I have a very unpopular opinion that the ONLY reason the band ever dipped back into the blues material in '87 and '18 was due to large gaps of material they couldn't do well without Lindsey. The blues material was very convenient material they could fall back on. It worked well with other guitarists/vocalists that translated well on stage with a new lineup. It had nothing to do with any sort of back to our roots mentality etc. If that material was that important to them, they would of kept more of it in the setlist in 2018.

I LOVE their blues material, but they exploit it to fill out gaps in their setlists when key members are not present. It makes for a nice opportunity to showcase their new guitarist(s) without the pressure of covering Buckingham parts.

I also don't believe for a nanosecond that when Stevie wanted to discuss revamping the setlist with Mick in Italy, she was thinking of the pre-75 material. She agrees to a certain amount of it because it gives her a break off stage.

“Station Man” is almost a prog rock song, not at all blues. The only thing remotely bluesy about “Station Man” is it mentions trains. By that logic, “That’s Alright” is a blues song.

Definitely NOT something they’d ever play on B.B. King’s Bluesville or at a blues festival.

That's alright is pretty much pure country.

Just the way the opening signing begins Staaaaaaaation Maaaaan. The verses are pure blues. The train has nothing to do with it.
Strange you cant hear the bluesy nature of the song. It fits in the mold of all their songs in that era. The song does snap out of the zone a bit but could never scratch it off the blues list.

I think you make a compelling point here, one I’d never really thought of before. I do think though that while a big part of playing the pre-Buck/Nicks material was to, like you said, help fill gaps in their concerts, Christine, Mick, and John really enjoyed bringing that material back and performing it with Mike and Neil. It showed on the last tour how much they loved playing those early songs.

It was also true with Rick Vito, himself an ex-Bluesbreaker and a Peter Green fan.

that all makes sense.

regarding blues, i am always astonished how Brits managed to basically steal it from the original US blues culture and make it a part of their own sound. of course they also popularized it at the time. but if one really cares about the blues, there are way better places to enjoy it (for way cheaper), and with way better guitar players that nobody even knows about, than overpriced FM cover tour.

It's similar to how they started mentioning the revolving door of lineups to somehow spin Lindsey's departure as no big deal, business as usual, we've always been a blues band too.

It just seems like too much of a coincidence that the blues material comes back into play (in a larger way, not a one-off song in a setlist) in almost every instance that Lindsey is absent.

I think it would have been super cool had they carved out a 30-40 minute block of time in the 2018 set to do all pre-75 material, instead of sprinkling it throughout the set. I think the material would have been better presented in a jam session kind of way and probably more appealing to casual fans. That would have meant 30-40 minutes of Stevie being sidelined, which I'm sure wouldn't have gone over well with Stevie's camp and music critics who lean heavily on her presence when writing reviews.

Do we know whose idea it was for Stevie to sing Black Magic Woman?

Note: edited per SteveMacD because he apparently has nothing left to contribute beyond pedantic BS.

ha, yes it was very amusing to read cookie-cutter "reviews" of the fakewood tour. looked pretty obvious it was just a lazy, paid rehashing of the text served to them by band's marketing. this became even more obvious once the tour moved over to Europe, and over there critics were actually writing their own independent reviews. all of the sudden they stopped reading like a pre-written PR material, and became way less glowing and way more critical.

Cookie cutter reviews and half-filled arenas that left promoters scrambling to "paper" the event aka distribute as many free tickets as they could or slash prices. The ticketmaster seating charts on that first leg were brutal. The reviews always made sure to say "nearly sold out" :lol:

And how many reviews called "Free Falling" a highlight of the show? That says everything right there.

Not to be that guy, but it’s would’ve, would have, or wouldn’t have.

LOL you're a real gem. Thanks for the grammar tips.

I look forward to a new Buck album. I really loved the last one.

If he tours, I hope he brings a female into his solo band.

I still think he should do a duet album with Susanna Hoffs. I think they’d look and sound good together.

He and Chris probably recorded more than they used for their album. He ought to share the outtakes — at least those outtakes that Christine wouldn’t have minded seeing the light of day.

Yes I’m hoping he will include and polish up any outtakes on his new album. It would be a great way to bring Christine up in a positive light when he does the press.