[just saw this one while looking up Go Insane stuff]
The San Diego Union-Tribune,April 18, 1984 Wednesday
SECTION: ENTERTAINMENT; Pg. D-5
LENGTH: 523 words
HEADLINE: McVie has had better days
BYLINE: Mikel Toombs
BODY:
After opening the second show of her current tour Monday night with "Say You Love Me," Christine McVie declared, "I'm glad to be in San Diego."
She must have been relieved to be out of Fresno, the site of her first concert, because the sparse Fox Theater crowd of about 800 surely was not much to be encouraged about. McVie has come to expect better from her days with Fleetwood Mac. The British songstress contributed a number of memorable songs to the group's "Fleetwood Mac" and "Rumours" albums, lovingly crafted works such as "Over My Head" and "You Make Loving Fun."
Monday night she delivered those songs in her distinctively warm way, her bluesy voice giving them just the right subdued feeling. Unfortunately, one woman's subdued feeling is another woman's bore.
When she sang the title of "I'm So Excited" in her almost blas'e fashion, she somehow made it sound convincing, but on other material she wasn't so lucky. Songs such as "Got a Hold on Me" and "The Challenge," both from her current solo album, sounded pleasant enough, but neither held any challenge for either McVie or her audience.
Even more disappointing was the simplistic "Ask Anybody," which she co-authored with the once-great Steve Winwood. McVie was on safer ground with her Fleetwood Mac material, reaching as far back as "Crazy Love" (from the "Mystery to Me" album) and "Spare Me a Little" (from "Bare Trees"). She was most effective when at the piano -- although she mostly played organ -- singing heartfelt numbers such as "Your Smile" and "For You," the show-closer that found her accompanied only by an acoustic guitar. In these moments, when she was closest to her folk roots, she evoked the spirit of the late great Sandy Denny.
McVie, however, has always shied away from the ambitious material that made Denny's work with Fairport Convention and as a solo artist so often moving. Besides the uneventfulness of some of the music, the concert was also a bit lacking in the visual department.
The huge keyboard motif used as a backdrop was nice, but watching someone with considerably less flamboyance than Little Richard or Jerry Lee Lewis play the instrument wasn't exactly thrilling. (At times, it would have helped to have Stevie Nicks around to take a few twirls around the stage.) McVie's band was a solid one, achieving a strong, familiar tone.
The spotlighted musician was lead guitarist Todd Sharp, who also co-wrote many of the songs on McVie's current album.
His tastefully aggressive playing was, not surprisingly, quite similar in style to that of Mac guitar man Lindsey Buckingham. Opening for McVie was singer-guitarist Baxter Robertson.
An amiable but slick performer, Robertson had all the cliches of the medium-tempo rock genre down pat. (His lead guitarist did him one better, though, striking a picture of foolish cool in red sneakers and sunglasses-after-dark while performing solos with lounge-band intensity.) Introducing his puzzling hit "Silver Strand," Robertson did make points with his knowlege of San Diego geography -- although someone should tell him that there is no beach in Escondido. Toombs is a free-lance writer on the arts.
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