The new Fleetwood Mac lineup made its public performance debut on Sept. 5 on The Ellen Degeneres Show. The two-song appearance, of “The Chain” and “Gypsy,” marked the first time audiences got to see new members Mike Campbell and Neil Finn with Mac mainstays Christine McVie, Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie.
Finn sang the Lindsey Buckingham parts on “The Chain,” which also featured an extensive guitar solo by Campbell. The band returned to perform “Gypsy,” with Nicks, of course, singing lead. Watch both performances below.
The comedienne began the 16th season of her popular, syndicated program on Sept. 4. She gave away a pair of tickets to see Fleetwood Mac perform at the Forum in Los Angeles to every member of the September 5 audience. The program is also giving away a pair of tickets to every show on the tour, via the Ellen website.
The new Fleetwood Mac lineup appeared on CBS This Morning on April 25 to announce their long-awaited tour, beginning this fall and continuing into 2019. Holdover members Fleetwood, John McVie, Christine McVie and Nicks were joined by Campbell of the Heartbreakers and Finn (Crowded House, Split Enz) to formally reveal the news that both Fleetwood and Christine McVie had discussed last year several times. At that time, it was expected that bandmate Buckingham would also be involved.
Watch the new lineup perform “The Chain” on Ellen
The tour, “An Evening With Fleetwood Mac,” begins October 3, 2018, with North American dates scheduled into 2019. Tickets are available here and here.
On April 9, the band announced a split with Buckingham, their longtime guitarist, songwriter and vocalist, replacing him for the tour with Campbell and Finn. At that time, the group said in a collective statement: “We are thrilled to welcome the musical talents of the caliber of Mike Campbell and Neil Finn into the Mac family. 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.”
Related: Buckingham has announced his own solo tour
Fleetwood told CBS This Morning‘s Anthony Mason: “This is absolutely a new band.” Campbell said: “I’m making this a priority ’til whenever. We’ll see what happens.”
Fleetwood discussed the split with Buckingham, which came to a head when the group was honored in New York in January with the MusiCares Award. “It became just a huge impasse and hit a brick wall. It’s like a marriage that came to end and as a band we needed to move on.”
Related: Fleetwood talks about the repertoire for the tour
When it came to choosing a vocalist to replace Buckingham, Nicks said: “We sat around a table and listened to everyone we could think of.” That became Finn.
Of Tom Petty’s passing, Nicks said: “It changed me and Mike for sure. If that can happen to Tom, then that can happen to anybody. You just never know.”
Watch Fleetwood Mac perform “Gypsy” on Ellen
Fleetwood Mac 2018-2019 Tour Dates (More to come)
Oct 03 – Tulsa, OK – BOK Center
Oct 06 – Chicago, IL – United Center
Oct 08 – Grand Rapids, MI – Van Andel Arena
Oct 10 – Louisville, KY – KFC Yum! Center
Oct 12 – Lincoln, NE – Pinnacle Bank Arena
Oct 14 – Des Moines, IA – Wells Fargo Arena
Oct 16 – Indianapolis, IN – Bankers Life Fieldhouse
Oct 18 – Kansas City, MO – Sprint Center
Oct 20 – St. Louis, MO – Scottrade Center
Oct 22 – St. Paul, MN – Xcel Energy Center
Oct 26 – Cleveland, OH – Quicken Loans Arena
Oct 28 – Milwaukee, WI – Wisc. Ent. and Sports Center
Oct 30 – Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena
Nov 01 – Pittsburgh, PA – PPG Paints Arena
Nov 03 – Kanata, ON – Canadian Tire Centre
Nov 05 – Toronto, ON – Air Canada Centre
Nov 07 – Columbus, OH – Nationwide Arena
Nov 10 – Edmonton, AB – Rogers Place
Nov 12 – Calgary, AB – Scotiabank Saddledome
Nov 14 – Vancouver, BC – Rogers Arena
Nov 17 – Tacoma, WA – Tacoma Dome
Nov 19 – Portland, OR – Moda Center
Nov 21 – San Jose, CA – SAP Center at San Jose
Nov 23 – Sacramento, CA – Golden 1 Center
Nov 25 – Oakland, CA – Oracle Arena
Nov 28 – Phoenix, AZ – Talking Stick Resort Arena
Nov 30 – Las Vegas, NV – T-Mobile Arena
Dec 03 – Denver, CO – Pepsi Center
Dec 06 – Fresno, CA – Save Mart Center
Dec 08 – San Diego, CA – Viejas Arena
Dec 11 – Los Angeles, CA – The Forum
Dec 13 – Los Angeles, CA – The Forum
Dec 15 – Los Angeles, CA – The Forum (added on Sept. 5)
2019
Feb 02 – Sioux Falls, SD – Denny Sanford Premier (moved from Oct. 24)
Feb 05 – Houston, TX – Toyota Center
Feb 07 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center
Feb 09 – Austin, TX – Frank Erwin Center
Feb 13 – Birmingham, AL – Legacy Arena
Feb 16 – New Orleans, LA – Smoothie King Center
Feb 18 – Tampa, FL – Amalie Arena
Feb 20 – Sunrise, FL – BB&T Center
Feb 22 – Columbia, SC – Colonial Life Arena
Feb 24 – Charlotte, NC – Colonial Life Arena
Feb 27 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena
Mar 03 – Atlanta, GA – Philips Arena
Mar 05 – Washington, DC – Capital One Arena
Mar 09 – Atlantic City, NJ – Boardwalk Hall
Mar 11 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
Mar 13 – Newark, NJ – Prudential Center
Mar 15 – Hartford, CT – XL Center
Mar 20 – Albany, NY – Times Union Center
Mar 24 – Baltimore, MD – Royal Farms Arena
Mar 26 – Buffalo, NY – KeyBank Center
Mar 31 – Boston, MA – TD Garden
Apr 05 – Philadelphia, PA – Wells Fargo Center
Related: Listings for 100s of classic rock tours
[easy_sign_up title=”Sign up for the Best Classic Bands Newsletter”]
4 Comments
First, read life Edition, 40 year’s of Fleetwood Mac. Many people came and went through out the year’s in this band. Such is life, things change. For me personally as long as Stevie nicks is there I’m all in. Good luck to the band, have a great tour.
Will be interesting to see. Mike Campbell has already worked with Stevie Nicks so good choice for lead guitar. The wild card here is Neil Finn-Fleetwood Mac is worlds apart musically from Split Enz and Crowded House.
Fleetwood Mac should have thought about their fans instead of being selfish before letting Lindsey go. He is 1/5 of FM no matter who fills in for him. The younger crowd has no clue. It’s shameful that their millions of fans were not considered and how this would affect them… what Stevie want Stevie gets it seems.. your new fans have no idea who FM really is. Money wins everytime doesn’t it?. Go Lindsey! We’ll follow your concerts! Hey Stevie who refused to join FM unless you were included? What happened to your loyalty?
Vocally, they had much of the FM sound, but energy-wise I thought they sounded kind of flat — much like a good FM tribute band. Mike Campbell is a good guitar player; Buckingham is a one-of-a-kind stylist. Neil Finn is a wonderful vocalist, but lacks the edge that Buckingham gives to FM