The Shake the Cage Tour by the Anglo-American rock group Fleetwood Mac began on September 30, 1987, in Kansas City, Missouri, and ended on June 28, 1988, in Manchester, England. It was their first tour since 1974 without Lindsey Buckingham, who left the band in August 1987.
History
Although the album Tango in the Night included Lindsey Buckingham, the guitarist quit at a band meeting to discuss the tour. Buckingham had agreed to commit to a ten week tour at the insistence of Mo Ostin, which was shorter than the eight months that were originally planned.[1] Buckingham also suggested the addition of multiple touring musicians, including two-three guitarists and percussionists.[2] Buckingham later reneged on his agreement to tour the album and was subsequently summoned to Christine McVie's house to discuss the matter. Following a confrontation between Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, the former left the meeting prematurely and decided to leave the band.[3] "We'd signed the contracts," Nicks noted. "We couldn't call in and say, 'Oh, we can't do the tour.' We had to do it, or Fleetwood Mac would have been sued forever."[4] Buckingham later explained that he was not willing to tour in support of the album due to his belief that the tension that underpinned the Tango in the Night sessions would be amplified on the road. He also claimed that he would have been willing to remain with Fleetwood Mac if they opted not to tour the album.[5]
Buckingham was replaced by rockabilly singer and guitarist Billy Burnette and lead guitarist and session musician Rick Vito. The former contributed to Mick Fleetwood's solo album I'm Not Me, as a member of Mick Fleetwood's Zoo. Vito was an early fan of the band, having first witnessed the band in 1968 at a gig in Philadelphia. He later performed with John McVie in the 1970s on an album with John Mayall and also did session work for Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, and Bob Seger.[3] The band rehearsed in September and embarked on the Shake the Cage Tour later that month.[3] In a 2022 interview with Rolling Stone, Burnette said that the band generally received positive feedback barring a few exceptions, citing a review for their tour in Pittsburgh as one example.[6] Pete Bishop of the The Pittsburgh Press mentioned that Burnette was "not Buckingham's equal as a singer" and thought that this detracted from the vocal harmonies on certain songs such as "Go Your Own Way".[7] Burnette recalled seeing a "Lindsey who?" banner on the band's opening night in Kansas City.[6]
The band's setlist included some songs from Peter Green's time with Fleetwood Mac, who was a founding member of the band. Burnette handled lead vocals on "Oh Well" and Vito sang lead on "I Love Another Woman".[3] "Black Magic Woman", which was written by Green, was also considered for the setlist, although John McVie vetoed the idea on the grounds that it was too associated with Santana, who had recorded a cover of the song that eclipsed the original in popularity.[1] "Don't Let Me Down Again" from the 1973 Buckingham Nicks album was also included in the setlist.[8]
Multiple touring musicians augmented the tour, including Lori Perry, Elisecia Wright, and Sharon Celani, who had also served as backing vocalists for Nicks. Isaac Asante, who had previously worked with Fleetwood on his solo album The Visitor in 1981, was also part of the touring lineup.[3]
This tour was filmed during the San Francisco shows (December 12–13) and released on VHS as Fleetwood Mac: Tango in the Night. Cruzados were the opening act of the tour.[9] The band played at the Rock am Ring Festival in Nürburg, West Germany, on June 4, 1988. The crowd in attendance was 80,000.[10]
^ abFleetwood, Mick; Davis, Stephen (1990). Fleetwood: My Life and Adventures with Fleetwood Mac. New York: William Morrow and Company. p. 274. ISBN0-688-06647-X.
