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Lindsey Buckingham - Live at The Belly Up
Salano Beach, CA - May 3, 2012
Written by Rick Ostop
KPRIFM
Towards the end of his show at the Belly Up Thursday night, May 3, Lindsey Buckingham explained how Fleetwood Mac is the “big machine” and what he is doing now is “just me - the little machine.” Though the “machine” might be smaller--just him and his multitude of guitars--the results were grandiose.
Buckingham, taking the stage for his hour and a half set by himself, seemed a slight bit tentative as he started working on a simple chord pattern. He wrestled with it over and over, before slipping into the first song of the night “That’s The Way Love Goes” (Note: It was actually Castaway Dreams) from his new album Seeds We Sow. The new song was an interesting choppy choice for an opener and left the room kind of flat. The familiarity, though, and the crowd response to the second number “Bleed To Love Her” was a whole different story. The fire and intensity Buckingham put into the performance seemed to awaken any apprehension he might have carried. Buckingham drove the Fleetwood Mac song hard, soaring his vocals and intensely working his amazing finger picking guitar playing. To be able to carry off a full show by yourself, you have to display a confidence and talent level that can hold and captivate an audience. And when Buckingham finished “Bleed To Love Her,” he had everyone in the palm of his hand.
And here’s where the Belly Up truly shines. To be able to be no more than 10 feet away from a legendary musician, who you usually see playing an arena, is what this venue is all about. Being able to experience an artist with such stature and clout that close gave the audience a rare glimpse at Buckingham’s fascinating finger-picking guitar stylings.
