The bandmate Mick Fleetwood thought wouldn’t come back “in a million years”
During the recording of Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours, founding member Mick Fleetwood would have seen many doors slam, as one or the other of his bandmates stormed out of the room.
You see, when it came to that iconic five-piece line-up of the Rumours era, Fleetwood was the only member not tangled up in an intra-band relationship, but was the anchor point between two couples furiously warring with one another and then pouring the outcomes into the discography.
Arguments, breakdowns and feigned claims of quitting were commonplace during the recording, and he often wondered if his band would even make it to the very end.
But while Christine McVie was as embroiled in the drama as anyone else, there was an assurance to her presence that rarely had Fleetwood fearing her exit. She was there from the very early days, right when Peter Green was plunging them into blues rock immortality and continued on to steward a young Stevie Nicks into the band, right when she needed it the most.
But in 2015, when the band embarked on what would become one of their final tours as the original five-piece, it was the reliable McVie that Fleetwood worried about most. Maybe she had the least to gain, or maybe she was just over it entirely, but the thoughtful songwriter was one that Fleetwood feared would refuse to join, and if she had, it wouldn’t have been the same tour.
He said, “Not in a million years would we have ever thought, including Christine herself, that she would have ever been standing up there to my right, on stage, playing in this band again,” Fleetwood admitted, “It’s a mythological situation that we have right now, that is unfolding as we speak. The fact that we’re even talking about making inroads to making new music with the absolute lineup of all five of us, alive and well, with a few battle scars here and there, is outrageously unique.”
At that point in time, I was 19, fresh off a self-curated course in classic rock history. Buoyed by the announcement of Fleetwood Mac’s return, I hastily bought tickets to the Isle of Wight Festival, something I likely wouldn’t have done otherwise and bundled myself onto the ferry in a bid to see these legends live just one time.
While legacy tours always have something of an asterisk over them, showcasing a glimpse into a moment that existed decades ago and not quite capturing the same zeitgeist, this felt somewhat special because of the circumstances. The idea that any one of them could leave, or the next tour could be fraught with politics had it feeling like something of a true farewell show, a premonition that came true a few years later.
Opening with ‘The Chain’, the relationship between all five of these members became abundantly clear, and the tense chemistry was instantly recognisable. But it was on a calm rendition of McVie’s stunning hit ‘Songbird’ that I felt how Fleetwood must have, thankful that she was there and struggling to realise what it would have even been like had she not been.
