This Day in ’97: Fleetwood Mac starts touring behind THE DANCE

21 years ago today, Fleetwood Mac played their first tour date since releasing their live album, THE DANCE.

After Lindsey Buckingham left Fleetwood Mac in the wake of the band’s TANGO IN THE NIGHT album, it seemed relatively unlikely that fans would see him in the lineup again, but when the classic Buckingham-Nicks-McVie vocal trifecta reunited to perform for Bill Clinton, some of the frostier feelings between the band members had begun to melt, which made the idea of reteaming for a live concert event in 1997 a viable option.

On May 23, 1997, Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, John McVie, and Mick Fleetwood performed live at Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank, California, recording the performance for later release as THE DANCE, which hit record stores on August 19, 1997. It debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200, and there was much clamoring for more Mac.

Less than a month later, concertgoers throughout the US started to get exactly what they wanted: the band kicked off their tour on September 17 at the Meadows Music Theater in Hartford, Connecticut, and they would continue through November 27, wrapping up their run of shows at Madison Square Garden. Alas, the following year would see the departure of Christine McVie from the band, but Buckingham and Nicks stuck it out with Fleetwood Mac for quite some time thereafter, including the recording of 2003’s SAY YOU WILL. Not a bad second run.