to interact with Christine McVie on keyboards. Mick Fleetwood stood up from his drum kit as the song came to a close, grinning ear to ear as he pointed a drumstick directly at Campbell.
That moment was one of many which revealed just how much fun the members of Fleetwood Mac seem to be having at the moment, not necessarily a given during past Fleetwood Mac outings.
LAS VEGAS, NV - SEPTEMBER 21: (L-R) Christine McVie, Stevie Nicks, and Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac perform onstage during the 2018 iHeartRadio Music Festival at T-Mobile Arena on September 21, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for iHeartMedia)
Despite his absence, the group made no effort to shy away from Fleetwood Mac fare that's closely associated with Lindsey Buckingham. Finn handled the lead vocal capably on 'Second Hand News' early in the set, teaming up with Campbell later for the guitar heroics that characterize 'Go Your Own Way.'
These are polarizing times for Fleetwood Mac fans, as evidenced by fan reaction on social media to Lindsey's departure, the current tour and newly updated setlist. On one hand, fans who approach the group nostalgically miss the guitarist, while others are happy for a fresh take on vital songs the group ignored for decades.
One thing that can't be argued is that the addition of Campbell and Finn seem to have injected new life into Fleetwood Mac. While it remains to be seen if that carries over to the studio, fans who can approach this lineup with an open mind will be vastly rewarded in the live concert setting.
While it's strange to see Fleetwood Mac covering, say, Crowded House, it's rewarding to see a band willing to shake things up and try something different this far in, even if that means ignoring the nostalgia for a change.
Fleetwood Mac has announced dates for its 2018 North American tour, weeks after the firing of Lindsey Buckingham.
The band replaced Buckingham with Crowded House’s Neil Finn and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ Mike Campbell, according to an April 9 statement.
“We are thrilled to welcome the musical talents of the caliber of Mike Campbell and Neil Finn into the Mac family,” the group statement said. “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.
“Lindsey Buckingham will not be performing with the band on this tour. The band wishes Lindsey all the best.”
According to the majority of the rock band -- Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, John McVie and Mick Fleetwood -- Buckingham’s departure came from a scheduling conflict over a world tour.
“We were supposed to go into rehearsal in June and he wanted to put it off until November (2019),” Nicks told Rolling Stone in an interview published Wednesday. “That’s a long time. I just did 70 shows. As soon as I finish one thing, I dive back into another. Why would we stop?”
Instead, after meeting a month ago, the band decided to replace Buckingham and will go on a 52-date North American tour.
Rolling Stone reported that the group isn’t willing to say Buckingham was fired, per se.
“Words like ‘fired’ are ugly references as far as I’m concerned,” Fleetwood said. “Not to hedge around, but we arrived at the impasse of hitting a brick wall. This was not a happy situation for us in terms of the logistics of a functioning band. To that purpose, we made a decision that we could not go on with him. Majority rules in terms of what we need to do as a band and go forward.”
“Our relationship has always been volatile. We were never married, but we might as well have been,” Nicks said. “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.’”
The dates for Fleetwood Mac’s North American tour are below. Most general public tickets go on sale starting May 4 at 10 a.m. local time. The tour starts in October in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and runs through 2019. More information is available at FleetwoodMac.com.
Oct. 3: Tulsa, Oklahoma, at BOK Center
Oct. 6: Chicago at United Center
Oct. 10: Louisville, Kentucky, at KFC Yum! Center (on sale May 11)
Oct. 12: Lincoln, Nebraska, at Pinnacle Bank Arena
Oct. 14: Des Moines, Iowa, at Wells Fargo Arena
Oct. 16: Indianapolis at Bankers Life Fieldhouse
Oct. 18: Kansas City, Missouri, at Sprint Center
Oct. 20: St. Louis at Scottrade Center
Oct. 22 : St. Paul, Minnesota, at Xcel Energy Center
Oct. 26: Cleveland at Quicken Loans Arena
Oct. 28: Milwaukee at Wisconsin Entertainment and Sports Center
Oct. 30: Detroit at Little Caesars Arena
Nov. 1: Pittsburgh at PPG Paints Arena
Nov. 3: Ottawa, Ontario, at Canadian Tire Centre
Nov. 5: Toronto at Air Canada Centre
Nov. 7: Columbus, Ohio, at Nationwide Arena
Nov. 10: Edmonton, Alberta, at Rogers Place
Nov. 12: Calgary, Alberta, at Scotiabank Saddledome
Nov. 14: Vancouver at Rogers Arena
Nov. 17: Tacoma, Washington, at Tacoma Dome
Nov. 19: Portland, Oregon, at Moda Center
Nov. 21: San Jose, California, at Center at San Jose
Nov. 23: Sacramento, California, at Golden 1 Center
Nov. 25: Oakland, California, at Oracle Arena
Nov. 28: Phoenix at Talking Stick Resort Arena
Nov. 30: Las Vegas at T-Mobile Arena
Dec. 3: Denver at Pepsi Center
Dec. 6: Fresno, California, at Save Mart Center
Dec. 8: San Diego at Viejas Arena
Dec. 11: Inglewood, California, at The Forum
Dec. 13: Inglewood, California, at The Forum
Feb. 5: Houston at Toyota Center
Feb. 7: Dallas at American Airlines Center
Feb. 9: Austin, Texas, at Frank Erwin Center
Feb. 13: Birmingham, Alabama, at Legacy Arena at the BJCC
Feb. 16: New Orleans at Smoothie King Center
Feb. 18: Tampa, Florida, at Amalie Arena
Feb. 20: Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at BB&T Center
Feb. 22: Columbia, South Carolina, at Colonial Life Arena
Feb. 24: Charlotte, North Carolina, at Spectrum Center
Feb. 27: Nashville, Tennessee, at Bridgestone Arena
March 3: Atlanta at Philips Arena
March 5: Washington at Capital One Arena
March 9: Atlantic City, New Jersey, at Boardwalk Hall
March 11: New York at Madison Square Garden
March 13: Newark, New Jersey, at Prudential Center
March 15: Hartford, Connecticut, at XL Center
March 20: Albany, New York, at Times Union Center
Fleetwood Mac 2018 Tour Dates
March 24: Baltimore at Royal Farms Arena
Fleetwood Mac Tour 2018 Schedule
March 26: Buffalo, New York, at KeyBank Center
Fleetwood Mac 2018 Tour Review
March 31: Boston at TD Garden
April 5: Philadelphia at Wells Fargo Center
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Who Is Opening For Fleetwood Mac 2018 Tour
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