Lindsey Buckingham's semi-solo DVD has ups and downs but seems tired

Ron Harris, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published Wednesday March 26th, 2008

"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

Fleetwood Mac plan to tour next year

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.
NME.COM

Fleetwood Mac surprised by Sheryl Crow claim
ROUTERS CANADA

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.
CONTACT MUSIC.COM

Fleetwood Mac is planning to be active again

March 25, 2008, 2:25 PM ET

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

By ANDREW MARTON

Star-Telegram Staff Writer

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.

Lindsey Buckingham 4 stars

DVD Spotlight
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.

Stevie in the May '08 Issue of "Q" Magazine

Stevie Nicks will be included in a free 70 page special titled "Women in Music" that will be included with the May, 2008 issue of UK Music Magazine Q. The May, 2008 issue with Madonna on the cover should be on UK newstands at the beginning of April.

Stevie Nicks: the first lady of Fleetwood Mac tells all.