I thought Mick made the point of referring to Neil and Mike as band members to underscore the company line that they were real band members as opposed to being hired guns. That said, I doubt they are anything more than hired guns. At this point, he doesn't want to sully whatever the image of FM is by reminding people of the Bekka/Billy/Rick county fair days.
I think I mourned FM in 2018/2019 when it seemed clear that they were splintered and not going to be fixed. But losing Christine really makes it final. The music really is eternal, and I'm glad to have it. The comfort I have now is that I don't think the band would have reunited to play even if Christine were living, and if they did, watching Stevie and Lindsey pretend to like each other would be nauseating. But in reality, Chris and John seemed to be in iffy health to do a long tour after 2019, Stevie would never play with Lindsey, and so we'd be where we are now, where Stevie would be choosing between her own tour and touring with Mick and backup musicians. She probably makes more money on her own and gets all the adulation.
But I get the feeling of loss. For me, it's more a sense of bitterness, though. I feel like this band sold this image of coming together despite their differences, and especially sold the Stevie/Lindsey relationship hard for 20 years after The Dance (when the truth was the polar opposite of what they pretended to be -- to sell tour tickets), only to end up splitting up in a really acrimonious and ugly way. I don't listen to music to watch people be nasty to each other, and somehow where we ended up just highlights the poor behavior of everyone over the years. Truth hurts, I guess. But at this point, for me, I'm happier having the albums and recordings to enjoy than watching the band limp through more tours.
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