The bizarre ritual Fleetwood Mac do before every show
Christine McVie is an essential part of one of the most beloved rock back of all time, Fleetwood Mac. She joined the band as a keyboard player in 1970, just before the third iteration of Fleetwood Mac was completed with the joining of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks in 1975.
McVie would later contribute to the songwriting of the band, including the hits ‘Little Lies’ and ‘Everywhere’. In 1998, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of Fleetwood Mac, though that same year, she would leave the band after nearly 30 years as one of its members.
However, in 2014, she rejoined the band when they kicked off their On with the Show tour in a triumphant celebration of the group’s artistry. McVie once revealed the reason that she left Fleetwood Mac and the process of what it was like getting back into the fold.
“I left the band because I developed a terrible fear of flying,” McVie said. “I wanted to restore an ancient house in Kent, and that’s what I did. It was a heap – this Tudor building with the beams painted lime green, so hideous. “
She added, “And I had this idea that I’d love the small village life, with the Range Rover and the dogs and baking cookies for the Y.W.C.A. But then it got so boring. You couldn’t walk down the road without meeting two people related to each other. I missed the songs. And I missed the audience.”
Yet McVie sought the council of the other members of Fleetwood Mac before she joined the band once more. Whilst many of them were excited to have McVie back at the keys, others highlighted a certain air of dominance, including former husband and wife Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham.
McVie explained, “Stevie told me I had to get in shape because the road was gruelling, and I said, ‘Stevie, you must recall that I was in the band before you were. I know how hard the road is.’ And then Lindsey said, ‘You cannot just waltz in and waltz back out. You have to be in it for the whole nine yards.’ So I found a psychiatrist and got over my flying thing.”
McVie also revealed a peculiar ritual that Fleetwood Mac performed before every live show. She said, “Before shows, we rub elbows and growl. It started once when someone had a cold, and we didn’t want to hug each other. So we started rubbing elbows. And we don’t kiss. We just go, ‘Grrrr!’”
