Monday, March 31, 2008
Stevie Nicks in Toledo, OH - June 25, 2008
Stevie Nicks, who performs here on June 25, has been a successful solo artist over the years but made her name as one of the voices of Fleetwood Mac. She was with the group in 1977 when they released the album Rumours, which sold over 17 million copies and was the best-selling album ever at the time, and she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with her bandmates in 1998.
Highlights of her solo musical career include "Edge of Seventeen (Just Like the White Winged Dove)" and "Stand Back," and last year, her CD/DVD Crystal Visions: The Very Best of Stevie Nicks was released. Tickets for her Toledo show, which starts at 7:30 p.m., are $49.50, $75, and $99.50.
Toledoblade.com
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Lindsey Buckingham's semi-solo DVD has ups and downs but seems tired
"Live at the Bass Performance Hall"
Lindsey Buckingham (Reprise)
From the first song featuring a marathon of arpeggios, singer/songwriter Lindsey Buckingham assures viewers of his first live performance DVD, "Live at Bass Performance Hall," that he's still got the goods with a guitar in his hands.
But that's not saying much. Buckingham could thrill you with fancy fret work in his sleep. He's that good. It's the rest of the package - stage presence, voice and delivery - that Buckingham must deliver with confidence to really win us over.
Canadaeast.com
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Fleetwood Mac plan to tour next year
Fleetwood Mac are set to make their live return next year, and may have some brand new material for audiences.
FLEETWOOD MAC STAR UPSET ABOUT CROW CONFIRMATION
FLEETWOOD MAC star LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM has hit back at reports SHERYL CROW will become a member of the supergroup when it tours in 2009, insisting her announcement is a little premature.
Fleetwood Mac is planning to be active again
billboard.com
Gary Graff, Detroit
Fleetwood Mac -- with or without Sheryl Crow in tow -- is planning to be active again.
Singer/guitarist Lindsey Buckingham -- who's just released a new concert DVD, "Live at the Bass Performance Hall," from his 2006-07 solo tour -- tells Billboard.com that the group is "looking at the idea of touring sometime in the first half of 2009," possibly with some new material to play.
In recent weeks Crow, who's friendly with Mac's Stevie Nicks, has talked about joining the band, which Buckingham acknowledges is a possibility, though he adds, "I don't think anything is written in stone yet."
"I think we were all a little surprised (Crow) was announcing that to the world with such certainty," Buckingham says with a laugh. "We have talked about the possibility of bringing another woman into the scene to kind of give Stevie a sort of foil and shake it up a little bit. (Crow) was certainly a name that has come up. We'll have to see."
Nicks has been the group's sole female member since Christine McVie retired from the band in the late '90s. Buckingham says that he has "a ton of new stuff" that could be used for a new Fleetwood Mac album, though he adds that he might want to step back from the production role he's had in the band.
"I don't think I want to produce again 'cause it takes so much," he explains. "Whatever happens we'll all sit in a room and make something work as a group. a little more like we used to, sort of try to open it up and get everyone sharing the activity a little more."
Buckingham, meanwhile, is also planning another solo album -- the follow-up to 2006's "Under the Skin" -- for this summer. Recorded with members of his touring band as well as Mick Fleetwood and John McVie, it "has a little more of a rock feel to it" than "Under the Skin," according to Buckingham. "It's just another group of tunes that hopefully will translate to stage, and hopefully we can get some more (solo) dates this summer."
Formerly signed to Reprise, Buckingham says he's a "free agent" now, without a label deal as a solo artist. "We're gonna figure out who wants to put it out," he says of the as-yet untitled album. "I'm keeping an open mind. People need to hear the music and we'll see what they think and what the best situation for it will be."
Buckingham goes his own way in fine form
Live at the Bass Performance Hall -- Lindsey Buckingham
WEA/Reprise
90 minutes
$13.99 (on Amazon)
*** out ot 5 stars
Watching Lindsey Buckingham's first solo concert DVD, Live at the Bass Performance Hall, you reach the conclusion that the essence of his former band Fleetwood Mac was not Stevie Nicks' witchy-woman stylings, Christine McVie's blues-tinged singing, or even the granite back-beat of drummer, Mick Fleetwood and bassist, John McVie, but Buckingham's pioneering guitar work.
Released today, this concert DVD offers all 16 songs from Buckingham's Jan. 27, 2007 performance at Bass Hall, the Fort Worth stop on the guitarist-singer-songwriter's first extended U.S. solo tour in almost 14 years.
Whether on a nylon-string classical guitar, a steel-string acoustic or his trademark acoustic-electric guitar, Buckingham eschews the standard pick in favor of all five fingers of his right hand. There are close-ups of Buckingham's hands as they nimbly perform his distinctive guitar calisthenics.
All this intricate guitar work cocoons Buckingham's equally original vocals. Whether it's on the six cuts from the 2006 CD, Under the Skin, or songs dredged from his early solo period (the country-shuffle Holiday Road, Go Insane, Trouble) or, even further back, from the Fleetwood Mac catalog (Second Hand News,I'm So Afraid, Go Your Own Way, and Tusk), Buckingham's voice is in fine form.
As he moves from barely whispered verses to primal-scream choruses, you are reminded of how enigmatic and avant-garde he remains.
Hardly a Mr. Entertainment when it comes to amiable stage patter, Buckingham, helped by his backing trio, hits the concert's high points with the protracted guitar jams at the end of Fleetwood Mac's I'm So Afraid and Go Your Own Way. On each, Buckingham's left hand explores the outer limits of the fret-board while his right index finger flicks out one serrated note after another. Each solo ends with Buckingham in full mad-scientist mode, head thrown back, mouth agape, as he bangs his fists on the guitar.
The Bass Hall's crisp acoustics enhance the singer's embroidered harmonies, and the proximity of the stage to the audience creates an intimacy that he clearly relishes.
Buckingham seems so at home at the Bass that when he delivers the by-now-requisite "see ya next time" farewell, you believe he will make a return trip to Cowtown.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Lindsey Buckingham 4 stars
By Kevin O'Hare
Lindsey Buckingham, "Live at The Bass Performance Hall," (Reprise) 4 stars.
Somehow Lindsey Buckingham managed to do the impossible, which was to be generally underrated while playing in one of the most popular bands in the world.
That band, Fleetwood Mac, put Buckingham on the map, but it's his far-too-infrequent solo endeavors that have featured some of the best music of his life.
The incredibly gifted guitarist, songwriter and singer is spotlighted on this, his first live solo DVD, which was filmed in Fort Worth, Texas, during his first U.S. solo tour in nearly 14 years.
As one might expect, the musicianship is impeccable, with Buckingham fronting an understated three-piece ensemble while spinning through 17 songs from his solo career as well as from his days with Fleetwood Mac.
Six songs are from his latest solo disc "Under the Skin," including quiet standouts like "Not Too Late," and the shimmering, harmony-backed full-band workout "Castaway Dreams." He also offers some intriguing reinterpretations of his own vintage work, like the decidedly-different versions of "Go Insane," and Fleetwood Mac's "Tusk," and "Go Your Own Way." In addition, he shows his passionate vocal style and stunning acoustic guitar work in a torrid take of "Big Love," while blazing away with equal intensity of several electric numbers, such as "So Afraid," which starts mildly before building toward an explosive ending.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Stevie in the May '08 Issue of "Q" Magazine
Fleetwood Mac gig just Rumours
By JANE STEVENSON
Turns out those reports last week of Sheryl Crow hooking up with Fleetwood Mac next year might have been a bit premature.
Crow told Sun Media yesterday that while it's something she would like to do, given her long friendship with Stevie Nicks -- which dates to when they worked together on Nicks' 2001 album, Trouble In Shangri-La -- it's still an idea that's in the early stages.
"We don't even know -- all that stuff is rumours," she said. "We are just in the middle of figuring out if we want to collaborate, and what we're going to be doing, and what that's going to look like."
Still, Crow said she's enthusiastic about the possibility. After all, she wore a "full shag" hairstyle in high school in the '70s, emulating Nicks' famous feathered 'do.
"Oh, my gosh. It would be so much fun. And I'm a huge fan of Fleetwood Mac -- the band and the people, obviously the music. And also I just love Stevie. I grew up really idolizing her, and then when I got to work with her, like, 10 years ago, I think I was stunned by how much of an artist she really is -- a fully-realized artist, not just a songwriter."
Nicks is on a spring/summer solo tour, including one Canadian date so far -- at Casino Rama north of Toronto on June 18. Crow also plans to hit the road in July and August, with Canadian dates expected in September.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Stevie Nicks looks toward summer with new solo dates
Stevie Nicks has lined up an abbreviated schedule of solo dates for late spring and early summer as talk heats up of new developments on the Fleetwood Mac front.
The veteran singer, who mounted a co-headlining tour last year with Chris Isaak, as well as her own solo trek last summer, will play two dates in April and three in June, with the first coming April 18 in Reading, PA. The Grammy-award-winning singer's latest release, "Crystal Visions ... The Very Best of Stevie Nicks," is a collection of songs from her three-decade career as a solo artist and member of Fleetwood Mac. The CD, which hit stores last Spring, features several previously unreleased live tracks and a couple of dance remixes, while the DVD comprises 13 videos with voiceover commentary by Nicks. The DVD also includes never-before-seen home video filmed during the making of Nicks' five-times platinum "Bella Donna" album, according to a press release.
Fleetwood Mac made news earlier this month when singer/songwriter Sheryl Crow told an AOL-affiliated music website that she's planning on joining the band sometime next year. It is currently unclear what role Crow will play in the band or when the group and its new collaborator would tour or record together. "We definitely have plans for collaborating in the future and we'll see what happens," Crow reportedly said. Crow essentially would replace Christine McVie, who has retired from touring, in the group.
Monday, March 17, 2008
New Live Lindsey Buckingham Tracks
Check out 3 live tracks from Lindsey's upcoming DVD/CD release on March 25th "Live At The Bass Performance Hall". Second Hand News, Go Your Own Way and Holiday Road are up to stream at his official site: Lindseybuckingham.com
I'm looking forward to this coming out for a couple of reasons. First, it's an official release, and second, there apparently is a 45 minute documentary included with the package on the making of his last cd "Under The Skin". THAT should be interesting to watch.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Crow Says She'll Sing With Fleetwood Mac
"I don't want to make any official announcements, but I will say that we definitely have plans for collaborating in the future, and we'll see what happens," Crow told the AOL music Web site Spinner.com in a story posted Thursday.
The 46-year-old singer didn't give a date, but said it could happen next year.
She's already thinking about what she'd like to perform. "I'd love to do `The Chain,' I'd love to do `Second Hand News,'" Crow said.
Crow said she looked forward to working with friend Stevie Nicks. "I think the person I learned the most hands-on from is Stevie Nicks because she allowed me not only to co-write with her but also to produce her, and she's a true artist," she said.
Crow would give the band and Nicks a boost. According to Spinner.com, Nicks had said she wouldn't continue with Fleetwood Mac without keyboardist Christine McVie, who retired from touring in 1998. McVie joined Fleetwood Mac in 1970 shortly after marrying the band's bass guitarist, John McVie.
Fleetwood Mac last toured in 2004.
Crow is currently touring after the release of her latest album, "Detours."
Phone and e-mail messages left with representatives for Fleetwood Mac and Crow were not immediately returned.