Tusk Tour

History of the tour

In 1979, Fleetwood Mac embarked on their 111 show-long world tour promoting their new album, Tusk. Beginning in Pocatello, Idaho on October 26, 1979 and ending September 1, 1980 at the Hollywood Bowl, this tour was a crazy roller-coaster that was nearly detrimental to the survival of the band. In order to provide a cheaper option after the million dollars of expenses blown on the tour itself, every one of their shows performed were filmed and recorded to create a "Live" album.

Setbacks

On top of this tour being excessively expensive it was also physically and mentally exhausting for the band members- and these two setbacks together were a recipe for disaster. As Christine Mcvie, singer-songwriter and keyboardist in the band puts it, "Somebody once said that with the money we spent on champagne on one night they could have made an entire album", she later recalls, "I used to go onstage and drink a bottle of Dom Pérignon, and drink one offstage afterwards . It's not the kind of party I’d like to go to now. There was a lot of booze being drunk and there was blood floating around in the alcohol, which doesn’t make for a stable environment." On top of all the drinking the band members indulged in heavy amounts of cocaine and marijuana. McVie even jokes that the strength of the marijuana was so strong that the actual act of smoking it was not needed- it only needed to be blown in her face and she would feel the effects. With all the substance abuse the band members endured atop all the stress, the tour was not only disadvantageous but also extremely unhealthy.

As the tour progressed the band members became less and less fond of each other. As a result of this tension as well as the financial setbacks endured, the band nearly parted ways. As explained in Uncut's Article, Fleetwood Mac: 'Everybody was pretty weirded out' – the story of Rumours, by the end of the tour the band members were "barely able to stand the sight of each other" While In Auckland, New Zealand in 1980, Stevie Nicks was physically and emotionally attacked by fellow band member Lindsey Buckingham. She explains that he began to mimic her by pulling his jacket up over his head to mirror what she did stylistically with her shawl. She ignored his provoking gestures. As she explains it "This must have infuriated him, because he came over and kicked me. 'And I’d never had anyone be physical with me in my life. Then he picked up a black Les Paul guitar and he just frisbee’d it at me. He missed, I ducked – but he could have killed me.’"

Personnel