MAC ATTACK: FLEETWOOD MAC TO HIT THE ROAD AGAIN
Word is that the as-yet-unconfirmed tour will be promoted by Concerts West, which is guaranteeing the band (which will perform without Christine McVie) some $750k per night over 40 dates. The outing is reportedly being planned by Lyndsay Buckingham manager Tony Dimitriades, Stevie Nicks manager Howard Kaufman and Mick Fleetwood manager Carl Stubner.
The tour going to Concerts West sends a $30 million signal that Clear Channel concert-promotion arm Clear Channel Entertainment is no longer pricing everyone out of the market. Indeed, insiders say CCE exec Don Law is under a mandate to control costs and is thus holding back on the huge advances and guarantees that have previously had other promoters crying foul. Concerts West is said to have outbid CCE for the Fleetwood Mac tour by $50-75k per date.
If CCE is indeed backing off, the door is now open for promoters including Concerts West, House of Blues, Mitch Slater’s Metropolitan and others to land big tours. There’s also talk of two or more promoters forming a consortium to mount multiple high-dollar tours simultaneously.
All this takes place amid reports that Clear Channel has been trying to sell CCE, which was put together from its purchase of SFX and other concert assets. Clear Channel denies these reports, but rumors persist that the company recently enlisted Lehman Bros. to find a buyer for the unit, but none materialized.
