Mac’s Lindsey Buckingham Goes Solo at the Rio
Santa Cruz, CA - May 11th
by Eric Berg
KUSP 88.9
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Santa Cruz, CA - May 11th
by Eric Berg
KUSP 88.9
Anybody who went to see Lindsey Buckingham’s packed Friday night’s May 11th “Smallest Machine” performance (as he calls it) at the Rio in Santa Cruz, expecting to hear Fleetwood Mac’s greatest hits, must have been blown away by the wealth of under the radar material he’s penned over seven solo ablums in 20 something years. I forgot to take my notebook pen and my iPhone, but Buckingham did perform two of the Big Machine’s hits. After a very tidy 90 minute set, the guitarist left no doubt that the Stevie Nicks-Buckingham edition of Fleetwood Mac was really “Lindsey Mac” eighty percent of the time. Track down a copy of Buckingham-Nicks from 1974 on the Polydor label and give it a listen. You’ll see how those two saved a run out of gas Mac from going to the junkyard permanently, the minute they joined the band.
Standing alone in front of a small bank of amps with a covey of his custom made guitars to one side, Buckingham successfully walked “the kiss of death – one guy with the electric guitar plank”. Although Buckingham is exceptional at playing rhythm and lead simultaneously, he did flesh out a band sound with some very ultra subtle sample and hold loops and beat tracks manipulated by his guitar tech who also swapped out a different custom axe on every song. Buckingham is a very precise guitarist with few wasted notes and a total perfectionist in the studio and so it goes on stage. His tenor voice still hits those wonderful high notes that are at times buried by his tendency to attack his guitar strings at a much higher volume than called for.
Buckingham culled a mix of songs from all seven solo albums on acoustic and electric guitar. I was a bit disappointed he did not do a few more from his brilliant Under the Skin or any of the Rolling Stones covers he does so well. Buckingham ended the evening with the title song from his latest, the highly recommended Seeds We Sew. A thoroughly enjoyable show from one of the most innovative guitarists and songwriters in rock.
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"Not Too Late"
This is an interesting review, but I find it pathetic that this person, like many reviewers of Lindsey Buckingham, has to take a dig at Stevie Nicks to try to authenticate himself or herself. Tell the story, and then let it be.
ReplyDeleteYeah I agree. Stevie is a huge part of Mac in an albeit different way. These jerkoffs all ty to diminish that seeing how much of a driving force Lindsey is as a guitarist. It's apples and oranges.
ReplyDeleteg&b