Monthly Archives: March 1993

Archive News, Article Archive Pages, Lindsey Buckingham, Reviews, Solo Activity, Tour Info

Lindsey Buckingham Live Review | Billboard Magazine, Mar 1993

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Billboard, March 20, 1993
By Chris Morris.

Former Fleetwood Mac member Lindsey Buckingham thrilled audiences during his first solo concert in Los Angeles, CA, last Feb 22, 1993. Fans were treated to Buckingham’s unique and animated live style. A surprise treat was the talent exuded by Buckingham’s nine backup musicians. Buckingham also gave in to requests for encores and displayed a talent for live performance that many believe is one of the best in the concert scene.

FLEETWOOD MAC’S one time axe-slinger/singer/songsmith enchanted an adoring crowd of fans at his first-ever solo show in L.A. proper Feb. 22. Forging a live style that dramatically re-created the opulent studio architecture of his records, Buckingham alternated between solo performances of breathtaking intimacy and full-blown band numbers that showed off the well-drilled skills of his nine backup musicians. Performing with always apparent delight, the highly animated Buckingham received a local hero’s welcome. He kicked off the evening with richly detailed acoustic versions of “Big Love,” the last major hit he penned for his former group, and “Go Insane,” the title track from his 1984 solo album.

Proclaiming his intention to “reclaim some sense of creativity for myself,” he then introduced his truly startling group. Featuring five guitarists, three percussionists, and six singing voices, the tentet was adept at recreating the densely layered vocal and instrumental overdubs that have made works like last year’s Reprise release, “Out Of The Cradle,” such engrossing rococo pleasures. Buckingham led the group through its stormy paces on memorable Mac oldies like “The Chain” and “Tusk” and solo-album numbers such as “Trouble” and “You Do Or You Don’t.” The concert hit a raging midshow peak with “I’m So Afraid,” in which Buckingham constructed one of his few extended solos with near-mathematical precision and heart-halting emotion. After this show-stopping display, Buckingham dropped the energy level again with a couple of solo turns, then shifted into high gear again (with the remark, “All these guitars–give me a break!”), rampaging through “Doing What I Can,” “This Is The Time” (in which all five guitarists traded furious fours) and the inevitable set-closer “Go Your Own Way.” Buckingham obliged the crowd with a pair of encores that included a spirited “Holiday Road” and a wrenching solo “Soul Drifter.”

No doubt about it: One of America’s best-known studio hermits has acquired the band and the on-stage attitude to deliver his eccentric, ornate pop music totally live. Buckingham’s show is one of the best on the boards at the moment.

Article A14038762

Archive News, Lindsey Buckingham, Tour Info

Buckingham’s Out Of The Cradle Again Lines Up Dates With 10-Piece Tour Band | Billboard

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BY CHRIS MORRIS
Billboard Magazine
March 13th, 1993

LOS ANGELES—Warner Bros. is  optimistic that a tour by singer/guitarist Lindsey Buckingham’s 10-piece band will ignite fresh sales of Buckingham’s much-lauded 1992 Reprise album “Out Of The Cradle.”

Out Of The Cradle Press Image

The group, which performed two shows at the Coach House in San
Juan Capistrano, Calif., in December and a concert at the Wiltern Theatre here last month, launches the month-long first leg of a national tour of clubs and medium-sized halls Monday (8) in Solana Beach, Calif. On Tuesday (9), the Buckingham band will be showcased on the half, hour VH1 show “Center Stage”; an hourlong version of the broadcast, co-produced by the cable network and PBS and taped live at WTTW-TV in Chicago, will be aired on the public broadcasting network later this spring. Westwood One aired 90 minutes culled from the group’s Dec- 10 and 11 Coach House performances (Buckingham’s first-ever live solo shows) on its Feb. 27 “Superstar Concert Series” broadcast.

Although two singles from “Out Of The Cradle” failed to chart last year; the company will release a third, “Don’t Look Down,” within the month to coincide with the tour.

Says Buckingham of the tour, “Best-case scenario is that we might pump life into the record, and this is basically what [Warner president] Lenny [Waronker] and Warner Bros. would like to do. I think it’s to their credit that they’re even willing to do that at this point, because it would be just as easy for them to say, ‘Yeah, go out and do the [tour] leg, and then make another album.’ ” Continue reading Buckingham’s Out Of The Cradle Again Lines Up Dates With 10-Piece Tour Band | Billboard →

Lindsey Buckingham, Tour Info

The Return of Lindsey Buckingham | Chicago Tribune

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Chris Heim
March 12, 1993
CHICAGO TRIBUNE

In the pop world, four years is a long time. The attention span of the audience is short and the staying power of the talent, like the musical ephemera it produces, is shorter still. So it must have made many a corporate suit sweaty (happy thought) contemplating how the return of Lindsey Buckingham would be received.

It had been four years (eight if you go back to his last solo album) since Buckingham had been in the pop arena.

Buckingham came to prominence as part of the most successful incarnation of Fleetwood Mac. The band, which started as a British blues-rock group (heavily influenced by the greats of Chicago blues) and went through a semi-successful psychedelic/”Oh Well” phase around 1970, was on the verge of collapse when the California pop duo of Buckingham and Stevie Nicks were recruited. A string of artfully crafted hits (“Rhiannon,” “Go Your Own Way,” “Dreams,” “Say You Love Me” and that popular campaign theme, “Don’t Stop”) followed, along with multimillion sales for the “Fleetwood Mac” and “Rumours” albums.

Buckingham left/was dismissed from Mac in 1987 when he declined to go on tour (two players, Rick Vito and Billy Burnette, were required to fill his shoes). And though he did return to help with the “Tango in the Night” album and make a brief cameo appearance onstage with Mac in 1990, Buckingham was largely invisible until last summer, when he emerged from his home studio with a new solo album called “Out of the Cradle.”

This was to be the acid test for Buckingham. Could the man who many said was the real genius behind Mac’s pop gems deliver more rock jewels? Despite working almost entirely on his own and spending some two to three years on the project, Buckingham delivered one of his (or even Mac’s) most lively, consistent and accomplished albums. His music sparkles with bright, insistent pop hooks and an endless stream of shiny sounds. Listening to “Cradle” is like opening a jewel box or looking out at a star-filled night sky. Twinkling back is a multitude of lights (sounds, tones, instruments), densely packed yet brightly and discretely shining.

In December, Buckingham took the stage for the first time as a solo artist in a showcase California date that won critical raves. He has now launched his first solo tour with a 10-piece band (five guitarists, three percussionists, a bassist and a keyboardist), and his performances are expected to offer a mix of solo material and Mac favorites, solo playing and band numbers. Lindsey Buckingham appears Thursday at Park West.