A lot of stuff has changed in the world since Fleetwood Mac formed back in 1967. Hell, a lot of things in Fleetwood Mac have changed since 1967.
These days, Mick Fleetwood is the only founding member left in the band, even though the band is partly named after bassist John McVie, who already had a steady, paying gig when Fleetwood formed the band with guitarist Peter Green. McVie eventually joined the band and, in 1975, so did Stevie Nicks.
"[The many changes] turned out to be Fleetwood Mac's blessing," said Fleetwood in a phone conference with bandmates Nicks, McVie, Lindsey Buckingham and reporters yesterday to promote the band's upcoming hits tour, Unleashed. "Obviously, the people on the phone right now are responsible for most of the history of Fleetwood Mac. Having said that, there's a history, individually, leading up to the people coming into [the band], and there's the history of all the people who have been and gone from the ranks of Fleetwood Mac, which in truth, seems like a long time ago."
Unleashed will be a greatest hits tour and, while the band hasn't ruled out returning to the studio to record new material, this tour, the first in four years, coincides with a re-release of the CD Rumours as part of a boxed-set CD/DVD, which features previously unreleased tracks and concert footage.
"Unleashed to me meant unleashing the fury," said Nicks about the tour name, "which is what the band is ... a lot of the time ... one of the world's greatest furies. [It] was an edgy term of throwing this amazing musical entity back into the world that we had been away from for four years."
Buckingham added that with no new material to perform, it frees the band up to have a good time and enjoy each other a little bit more: "The dynamic between band members, you wouldn't think it after all this time but it is still to some degree a work in progress."
Fleetwood Mac plays GM Place May 15.
