Lindsey Buckingham UK/Europe tour reviews
Collection of tour reviews
Lindsey Buckingham review — the Fleetwood Mac soap opera continues | The Times
★★★★☆
Alongside becoming one of the pre-eminent guitarists of his generation, Lindsey Buckingham appears to have been on a lifelong mission to annoy Stevie Nicks as much as possible. Way back on Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 divorce masterpiece Rumours, Buckingham was contributing Second Hand News, Never Going Back Again and Go Your Own Way, self-explanatory break-up anthems all in some way about his former girlfriend. When Nicks finally flipped in 2018 and said either she went or he did, Buckingham put his subsequent sacking from Fleetwood Mac down to her probably still being in love with him. Finally in London after a much-delayed tour, he certainly didn’t shy away from highlighting his undeniable contribution to Fleetwood Mac, playing all the favourites alongside his solo material.
Buckingham was always the one who pushed things musically, embracing post-punk when the others wanted to stick to soft rock. It resulted in following up Rumours with the 1979 album Tusk, the title track of which still sounded as weird as ever here with its marching beat and eerie demand, “Don’t say that you love me.” Elsewhere the concert was a masterclass in guitar playing, from the sweet acoustic finger-picking on Never Going Back Again to the gentle balladry of Time, a cover version of the plaintive Sixties hit by harmony trio the Pozo-Seco Singers, which features on Buckingham’s (very good) 2021 solo album. And when he launched off on an interminable solo he looked as if he was going through every kind of agony and ecstasy before the roar of the crowd brought him some kind of climax when the solo finally ended.
Amid all this Buckingham was a slender, lithe figure who looked good for his age (he’s 73 today) and seemed perfectly content to play with his three backing musicians as if he was filling stadiums, even though he was actually in a mid-sized theatre before a seated audience. By Go Your Own Way everyone was up on their feet, singing along and doing a bit of dancing in the aisles before being removed by overzealous ushers; exactly the kind of rapturous response that proves Buckingham can indeed go his own way, which will annoy Nicks further. Don’t bet on Lindsey Buckingham’s role in the Fleetwood Mac soap opera being over yet, though.
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With seven albums’ worth of solo material to his name, Buckingham makes the fans wait for classic Rumours tracks – but eventually delivers in style
Lindsey Buckingham is considered rock royalty thanks to the years he spent with Fleetwood Mac, and his role in transforming a one-time great British blues band that had lost its leader and sense of direction into a multi-platinum-selling soft-rock phenomenon. But he clearly wants to be known for even more: as a singer-songwriting soloist who is also a distinctive guitarist. Tonight, those who are desperate for him to get on to his Fleetwood Mac hits are reminded that he has recorded seven albums of his own songs.
Now in his early 70s, he comes on in very tight blue jeans, black vest and jacket, backed by a three-piece band of keyboards, drums, and a second guitarist, Neale Heywood, who has worked with Fleetwood Mac. Buckingham makes no introductions as he heads into a selection of his non-Fleetwood songs, demonstrating his guitar skills from the start. He likes the finger-picking style that is associated more with folk than rock, and the opening Not Too Late shows his slick, rapid-fire technique. He has a powerful vocal range and a catalogue of fine, tuneful songs, such as Soul Drifter, which would benefit from more emotion and variety than his consistently full-tilt approach allows.
Next comes a solo section, with further demonstrations of his guitar skills on Shut Us Down and Trouble, in which impressive, intimate passages are followed by sections in which he sounds as if he is singing to a stadium. It includes an intriguing solo treatment of Never Going Back Again, one of his classic break-up songs that helped make Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 album Rumours one of the bestselling albums of all time – even now, 45 years on.He gives it a slower, thoughtful and less jaunty feel that works well, and follows up with an upbeat Big Love, from Tango in the Night, the album he recorded with Fleetwood Mac in 1987 before leaving to go solo.
He rejoined the band in 1997, got fired in 2018, and went on to produce some of his best solo work, as he proves tonight when his current band come back to join him on songs from his eponymous album released last year. He is helped by tight, rousing harmony vocals from Heywood and keyboard player Michael Kiyoka on the exuberant Scream and I Don’t Mind.
They end, of course, with a set of Fleetwood Mac favourites written by Buckingham, from Second Hand News to Tusk (with added sound effects) and his most famous break-up song, Go Your Own Way. It still sounds like a classic weepie, even without those glorious female harmonies that made the original so exhilarating.
Buckingham returns for what he calls “mellow” encores. His voice is sounding exhausted on Love Is Here to Stay, a song he wrote with Christine McVie, but he ends strongly with Time, a poignant folk-country ballad first recorded by the Pozo-Seco Singers (including a young Don Williams) back in 1966. It has been an uneven set but he deserves the standing ovation.
Sun 2 Oct 2022 15.57 BST