OOTC Tour 1992
 

As I listen to this amazing concert from 1992 it’s so refreshing to hear Lindsey playing live for the first time in 10 years. When I think about all the live concerts I saw this “band” from 1978 to 2013. I missed only the Tusk and OOTC tour. My two favorite albums.....Go figure.

I didn't know he toured throughout 1992–93 for the first time as a solo artist. Did he ever mention why he didn't tour for his 2 first albums?

Tours
 

Those albums (Law & Order and Go Insane) were “squeezed in” between Mac projects and left no meaningful time for touring.

Nope. “Go Insane” was released on July 3, 1984. Plenty of time for a tour. Lindsey didn’t like touring back then.

That makes sense. Mirage tour lasted just two months. He probably was still tired or saturated from the long Mac tours of the 70s, though 4 years was enough time to recover.

Wasn't the Mirage tour only 18 shows? But Tusk was insanely long.
These days, very few make much money off of selling records. Touring is where you make bank now.

33 dates I just read. From September 1, 1982 to October 31, 1982 .

Best FM seat I ever had. 5th row center. I was in absolute heaven. They were at the height of their game, too, IMO.

I would’ve loved to be able to have seen them back in the ‘75-‘82 days. I think Mirage would’ve been perfect because of how the classic set was rounded out with Hold Me, Gypsy, the Tusk songs, in addition to the core from ‘75 and ‘77. Damn my parents for not taking me to a Mirage show for my 2nd birthday!!! :laugh:

Their voices were at the top of their game. Their energy was at the top. Their looks were at the top. It was their peak for me personally.

Hey, I was 13. Don't hold it against me.

(Trivia - watching the Tusk doc outtakes right now....)

I would have loved to have seen the Tusk tour.

My first FM show. I was 11 I think. My older cousin promised to take me. I was sick as a dog, coughing and sneezing with a fever, and Mom told me that I couldn't go.

I.F*CKING.WENT.:p

Was the 1992 tour cut short because on his "Behind the Music" special its discussed that there was not a demand especially for the big show he was putting on. I cant remember exactly but it sort of hinted the tour was very short and not extended due to poor attendance. He was really getting his sea legs back. There was a funny clip of him on stage saying "Don't everyone yell out "Go your own way right away"

OOTC tour dates can be found on the best FM and LB info and archive site http://www.fleetwoodmac-uk.com/still...adle-tour.html - 35 dates from Dec 1992 through July 1993. June and July 1993 was openings for Tina.

Hmm.. those dates seem incomplete.

He didn’t seem to relish it. But he probably hadn’t yet figured out how to present a solo show. He wasn’t interested in just getting up there with a rhythm section and bashing out a string of songs without a relationship, a narrative, providing a foundation (especially a bunch of songs from his Fleetwood Mac days). See the other thread about the DVD for insights into how he crafted a show. It was a more intricate, thoughtful affair when he finally toured in 1992. I recall his saying that, by 1992, he had built a body of solo work that was varied enough to take onstage.

I was 16 in 1982. Still in college and didn't work yet. I couldn't afford a trip to the US :)

possible, it's annoying that there are no any official LB sites with archive of albums or tours anywhere, but we are lucky we have fans like nodmod putting so much effort to preserve the info.

that's what i recall him saying, too.

I counted 46 dates at www.setlist.fm

I call BS. By 1992, Stevie, Christine, and Mick all found ways to do solo tours. Lindsey simply didn’t want to. How hard would it have been to get the Zoo and a keyboard player and do a proper tour? (Ironically, Steve Ross was in Lindsey’s ‘92 band.)

I think everyone is partially right on this one. Lindsey definitely changed over the years. Remember his Cream magazine interview in 1982 when asked what the future held for Fleetwood Mac and his response was not going on the road touring at age 40. He was 30 something at the time.
I've watched his Behind the Music segment many times over the years and watched parts of it again today. Lindsey definitely preferred the studio over touring at a time in his life. Not sure what he thinks about it today. However touring today is a different beast than it used to be. Lindsey states (Behind the Music) that he loved and enjoyed his 1992 tour being on stage with a family that was not dysfunctional. But the narrator states the tour was "costly." That is polite language to mean by the time Lindsey paid his big band, hotels, travel, etc, he made no money. You can also relate Christine's 1984 solo tour. I saw her play for only about 200 people in a theater. She had to pay her opening band, her band, hotel and travel expenses. Tickets were $14.00. Just renting the theater would have cost more than what the ticket sales were. But she was a trooper and continued the tour for the benefit of her band and opening act. She probably lost money on the tour or broke even. Go Insane was not a successful album and Lindsey was probably afraid of a dismal or cancelled tour. Lindsey admits in BTM that he was in competition with Stevie with the solo stuff. Lindsey's last tour he had a meet and greet. He made thousands each night just on the meet and greets. If ticket sales were strong enough, he may not have done such a thing. A tour is a big event that takes lots of planning and coordination. To entertain such an event you have to consider if there is any profit in it.
Anyway, I am posting a link to Lindsey's BTM. Apparently it was removed from YouTube but I found it on another site. Its really funny to watch it today because we know things now we may not have know back then. Sometimes Lindsey speaks in hints or not so direct but now you know what he means. Even then he talks about how he had to take Stevie's voice from old recordings to finish Tango. Most interesting part is that he says he may not have ever gone solo if the band continued to make Tusk like albums. My LOL part of this BTM is when Stevie says "no one ever told us cocaine was bad for you. Not one person." I actually did laugh out loud at that and I've seen it many times.

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7el5wz

yup, there's no doubt that Lindsey and his priorities and preferences changed drastically over the years.

there were some interviews with him where it was pretty clear that taking everything into account he must have lost tons of money on OOTC tour and was definitely disappointed with how that time.worked out. clearly at the time he and his record co were hoping he'll be a commercial success as a solo act, and when that didn't happen it must have left a sour taste that needed a while to go away. remember, he wouldn't even play any OOTC songs on solo tours forever, however much people were asking him. took a number of solo tours after that, and a Solo Anthology, for him to finally fully embrace OOTC songs and perform them on tour.

remember when he first toured UTS, how happily surprised he was how much he liked it and how well it was going? he kept adding legs, that tour went on over several years. so i think after disappointment of OOTC tour (which was from all and every account fantastic one tto see, i wish i did!), he set completely low expectations for UTS tour and ended up being really really happy with the reception, how it went, and how much fun he had being on the road and playing his new material. GOS tour lasted barely over a month though, because there was FM GH tour already booked for 2009, so GOS tour had to be squeezed in.

One Man Show in 2012 was the first solo tour where Lindsey actually made money. it started as just him, guitar tech and a sound guy, with rented cars + u-haul for equipment. although as the tour went on and was profitable, it expanded and they added tour managers, drivers, and merch people - and even some cheap m&gs for random dates. 2018 tour was his first solo tour since then (so much wasted time with FM GHs tours! at least we got 2017 BuckVie), and considering BuckVie tour made money, and there they traveled in FM style, i have no doubt that 2018 solo tour where they traveled in buses / more down to earth way was profitable (remember all those on-stage jokes about band members doing their own laundry?), plus he did m&gs too, as you noted.

Mr. Sociologist, of course it was “possible.” Not the issue that was relevant to Lindsey at that time. He wanted to wait until he had amassed a body of work from which he could craft a production that weaved the story he wanted to tell in a way he wanted to tell it. It took him time and thought to create such a production. That’s his perspective, not yours or mine.

http://www.fleetwoodmac-uk.com/still..._old/index.htm
http://www.fleetwoodmac-uk.com/stillgoinginsane/

yup, that's nodmod's site i cited above. it's a fan site, and the only site where this info can be found. there are no official sites. if nodmod was not maintaining it, we'd have nothing.

Yep. And his “perspective” made him largely irrelevant. Fleetwood Mac still plays to packed houses without him. Stevie found a way to have a viable identity outside of the band. Lindsey didn’t.

Think about it: Lindsey wrote one of the most revered Fleetwood Mac songs ever (GYOW), which RS ranked highest of all Fleetwood Mac songs, and produced one of the most critically acclaimed albums ever (Tusk), but because he kept trying to find lightening in a bottle, he let his career pass him by.

Fleetwood Mac would still play packed arenas without Stevie, too. and they played packed arenas without Christine. Fleetwood Mac is a brand.

yes, Stevie has created a persona that she's been successfully marketing.

Lindsey and Christine are artists and musicians, primarily.

yes, Lindsey Buckingham wrote the biggest most respected Fleetwood Mac song, Go Your Own Way.

but you are arguing whether someone is a great artist vs whether someone is great at selling themselves. if someone is a great artist, doesn't mean they are great at marketing (or they assembled a good enough team to do it).

Hadn't seen this clip before. Thought I'd share. In relation to OOTC Tour.

Yes he was. I saw them at Peabody's Down Under in the Cleveland flats. It was one hell of a show. And Steve Ross was indeed there.

so jealous!

here's his OOTC touring band, thanks to nodmod again http://www.fleetwoodmac-uk.com/still...adle-tour.html:

The Band

Neale Heywood - Guitar
Janet Robin - Guitar
Scott Breadman - Percussion
Liza Carbe - Guitar
Dan Garfield - Keyboards
Steve Ross - Guitar
Michael Tempo - Percussion
John Wackerman - Drums
Kevin Wyatt - Bass Guitar *

Fredrico Pol - Bass Guitar *



* - Kevin Wyatt was replaced by Fredrico Pol on the second leg of the tour

Based on what, though? It’s a hypothetical. Fleetwood Mac can play arenas without Lindsey. Fleetwood Mac can play arenas without Christine. Stevie can play arenas without Fleetwood Mac. Fleetwood Mac has never done an arena tour without Stevie.

While I realize it wasn’t called Fleetwood Mac, the LBCM tour wasn’t especially well attended, at least by Fleetwood Mac standards. Meanwhile, Stevie had her biggest solo tour in 2017.

As for Fleetwood Mac as a brand, while it was pre-1997 and didn’t feature any of the classic vocalists, the Fleetwood Mac brand itself wasn’t enough to get past opening act or packaged tour level 94-95. Obviously, an MJLC version would be viable, but not at the arena level.

So, again, where is the evidence that Fleetwood Mac would still be an arena band without the member who has sold 30 million albums independent of the band? There‘s no way Mick and John were going to gamble that Fleetwood Mac would remain a huge concert draw without Stevie when they knew they would be with Stevie.

Not always, but in 2017 it was, the same year LBCM hit the road. Stevie played to arenas, Lindsey and Christine together did not. And Stevie now has the “two time Hall of Famer” thing going for her. Mick and Mike have both recently said that the band won’t be doing another tour of that magnitude again, so it’s a moot point, now.

exactly. Fleetwood Mac is a brand. Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie are not.

Fleetwood Mac is "in" brand, nowadays. people go to their shows to say they saw a legendary band and for singalongs while drinking beer.

Fleetwood Mac before their re-grouping in 1997 were has-beens and a laughing stock ("i'd rather jack" remember?).

However, that brand is too heavily associated with Stevie these days. It would be viable, but it wouldn’t be an arena band.

If there had to be a choice between Stevie and Lindsey and there was no possibility of both being in the band together anymore, Mick, John, and Christine knew from prior history that Fleetwood Mac could survive and continue playing arenas without Lindsey. Sure, they could have taken the creative path, but their relevance as a recording entity passed them by. The Eagles had a hit with “Long Road Out of Eden,” but it’s never going to be held in the same regard as their ‘70s albums. The same would be true for any new Fleetwood Mac album.

So, do you make a new album that will be largely forgotten in a few years and make $3-$6 million, or do you skip the album and make $12 million, keeping in mind that the core 12-15 songs will be the same in either set?

as you said somewhere above - we don't have any proof of that. it's just a calculation that may or may not pan out if tried. i can almost guarantee you they would have been arena band. BuckVie without the name brand recognition were touring sheds, so FM brand? of course they can tour arenas. many other bands of their era are touring without their best known members and still filling arenas, just on the brand alone.

however, you are right that Mick and promoters didn't want to risk the unknown, just in case. they didn't want to in 2011/12 and didn't want to in 2018. and apparently you are similarly risk averse, or you think you'd be.

what do you do? in their situation? when they already made millions on millions? you disband and keep the peace in the family. you keep the only legendary band with all classic-era members still around and able to perform intact. you don't break it up into pieces.
.

Idiot Mick can't live on making a half a million. He needs big bucks to live the life that he truly can't afford.

The legacy of FM means nothing to him.

Hitching his broken down wagon to $tevie's sagging 3 note goat tractor is the best chess move he has.

Maybe bigger sheds, or maybe completely fill the sheds they played, but not arenas. The band has largely become synonymous with Stevie (which I’m not happy about).

Except the missing best known member, in most cases, isn’t actively working or is dead. Lindsey put a solo tour together after getting sacked that had zero impact on the Fleetwood Mac tour. If they had parted ways with Stevie, she could have easily put a solo tour together that would have completely derailed a Fleetwood Mac tour.

Again, there was no guarantee that a Fleetwood Mac tour would be successful without Stevie, but it was guaranteed that it would be with Stevie. Fleetwood Mac was a weaker brand in 1990 than in 2018, but they still managed to pack arenas without Lindsey, but with Billy Burnette and Rick Vito.

In any case, it’s not my band. I don’t know any of them. As for risk, if it had been up to me, they would have fired Dave Mason in ‘96 and gone on as a quartet with Bekka and Billy for at least one or two more albums. But, just as in 2018, money called.

Or, they could just get two highly respected musicians and get the bag of money one last time. And, it’s hard to take the “keeping the classic lineup in tact” argument seriously when a lot of people, including Lindsey, thought of who they could get in place of Stevie during the 14-15 tour.

With whom did Lindsey speculate about replacing Stevie for 2014-15, and did he do so publicly? And was it because Stevie was reluctant to tour, then even with Christine back?

Fans at the hotel bar after shows, because of Stevie’s reluctance to record.

Interestingly, Lindsey was the opener for Tina Turner's 1993 tour. A friend of mine saw the show in Montreal, Canada.

I remember her telling me that as it was a Tina audience, no one knew who Lindsey was until he did 'Go Your Own Way', and then he was recognized only as 'what's his name from Fleetwood Mac'.