I took a quick glance at the set lists on Wiki. I know they dropped this and that, but the sets were great on paper. You had all the hits, of course, but also the long-lost additions:

• Black Magic Woman
• Tell Me All the Things You Do
• World Turning
• All Over Again
• Hypnotized
• Isn’t It Midnight
• Man of the World
• Blue Letter (at one concert)

I don’t think the performances on Don’t Dream It’s Over or Free Fallin’ or I Got You were great enough to warrant including any of them in the set, but whaddya gonna do?

This all proves, to me and once again, that it doesn’t really matter what they play as much as how they play. Put some spice or novelty in it, and you can play anything — even Peaches & Herb.

I agree. I never thought Mike's style ever really gelled with the '75-'87 material. It's nothing against him, he just wasn't the best fit for that material. The blues stuff? heck yeah! I think Rick & Billy were a better fit for that Rumours material.

In terms of how they played the material, in my opinion the setlist created a hodge podge/ junk drawer experience. I think they picked up on the weirdness of the setlist relatively quickly, but falsely blamed it on the pre '75 material and the amount of it.

This is how I'd organize the show. Ideally I would cut I Got You and Don't Dream, but if we had to keep it - this is what I came up with.

The Chain
Little Lies
Dreams
Second Hand News
Say You Love Me
Everywhere
Rhiannon

PRE '75 SET
Man Of The World
Black Magic Woman
Tell me All The Things You Do
Hypnotized
Oh Well


BAND INTRO > New Member Material
I Got You
Don't Dream It's Over

Monday Morning
Isn't It Midnight
Landslide
Storms
You Make Loving Fun
Gold Dust Woman
Go Your Own Way

ENCORE
World Turning
Don't Stop

ENCORE 2
Free Falling
All Over Again

My favorite thing about the 2018 Tour was Isn't It Midnight and Hold Me.
This is the setlist I hoped for after it was announced they'd be doing pre-FMFM songs(Hoped for new FM songs, but this one will leave out space for new songs because they were never going to record for this tour):
1. Blue Letter
2. Dreams
3. You Make Loving Fun
4. Oh Well
5. The Chain
6. In The Back of My Mind
7. Angel
8. Say You Love Me
9. Hypnotized
10. Sara
11. When The Sun Goes Down
12. As Long As You Follow
13. Rhiannon
14. Black Magic Woman (Neal vocal)
15. Isn't It Midnight
16. Freedom
17. Hold Me
18. Stand On the Rock
19. Stand Back
20. Rattlesnake Shake
21. Don't Stop
22. World Turning
23. No Questions Asked
24. Songbird

Obviously not literally a crime and while I too was disappointed that Lindsey was fired, may I point out that this happens in bands all the time. Talented musicians and talented people in general are fired all the time for interpersonal reasons despite being very good at what they do, be it playing guitar or Excel spreadsheets.

It's amazing Lindsey and Stevie were able to work together for as long as they did despite absolutely hating each other's guts.

All of what you say is true. IMHO there is an answer to your question why they were able to work with each other all those years but suddenly could not anymore. Something happened that never happened before. Fleetwood Mac was supposed to make an album and then tour. Stevie balked. The band went into the studio and recorded an album but went out of the way to not call it Fleetwood Mac. Had the band not done this I would put my money on Lindsey would have been on that 2018 tour but would not have had an album to promote. For the first time the band went on without her. She did not have the power to stop them. Lindsey touring with Chris really upped the jealousy. If the band had just cancelled their desire to make new music and waited for Stevie for the 2018 tour, I believe Lindsey would have been there. Stevie could not stand to be in the studio with Lindsey anymore. But she would have toured with the Mac. But the band going on and doing something without her and WITH Lindsey was a bridge too far. Her only card she had to throw was this last tour and she chose to say.......him or me.

Well, I was more than happy that the 5 members reunited in 1997 and 2014. However, in 1987 Fleetwood Mac was supposed to make an album and then tour. Lindsey reluctantly agreed to tour for 10 weeks. Reluctantly, but he agreed, and that was a serious commitment. The band had started rehearsing, signing on readies, confirming dates with booking agents, or so I read. Then he took it back and the August 7 episode we all known happened at Christine’s home. More than that episode (of which there are different versions so I don't take it into account as much), the fact of abandoning them was the most unforgivable thing, IMHO.

Again, I was in full happiness to see the 5 guys in 1997 and 2014, but if it was me, if I was a band member, I would completely discard the possibility of reunite with somebody who ditched the band that way. If he had said NO TOUR from the start, I’d have respected that, but the way he left them was something very bad. So, how was it possible for them to reunite? Well, of course there was a good suitable mood, but after everything I've seen, it was definitely also to please the friend of those five: their wallets.

Ditched the band? I think you're forgetting the year long process of making Tango in which Lindsey, Christine, and Richard were the only people sober enough to see the project cross the finish line. Stevie only showed up for a mere few weeks. She also signed a contract agreeing to complete an album which she barely did. Questioning Lindsey's dedication to the band is quite a laughable stretch.

You nailed it. She was successful in shelving the project going all the way back to 2009/2010. Before the 2013 tour, Lindsey spoke to him and John cutting 8 or 9 tracks together with the hopes of it becoming a band project. A few things came out on the 2013 EP and the rest surfaced on BuckVie. I'll argue that Stevie has barely wanted to do a Fleetwood Mac album going all the way back to her complaining about Mirage in 1981/82. She barely showed up for Tango and had Sandy Stewart write the majority of Seven Wonders.

Let's be real, she resented being forced to do another Fleetwood Mac tour when Christine announced her return. She spoke heavily of taking major time off after the 2013 tour. The "contractual obligation" of the 24k Gold album kind of came out of nowhere and became her primary talking points as the 2014 Fleetwood Mac tour kicked off. She was forced to do an album in two weeks because she was forced to do another Fleetwood Mac tour. Then went out of her way to make sure her team got her on the cover of Rolling Stone in the midst of a Fleetwood Mac tour. If anyone should have been on the cover, it was Christine. The classy thing to do would have been to have the cover photo feature them both together. Christine was her best friend in the whole world, right?

Stevie's resentment and jealousy of the new band dynamics kicked in almost immediately. At the end of the day, the whole thing makes me chuckle because BuckVie will essentially go down as the last record Christine participated in and the last record to feature 4/5ths of Fleetwood Mac. She managed to screw herself out of a giant opportunity and the majority of the press acknowledged that she snubbed the entire band. She has to know she really f*cked up in a way she can never go back and fix, especially now that Christine is gone.

My point is, he should say An album but not tour from the beginning.

As an aside...has anyone else ever thought that entire "I had to make 24k Gold in two weeks" as potential BS? It's not like Warner/Reprise didn't benefit from having Fleetwood Mac out on tour. I'm pretty sure the execs at Warner were willing to give her an extension given the surprise return of Christine and the resulting tour.

I'd bet my paycheck they gave her two options. Get it done ASAP before the tour kicks off or do it after the Fleetwood Mac tour. We'll support you either way. With all the attention directed at Christine, she went with the first option so she could be the Fleetwood Mac martyr.

Yeah well, Stevie should have gotten sober before agreeing to album projects. It's a two way street.

Hi David, Exactly this, in a nutshell! "It doesn't matter what they play but how they play". If they look like they're enjoying playing then we will enjoy watching them.:blob1: