WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.960 Welcome, everyone. We are so thrilled to have 00:00:02.960 --> 00:00:05.080 you joining us today for this deep dive. Yeah, 00:00:05.139 --> 00:00:06.780 thanks so much for hanging out with us. Today, 00:00:06.860 --> 00:00:09.199 we are looking at something truly monumental. 00:00:09.560 --> 00:00:11.919 I mean, we are talking about Fleetwood Mac's 00:00:11.919 --> 00:00:15.960 2014 to 2015 On With The Show World Tour. Oh, 00:00:15.980 --> 00:00:18.839 the big one. The massive one. And to do this, 00:00:18.859 --> 00:00:21.420 we are drawing from a meticulously detailed Wikipedia 00:00:21.420 --> 00:00:24.579 article. It chronicles the tours, dates, the 00:00:24.579 --> 00:00:26.940 shifting set lists, the staggering box office 00:00:26.940 --> 00:00:30.739 numbers and the complete personnel roster. Right. 00:00:30.780 --> 00:00:32.840 Basically, the master spreadsheet of the whole 00:00:32.840 --> 00:00:35.479 era. Exactly. But our mission today isn't just 00:00:35.479 --> 00:00:37.560 to, you know, read you a spreadsheet of dates 00:00:37.560 --> 00:00:40.000 and ticket sales. We want to look right past 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:42.460 those dry statistics and really understand the 00:00:42.460 --> 00:00:44.700 logistical marvel. And the historical weight, 00:00:44.780 --> 00:00:48.119 too. Yes. The profound historical weight of a 00:00:48.119 --> 00:00:51.880 legendary rock band reuniting for one last massive 00:00:51.880 --> 00:00:54.479 global trek. And I think it's important to frame 00:00:54.479 --> 00:00:57.039 right up front why you, the listener, should 00:00:57.039 --> 00:00:59.579 care about a concert tour that wrapped up about 00:00:59.579 --> 00:01:01.399 a decade ago. Right. Why does it matter now? 00:01:01.560 --> 00:01:05.019 Because this specific tour perfectly encapsulates 00:01:05.019 --> 00:01:08.040 the fleeting, deeply unpredictable nature of 00:01:08.040 --> 00:01:10.780 creative partnerships. I mean, they are famously 00:01:10.780 --> 00:01:14.459 unpredictable. Famously. We often think of legendary 00:01:14.459 --> 00:01:16.579 bands as these immortal institutions, almost 00:01:16.579 --> 00:01:19.000 like statues. Yeah. But they're made up of flesh 00:01:19.000 --> 00:01:21.340 and blood people. Yeah, very complicated people. 00:01:21.540 --> 00:01:23.519 And what we are going to see today is that this 00:01:23.519 --> 00:01:26.180 wasn't just some nostalgic victory lap. It was 00:01:26.180 --> 00:01:30.079 the ultimate, entirely unforeseen curtain call 00:01:30.079 --> 00:01:33.159 for one of rock's most successful and, let's 00:01:33.159 --> 00:01:36.120 face it, most famously complicated lineups. It 00:01:36.120 --> 00:01:38.159 really is wild when you look at it through that 00:01:38.159 --> 00:01:41.599 lens. I mean, just the sheer scale of what they 00:01:41.599 --> 00:01:45.260 attempted here is amazing to me. 120 shows. That's 00:01:45.260 --> 00:01:47.760 an absolute marathon. To help you visualize the 00:01:47.760 --> 00:01:50.340 sheer scale of this operation, just use the theater 00:01:50.340 --> 00:01:53.120 of your mind for a second. Imagine a sprawling 00:01:53.120 --> 00:01:56.799 world map covered in 120 pushpins. Just a sea 00:01:56.799 --> 00:01:59.900 of pins. With tangled, chaotic flight paths crossing 00:01:59.900 --> 00:02:02.120 from North America over to Europe all the way 00:02:02.120 --> 00:02:05.000 down to Oceania and back again. It really sets 00:02:05.000 --> 00:02:07.519 the stage for the massive globe -spanning undertaking 00:02:07.519 --> 00:02:10.020 we are about to explore. That is the perfect 00:02:10.020 --> 00:02:12.780 way to picture it. I've been reviewing the historical 00:02:12.780 --> 00:02:15.419 data from our source material, synthesizing the 00:02:15.419 --> 00:02:18.080 timelines, the venue capacities, and those box 00:02:18.080 --> 00:02:20.780 office reports. And the numbers are huge. Oh, 00:02:20.780 --> 00:02:23.379 absolutely. And I am very ready to break down 00:02:23.379 --> 00:02:25.900 exactly how this massive endeavor came together 00:02:25.900 --> 00:02:28.599 piece by piece. Okay, let's unpack this. We have 00:02:28.599 --> 00:02:30.919 to start with the catalyst for the entire tour. 00:02:31.120 --> 00:02:33.500 The big announcement. Right, because the genesis 00:02:33.500 --> 00:02:36.439 of On With The Show actually begins with a massive 00:02:36.439 --> 00:02:40.539 announcement. On January 13, 2014, the band... 00:02:40.560 --> 00:02:43.979 publicist Liz Rosenberg released a statement 00:02:43.979 --> 00:02:47.080 that sent absolute shockwaves through the music 00:02:47.080 --> 00:02:49.680 world. I remember when that dropped. She announced 00:02:49.680 --> 00:02:52.219 that Christine McPhee was officially rejoining 00:02:52.219 --> 00:02:54.569 Fleetwood Mac. Now, to put that into perspective, 00:02:55.030 --> 00:02:57.949 Christine had left the group back in 1998. Which 00:02:57.949 --> 00:03:01.030 is a lifetime in music. That is a 16 -year absence. 00:03:01.129 --> 00:03:03.789 In the music industry, 16 years might as well 00:03:03.789 --> 00:03:06.909 be a century. Entire musical eras come and go 00:03:06.909 --> 00:03:08.729 in that time. What's fascinating here is the 00:03:08.729 --> 00:03:11.150 strategic restraint the band showed following 00:03:11.150 --> 00:03:13.729 that incredible announcement. Restraint? How 00:03:13.729 --> 00:03:16.330 so? Well, the article notes that Rosenberg initially 00:03:16.330 --> 00:03:19.969 stated a new album and a tour were planned. And 00:03:19.969 --> 00:03:22.469 indeed, the band actually got together and spent 00:03:22.469 --> 00:03:26.150 time in March of 2014 working on new material. 00:03:26.330 --> 00:03:28.210 Oh, I didn't know they actually went to the studio. 00:03:28.310 --> 00:03:32.169 They did. But then they made a highly capitulated 00:03:32.169 --> 00:03:35.050 creative choice. They confirmed that absolutely 00:03:35.050 --> 00:03:38.430 no new releases would be issued until after the 00:03:38.430 --> 00:03:40.430 tour was over. Wait, really? Was that actually 00:03:40.430 --> 00:03:43.629 a smart move? It really was. i mean usually legacy 00:03:43.629 --> 00:03:46.490 bands rely heavily on a new album to generate 00:03:46.490 --> 00:03:49.150 pr get themselves booked on late night shows 00:03:49.150 --> 00:03:52.770 and draft ticket sales wasn't it a massive financial 00:03:52.770 --> 00:03:55.530 and promotional risk to go out on the road completely 00:03:55.530 --> 00:03:58.370 empty -handed on the surface it seems counterintuitive 00:03:58.370 --> 00:04:00.110 i'll give you that but it was actually a stroke 00:04:00.110 --> 00:04:03.449 of genius by holding back the new music they 00:04:03.449 --> 00:04:05.930 entirely avoided the trap of the standard album 00:04:05.930 --> 00:04:08.189 promotional cycle okay i think i see where you're 00:04:08.189 --> 00:04:09.969 going think about it from the audience's perspective 00:04:10.650 --> 00:04:13.250 When you go see a legacy rock band, the energy 00:04:13.250 --> 00:04:15.490 in the stadium always dips when the lead singer 00:04:15.490 --> 00:04:17.490 says, here's a new one from our latest record. 00:04:17.810 --> 00:04:19.629 Oh, definitely. That's when everyone goes to 00:04:19.629 --> 00:04:22.870 buy a t -shirt. Exactly. Fans tolerate the new 00:04:22.870 --> 00:04:26.209 stuff to get to the classics. By putting the 00:04:26.209 --> 00:04:28.790 album on ice, they didn't have to convince fans 00:04:28.790 --> 00:04:31.170 to sit through half a dozen unfamiliar songs. 00:04:31.350 --> 00:04:33.329 That makes a lot of sense. Instead, they focused 00:04:33.329 --> 00:04:35.949 the world's attention entirely on the live reunion 00:04:35.949 --> 00:04:39.069 experience itself. They made the return of the 00:04:39.069 --> 00:04:42.339 missing piece. Christine McVie, the sole focal 00:04:42.339 --> 00:04:44.800 point of the event. It's pure nostalgia in the 00:04:44.800 --> 00:04:47.300 best way. Yes. The tour dates were announced 00:04:47.300 --> 00:04:51.259 on March 27, 2014, and by April 7, tickets were 00:04:51.259 --> 00:04:53.480 already on general sale. Here's where it gets 00:04:53.480 --> 00:04:55.459 really interesting because the demand for those 00:04:55.459 --> 00:04:58.699 tickets was just explosive. Unprecedented, really. 00:04:58.839 --> 00:05:01.060 It led to logistics that are almost hard to wrap 00:05:01.060 --> 00:05:03.319 your head around. Let's break down the actual 00:05:03.319 --> 00:05:05.800 physical footprint of this tour. As I mentioned, 00:05:05.899 --> 00:05:08.600 we are talking about 120 shows. Spread across 00:05:08.600 --> 00:05:12.019 three massive legs. Exactly. They played 81 shows 00:05:12.019 --> 00:05:15.399 in North America, 23 in Europe, and 16 in Oceania. 00:05:15.620 --> 00:05:18.639 A true global run. The whole thing kicked off 00:05:18.639 --> 00:05:20.600 in Minneapolis, Minnesota at the Target Center 00:05:20.600 --> 00:05:23.600 on September 30, 2014, and it did not conclude 00:05:23.600 --> 00:05:26.540 until over a full year later. When was the final 00:05:26.540 --> 00:05:30.439 date? November 22, 2015, at Matt Smart Stadium 00:05:30.439 --> 00:05:33.040 in Auckland, New Zealand. And we have to remember, 00:05:33.199 --> 00:05:35.639 that grueling schedule wasn't even the original 00:05:35.639 --> 00:05:38.360 plan. No. No, the demand was so overwhelming 00:05:38.360 --> 00:05:40.339 right out of the gate that they had to keep expanding 00:05:40.339 --> 00:05:44.439 the map. On October 9, 2014... Just a little 00:05:44.439 --> 00:05:46.819 over a week after the tour started, they were 00:05:46.819 --> 00:05:49.379 forced to announce a second North American leg. 00:05:49.540 --> 00:05:52.000 Just a week in. Right. They added 28 additional 00:05:52.000 --> 00:05:55.819 shows running from January 16, 2015 in St. Paul, 00:05:55.899 --> 00:05:58.680 Minnesota, all the way to March 31 in Wichita, 00:05:58.740 --> 00:06:01.399 Kansas. They just couldn't stop. And the snowball 00:06:01.399 --> 00:06:04.740 just kept rolling. In November 2014, Mick Fleetwood 00:06:04.740 --> 00:06:07.040 went on BBC Radio 2 to announce British tour 00:06:07.040 --> 00:06:10.060 dates for May and June of 2015. But I'm guessing 00:06:10.060 --> 00:06:12.529 those sold out instantly, too. Of course. Due 00:06:12.529 --> 00:06:14.230 to incredibly high ticket demand, they had to 00:06:14.230 --> 00:06:16.610 add even more dates, which extended that British 00:06:16.610 --> 00:06:18.709 leg well into July. I want you to really try 00:06:18.709 --> 00:06:21.870 and picture what it takes to pull that off. It 00:06:21.870 --> 00:06:24.689 is essentially like moving a small, highly functional 00:06:24.689 --> 00:06:27.569 city across the globe every two or three days. 00:06:27.730 --> 00:06:29.810 It's a massive military operation at that point. 00:06:29.930 --> 00:06:32.110 You have the core band, the supporting musicians, 00:06:32.449 --> 00:06:34.889 the massive crew you are dealing with. Delicate 00:06:34.889 --> 00:06:37.449 instruments, towering lighting rigs, incredibly 00:06:37.449 --> 00:06:40.670 complex stadium sound systems, the wardrobe. 00:06:41.050 --> 00:06:43.649 Packing it all up into convoys. Convoys of trucks 00:06:43.649 --> 00:06:45.930 and chartered planes, setting it up in a brand 00:06:45.930 --> 00:06:48.930 new arena, performing for tens of thousands of 00:06:48.930 --> 00:06:51.310 screaming people, tearing it all down before 00:06:51.310 --> 00:06:53.769 midnight and doing it all over again in the next 00:06:53.769 --> 00:06:56.850 time zone. And doing that 120 times. The physical 00:06:56.850 --> 00:06:59.129 toll must have been monumental. It absolutely 00:06:59.129 --> 00:07:02.490 was. But the financial return on that level of 00:07:02.490 --> 00:07:05.870 grueling work was... Frankly, staggering. Let's 00:07:05.870 --> 00:07:08.290 hear the numbers. When we look at the data provided 00:07:08.290 --> 00:07:10.629 by Polestar, which, for those who might not know, 00:07:10.709 --> 00:07:12.410 is essentially the Wall Street Journal of the 00:07:12.410 --> 00:07:14.810 live concert industry, tracking every ticket 00:07:14.810 --> 00:07:17.990 sold globally, the numbers are massive. Okay. 00:07:18.029 --> 00:07:21.269 In their 2014 year -end report, Polestar ranked 00:07:21.269 --> 00:07:24.430 the tour 13th on its top 100 worldwide tours, 00:07:24.670 --> 00:07:28.129 reporting earnings of $79 .2 million from just 00:07:28.129 --> 00:07:30.569 those first 40 shows in North America. Just the 00:07:30.569 --> 00:07:34.470 first 40 shows. Just the first 40. Then, in the 00:07:34.470 --> 00:07:37.629 2015 year -end rankings, the tour jumped all 00:07:37.629 --> 00:07:40.449 the way up to sixth place worldwide, with a retorted 00:07:40.449 --> 00:07:45.250 gross of $125 .1 million from 78 shows that year. 00:07:45.430 --> 00:07:47.949 So if they're clearing nearly $80 million on 00:07:47.949 --> 00:07:50.189 just a fraction of the shows in the first year, 00:07:50.389 --> 00:07:53.410 the final tally for the entire 14 -month run 00:07:53.410 --> 00:07:56.189 must be astronomical. It brings the cumulative 00:07:56.189 --> 00:08:00.810 gross to a phenomenal $199 .2 million. $200 million. 00:08:00.930 --> 00:08:03.490 Just shy of it, yeah. And to really bring those 00:08:03.490 --> 00:08:05.790 numbers out of the spreadsheet and into reality, 00:08:06.009 --> 00:08:08.209 we can look at some specific box office highlights. 00:08:08.449 --> 00:08:11.449 Like specific venues. Exactly. For example, when 00:08:11.449 --> 00:08:13.589 they hit Europe, they played a massive six -show 00:08:13.589 --> 00:08:16.250 run at the O2 Arena in London. Six nights at 00:08:16.250 --> 00:08:18.810 the O2. That's huge. Across those six nights 00:08:18.810 --> 00:08:23.389 in May and June of 2015, they brought in 96 ,564 00:08:23.389 --> 00:08:26.610 attendees and grossed over $12 .3 million at 00:08:26.610 --> 00:08:28.709 that one single venue. That is just from London. 00:08:28.970 --> 00:08:31.110 Right. or Look at the Oceania Leg in October 00:08:31.110 --> 00:08:33.529 2015. They played three nights at the Alphonse 00:08:33.529 --> 00:08:36.210 Arena in Sydney, Australia, drawing almost 40 00:08:36.210 --> 00:08:39.289 ,000 fans and hauling in over $5 .4 million. 00:08:40.090 --> 00:08:43.730 That level of sustained commercial success is 00:08:43.730 --> 00:08:46.269 incredible. But of course, you don't generate 00:08:46.269 --> 00:08:49.190 a multimillion dollar gross night after night 00:08:49.190 --> 00:08:52.450 unless the actual product on the stage is phenomenal. 00:08:52.870 --> 00:08:55.509 Exactly. People won't pay those prices if the 00:08:55.509 --> 00:08:57.730 show doesn't deliver. And that brings us to the 00:08:57.730 --> 00:09:00.289 stage itself and the sound they brought to these 00:09:00.289 --> 00:09:02.669 massive arenas. And looking at the historical 00:09:02.669 --> 00:09:05.169 record gives us a great window into how they 00:09:05.169 --> 00:09:08.529 constructed the live experience. The text details 00:09:08.529 --> 00:09:11.370 a representative 24 -song set list from their 00:09:11.370 --> 00:09:14.850 October 6, 2014 show at Madison Square Garden. 00:09:14.990 --> 00:09:17.769 24 songs is a solid set. It is. And when you 00:09:17.769 --> 00:09:20.389 analyze this set list, it really is a master 00:09:20.389 --> 00:09:24.070 class in how to pace a legacy rock show to maximize 00:09:24.070 --> 00:09:26.289 the emotional impact on the audience. I noticed 00:09:26.289 --> 00:09:28.210 they opened that Madison Square Garden show and 00:09:28.210 --> 00:09:30.470 many others with the song The Chain. Oh, yes. 00:09:30.610 --> 00:09:33.379 Out of their massive hit -filled catalog, Why 00:09:33.379 --> 00:09:35.620 do you think they chose to start with that specific 00:09:35.620 --> 00:09:37.860 track? Because it's the ultimate musical statement 00:09:37.860 --> 00:09:40.500 about the unbreakable bonds of the band. Think 00:09:40.500 --> 00:09:42.220 about the lyrics. And if you don't love me now, 00:09:42.299 --> 00:09:44.799 you will never love me again. Right. And I can 00:09:44.799 --> 00:09:46.679 still hear you saying you would never break the 00:09:46.679 --> 00:09:48.980 chain. Coming right out of the gate with that 00:09:48.980 --> 00:09:51.720 song, especially with Christine McVie finally 00:09:51.720 --> 00:09:55.240 back on stage after 16 years, sets an incredibly 00:09:55.240 --> 00:09:58.940 potent, unifying tone immediately. It's a statement 00:09:58.940 --> 00:10:02.879 of purpose. Exactly. From there, they expertly 00:10:02.879 --> 00:10:05.720 weave through their massive catalog, carefully 00:10:05.720 --> 00:10:09.059 balancing the vocal leads between Lindsey Buckingham, 00:10:09.159 --> 00:10:12.039 Stevie Nicks, and Christine McVie. But what I 00:10:12.039 --> 00:10:14.059 find really compelling is how they structured 00:10:14.059 --> 00:10:16.779 the end of the show. They utilized two separate 00:10:16.779 --> 00:10:19.580 encores. Which is a very deliberate choice. Encores 00:10:19.580 --> 00:10:21.340 are tricky. You want to leave them wanting more, 00:10:21.440 --> 00:10:23.220 but you also want to give them closure. How did 00:10:23.220 --> 00:10:25.179 they handle it? The first encore was designed 00:10:25.179 --> 00:10:27.860 to keep the arena energy high, featuring world 00:10:27.860 --> 00:10:30.740 turning and don't stop. Makes sense. Get everyone 00:10:30.740 --> 00:10:33.500 dancing. But the second encore brought the energy 00:10:33.500 --> 00:10:36.539 all the way down to a highly emotional, intimate 00:10:36.539 --> 00:10:39.700 close. They ended with Stevie Nicks' haunting 00:10:39.700 --> 00:10:43.480 song Silver Springs and then often Christine 00:10:43.480 --> 00:10:46.980 McVie's beautiful solitary ballad Songbird. Though 00:10:46.980 --> 00:10:48.899 it is worth noting that a tour of this length 00:10:48.899 --> 00:10:51.720 isn't a rigid and flexible thing. It's a living, 00:10:51.759 --> 00:10:55.320 breathing entity. Exactly. It evolved over those 00:10:55.320 --> 00:10:58.860 14 months. For instance, the song Seven Wonders 00:10:58.860 --> 00:11:01.019 was actually dropped from the setlist entirely 00:11:01.019 --> 00:11:04.370 after the North American leg. That happens. And 00:11:04.370 --> 00:11:06.450 even that beautiful closer we just mentioned, 00:11:06.590 --> 00:11:09.070 Songbird, wasn't performed on certain selected 00:11:09.070 --> 00:11:12.110 dates in 2015. That kind of setlist evolution 00:11:12.110 --> 00:11:16.230 is entirely natural and necessary for a tour 00:11:16.230 --> 00:11:19.090 of this length. You have to adjust to the physical 00:11:19.090 --> 00:11:21.809 toll on the singer's vocal cords, the changing 00:11:21.809 --> 00:11:24.690 acoustics of different venues, and just the overall 00:11:24.690 --> 00:11:27.289 flow of the performance as the months go on. 00:11:27.500 --> 00:11:29.519 And as the band figures out what is resonating 00:11:29.519 --> 00:11:32.100 most with the crowds. Precisely. And speaking 00:11:32.100 --> 00:11:34.639 of the performance, I love the granular details 00:11:34.639 --> 00:11:37.340 we have about the actual instrumentation on stage. 00:11:37.659 --> 00:11:39.940 Because it wasn't just them standing statically 00:11:39.940 --> 00:11:42.019 at microphones. Far from it. The documentation 00:11:42.019 --> 00:11:44.659 specifically points out Christine McPhee playing 00:11:44.659 --> 00:11:47.080 the accordion on the song Tusk and getting on 00:11:47.080 --> 00:11:48.960 the maracas for Everywhere and World Turning. 00:11:49.159 --> 00:11:51.820 Which is actually a massive logistical and sound 00:11:51.820 --> 00:11:53.919 engineering challenge in its own right. Oh, so. 00:11:54.059 --> 00:11:56.279 Playing an acoustic instrument like an accordion. 00:11:56.779 --> 00:11:59.659 Or shaking maracas on a stadium stage, surrounded 00:11:59.659 --> 00:12:02.740 by massive amplifiers and echoing concrete walls, 00:12:03.039 --> 00:12:07.799 requires incredibly precise live mixing. To make 00:12:07.799 --> 00:12:09.840 sure they can actually be heard. Right. To ensure 00:12:09.840 --> 00:12:11.720 those subtle sounds aren't drowned out or cause 00:12:11.720 --> 00:12:14.460 screeching audio feedback, it shows a real dedication 00:12:14.460 --> 00:12:17.120 to the texture of the music. It really does paint 00:12:17.120 --> 00:12:20.200 a vivid picture of the live energy. But creating 00:12:20.200 --> 00:12:23.360 that massive, iconic Fleetwood Mac sound live 00:12:23.360 --> 00:12:26.000 requires more than just the five core members. 00:12:26.120 --> 00:12:28.240 You can't do it alone. Recreating the complex, 00:12:28.399 --> 00:12:31.460 layered studio magic of albums like Rumors or 00:12:31.460 --> 00:12:34.220 Tusk in a hockey arena is not easy. It requires 00:12:34.220 --> 00:12:37.470 unsung heroes. Absolutely. The personnel list 00:12:37.470 --> 00:12:39.649 highlights the incredibly important additional 00:12:39.649 --> 00:12:42.149 musicians who were brought on the road. You can't 00:12:42.149 --> 00:12:45.090 replicate a 1970s studio masterpiece live without 00:12:45.090 --> 00:12:47.350 some help. For instance, you had Brett Tuggle, 00:12:47.470 --> 00:12:49.669 who provided keyboards, rhythm guitar, backing 00:12:49.669 --> 00:12:52.629 vocals, and notably... Samples. Let's pause on 00:12:52.629 --> 00:12:54.389 that for a second. When people hear the word 00:12:54.389 --> 00:12:56.750 samples, they might think of modern hip hop or 00:12:56.750 --> 00:13:00.610 electronic music. Why is a 1970s legacy rock 00:13:00.610 --> 00:13:03.450 band using digital samples? That's a great question. 00:13:03.669 --> 00:13:07.070 In the context of a legacy rock show, samples 00:13:07.070 --> 00:13:10.230 are often used to trigger specific iconic studio 00:13:10.230 --> 00:13:13.289 sounds that are impossible to recreate organically 00:13:13.289 --> 00:13:16.029 live. Like what? Maybe it's a specific synthesizer 00:13:16.029 --> 00:13:19.289 tone from the 1980s or a layered vocal harmony 00:13:19.289 --> 00:13:22.110 from the original recording sessions. Tuggle 00:13:22.110 --> 00:13:24.090 was triggering these essential audio textures 00:13:24.090 --> 00:13:26.610 to make sure the live sound matched the fans' 00:13:26.710 --> 00:13:29.090 memories. That's fascinating. Along with Tuggle, 00:13:29.190 --> 00:13:31.769 you had Neil Haywood on rhythm guitar and backing 00:13:31.769 --> 00:13:34.429 vocals. There was a dedicated team of backing 00:13:34.429 --> 00:13:37.250 vocalists to flesh out those famous Fleetwood 00:13:37.250 --> 00:13:39.149 Mac harmonies. We have their names here too. 00:13:39.289 --> 00:13:41.990 Sharon Solani, Lori Nix, and Stevi Alexander. 00:13:42.389 --> 00:13:44.929 Yes, vital to the sound. And here is perhaps 00:13:44.929 --> 00:13:46.990 the most fascinating personnel detail of all. 00:13:47.559 --> 00:13:49.879 They also had a musician named Steve Rinkoff 00:13:49.879 --> 00:13:52.419 playing drums and percussion, but he was actually 00:13:52.419 --> 00:13:54.679 unannounced from the stage. A secret drummer. 00:13:54.860 --> 00:13:56.759 Why would you have a secret drummer? It comes 00:13:56.759 --> 00:13:58.940 down to the sheer physical reality of the tour. 00:13:59.360 --> 00:14:01.840 Steve Rinkoff was there to support Mick Fleetwood's 00:14:01.840 --> 00:14:04.179 drumming. Okay, that makes sense. Mick Fleetwood 00:14:04.179 --> 00:14:08.259 is a phenomenal, deeply expressive drummer. But 00:14:08.259 --> 00:14:11.200 playing a relentless three -hour rock show night 00:14:11.200 --> 00:14:14.279 after night in your late 60s is an unbelievable 00:14:14.279 --> 00:14:17.240 physical exertion. I can't even imagine. Having 00:14:17.240 --> 00:14:20.179 a secondary unannounced percussionist helps thicken 00:14:20.179 --> 00:14:22.519 the rhythm section, keeps the tempo locked in 00:14:22.519 --> 00:14:25.340 during complex transitions, and provides a necessary 00:14:25.340 --> 00:14:28.379 sonic safety net. Letting Mick be Mick. Exactly. 00:14:28.559 --> 00:14:31.120 It allows Fleetwood to focus on his iconic flourishes 00:14:31.120 --> 00:14:33.679 without exhausting himself carrying the entire 00:14:33.679 --> 00:14:36.139 rhythmic weight of the stadium alone. So what 00:14:36.139 --> 00:14:39.159 does this all mean? We have this massive logistical 00:14:39.159 --> 00:14:42.200 triumph. We have 120 shows crisscrossing the 00:14:42.200 --> 00:14:44.620 globe. We have nearly $200 million in revenue. 00:14:44.879 --> 00:14:47.659 Huge numbers. We have perfectly crafted, emotionally 00:14:47.659 --> 00:14:51.440 resonant set lists and the triumphant 16 years 00:14:51.440 --> 00:14:53.980 in the making return of Christine McVie. It sounds 00:14:53.980 --> 00:14:56.700 like the absolute perfect victory lap for a legendary 00:14:56.700 --> 00:14:59.039 band. If we connect this to the bigger picture. 00:14:59.389 --> 00:15:01.370 That is exactly where the story takes a deeply 00:15:01.370 --> 00:15:04.750 poignant, almost melancholy turn. Why melancholy? 00:15:04.870 --> 00:15:06.789 Because while they were standing on that stage 00:15:06.789 --> 00:15:10.269 in 2014 and 2015, soaking in the applause, neither 00:15:10.269 --> 00:15:12.710 the band nor the millions of people in the audience 00:15:12.710 --> 00:15:15.629 knew the historical finality of what they were 00:15:15.629 --> 00:15:18.019 experiencing. It's true. Following the departure 00:15:18.019 --> 00:15:20.460 of Lindsey Buckingham in 2018 and the tragic 00:15:20.460 --> 00:15:24.080 passing of Christine McVie in 2022, On With The 00:15:24.080 --> 00:15:27.500 Show retroactively became Fleetwood Mac's final 00:15:27.500 --> 00:15:30.340 tour, featuring the band's most successful, most 00:15:30.340 --> 00:15:33.480 iconic lineup. Wow. Lindsey Buckingham, Mick 00:15:33.480 --> 00:15:36.100 Fleetwood, Christine McVie, John McVie, and Stevie 00:15:36.100 --> 00:15:38.960 Nicks. The Rumors 5, this was it. That was the 00:15:38.960 --> 00:15:40.820 end. This is the last time they would ever tour 00:15:40.820 --> 00:15:42.639 the world together. It was an accidental farewell 00:15:42.639 --> 00:15:45.440 tour. And even during the tour itself, if you 00:15:45.440 --> 00:15:47.899 look closely at the timelines, there were subtle 00:15:47.899 --> 00:15:51.080 reminders that behind this unstoppable, multi 00:15:51.080 --> 00:15:53.620 -million dollar touring machine, there was real 00:15:53.620 --> 00:15:56.299 human frailty. That's right. It wasn't entirely 00:15:56.299 --> 00:15:58.840 smooth sailing the whole way through. When you 00:15:58.840 --> 00:16:00.960 look at the schedule for the European leg in 00:16:00.960 --> 00:16:03.919 the summer of 2015, you see cracks in the armor 00:16:03.919 --> 00:16:06.720 starting to form. You really do. A concert scheduled 00:16:06.720 --> 00:16:10.419 for June 12, 2015 at the Manchester Arena had 00:16:10.419 --> 00:16:12.759 to be completely canceled. The stated reason 00:16:12.759 --> 00:16:15.220 was illness within the band. And it wasn't just 00:16:15.220 --> 00:16:17.899 a single isolated night. A show in Birmingham 00:16:17.899 --> 00:16:20.700 at the Genting Arena, which was originally supposed 00:16:20.700 --> 00:16:23.539 to happen on June 9, also had to be rescheduled 00:16:23.539 --> 00:16:27.200 to July 7. Again, due to illness. Yes. When you 00:16:27.200 --> 00:16:29.519 are pushing a touring apparatus of this size, 00:16:29.659 --> 00:16:32.299 with hundreds of crew members relying on the 00:16:32.299 --> 00:16:34.440 core talent, and you're doing it with musicians 00:16:34.440 --> 00:16:36.519 who have been in this grueling industry for decades, 00:16:36.820 --> 00:16:39.799 the physical reality of the human body eventually 00:16:39.799 --> 00:16:42.240 asserts itself. It always catches up. You can't 00:16:42.240 --> 00:16:44.879 outrun biology, even with $100 million gross. 00:16:45.220 --> 00:16:47.519 These cancellations serve as a stark reminder 00:16:47.519 --> 00:16:49.700 of just how physically demanding the On With 00:16:49.700 --> 00:16:51.639 The Show tour really was. I want you to just 00:16:51.639 --> 00:16:53.399 imagine for a second being in the audience on 00:16:53.399 --> 00:16:56.980 that very last night. November 22, 2015. The 00:16:56.980 --> 00:16:59.259 final show. You are standing in MetSmart Stadium 00:16:59.259 --> 00:17:01.360 in Auckland, New Zealand. The stadium lights 00:17:01.360 --> 00:17:03.740 are blazing. You are watching them play the chain. 00:17:03.960 --> 00:17:06.460 You are watching Christine McVie shake the maracas 00:17:06.460 --> 00:17:08.559 during everywhere. Are these in harmonies? Yes. 00:17:08.700 --> 00:17:12.119 Hearing those incredible layered harmonies from 00:17:12.119 --> 00:17:14.660 the backing vocalists echoing into the night 00:17:14.660 --> 00:17:17.809 sky. And you are entirely... blissfully unaware 00:17:17.809 --> 00:17:20.509 that you are witnessing the absolute end of an 00:17:20.509 --> 00:17:22.930 era. Nobody knew. You are watching the final 00:17:22.930 --> 00:17:25.390 bow of the ultimate Fleetwood Mac lineup and 00:17:25.390 --> 00:17:27.950 nobody in the stadium, not even the people on 00:17:27.950 --> 00:17:30.410 the stage, knows it yet. It completely changes 00:17:30.410 --> 00:17:33.509 how you view the entire tour in retrospect. It 00:17:33.509 --> 00:17:36.390 transforms the On With The Show tour from a highly 00:17:36.390 --> 00:17:39.369 successful, highly lucrative reunion run into 00:17:39.369 --> 00:17:42.049 a priceless historical document. A time capsule. 00:17:42.369 --> 00:17:44.250 It was the final hours of one of the greatest 00:17:44.250 --> 00:17:46.390 creative partnerships of the 20th century. It 00:17:46.390 --> 00:17:48.190 really does give you chills to think about it. 00:17:48.289 --> 00:17:50.509 To quickly summarize the incredible journey we've 00:17:50.509 --> 00:17:53.309 taken on this deep dive today, we started with 00:17:53.309 --> 00:17:55.890 that shock announcement in January 2014. That 00:17:55.890 --> 00:17:58.170 brought Christine McVie back into the fold. After 00:17:58.170 --> 00:18:02.309 an agonizing 16 years away, we unpacked the band's 00:18:02.349 --> 00:18:04.710 brilliant, counterintuitive, strategic choice 00:18:04.710 --> 00:18:06.910 to withhold their new music and focus entirely 00:18:06.910 --> 00:18:09.650 on the pure, live nostalgia of the reunion. A 00:18:09.650 --> 00:18:12.650 smart move. We track their grueling, globetrotting 00:18:12.650 --> 00:18:16.190 schedule across 120 shows, marveling at the nearly 00:18:16.190 --> 00:18:19.289 $200 million in revenue they generated and the 00:18:19.289 --> 00:18:21.609 massive logistics required to move that show 00:18:21.609 --> 00:18:24.420 from city to city. Truly staggering logistics. 00:18:24.799 --> 00:18:27.119 We explored the meticulous construction of their 00:18:27.119 --> 00:18:29.720 set lists, the intense audio engineering, and 00:18:29.720 --> 00:18:31.859 the unsung musicians like Brett Tuggle and Steve 00:18:31.859 --> 00:18:34.819 Rinkoff who helped recreate their iconic sound. 00:18:35.059 --> 00:18:37.619 The hidden heroes. And finally, we confronted 00:18:37.619 --> 00:18:40.500 the poignant reality that this massive undertaking 00:18:40.500 --> 00:18:43.680 was, completely by accident, their final bow 00:18:43.680 --> 00:18:47.480 as that iconic quintet. This raises an important 00:18:47.480 --> 00:18:49.519 question, one that I hope you'll continue to 00:18:49.519 --> 00:18:51.839 mull over long after we wrap up today. What's 00:18:51.839 --> 00:18:54.349 that? Think about the hundreds of thousands of 00:18:54.349 --> 00:18:56.549 people at those Fleetwood Mac shows, holding 00:18:56.549 --> 00:18:58.390 up their smartphones, recording every single 00:18:58.390 --> 00:19:01.589 song. In our current era, every single second 00:19:01.589 --> 00:19:04.250 of a major stadium tour is digitally preserved 00:19:04.250 --> 00:19:07.329 from a thousand different angles, uploaded, and 00:19:07.329 --> 00:19:09.609 immortalized online before the band even leaves 00:19:09.609 --> 00:19:11.289 the venue. That's true. You can find the whole 00:19:11.289 --> 00:19:14.910 tool online. So does the concept of an unrepeatable 00:19:14.910 --> 00:19:18.730 fleeting moment even exist anymore? How does 00:19:18.730 --> 00:19:21.230 knowing that a concert will be online forever 00:19:21.230 --> 00:19:24.190 perfectly preserved change the way you actually 00:19:24.190 --> 00:19:26.529 experience the live energy in the room? It's 00:19:26.529 --> 00:19:28.799 a very different vibe now. Do we lose some of 00:19:28.799 --> 00:19:30.640 the magic of the moment when we know we can just 00:19:30.640 --> 00:19:33.400 watch the video tomorrow? That is a deeply fascinating 00:19:33.400 --> 00:19:36.160 angle to consider next time you are standing 00:19:36.160 --> 00:19:38.859 in a crowd with the lights going down. Thank 00:19:38.859 --> 00:19:41.000 you so much for joining us and exploring the 00:19:41.000 --> 00:19:43.500 triumphant, logistically staggering, and ultimately 00:19:43.500 --> 00:19:45.599 bittersweet story of the On With The Show Tour. 00:19:45.839 --> 00:19:47.819 It's been a great ride. We hope you enjoyed diving 00:19:47.819 --> 00:19:50.460 into the history as much as we did. Keep exploring, 00:19:50.720 --> 00:19:53.420 stay insanely curious, and we will catch you 00:19:53.420 --> 00:19:54.059 next time.