LA Orpheum 10/12

[lovethemac1]

Originally Posted by secondhandchain

Great review! Anything interesting from your Dance questions?

I asked him how they got the tickets. He said that it was well known that the concert was being filmed over the 3 days. His partner was a huge FM fan and they were trying to figure out how to get tickets. He is a hair stylist, so he started asking all his clients and a few were able to come forward with tickets. Apparently, you lined up at the Warner Bros lot where it was being filmed, and it was rush seating. They were at the front of the line, his partner had informed him ahead of time of where he wanted to sit, so when they opened up, the 2 sprinted and had first row seats in front of Stevie. He said the place was full of who’s who in LA. He also said that they can tell their night in The Dance video because Stevie’s hair was slightly different that night. He said they didn’t use as much of their night in the film, they used more of the other 2 nights.
After Lindsey did Tusk at the Orpheum Friday night, I asked him what that was like to see with the USC marching band. He said incredible!!
I think that was all we talked about.

[DownOnRodeo]

Originally Posted by lovethemac1

His partner was a huge FM fan and they were trying to figure out how to get tickets. He is a hair stylist, so he started asking all his clients and a few were able to come forward with tickets. (...) He said the place was full of who’s who in LA. He also said that they can tell their night in The Dance video because Stevie’s hair was slightly different that night. He said they didn’t use as much of their night in the film, they used more of the other 2 nights.

I'm glad they're also supporting Lindsey's solo tour!
No doubt they were blown away by Lindsey at The Dance like the rest of us were.

Originally Posted by lovethemac1

At one point my husband and I both fell asleep in one of the booths listening to artists talk....

The imagery of this cracked me up.
But with my very jetlagged, whirlwind itinerary to get to the Birmingham show next month, I'm worried I'll fall asleep during the concert if he does any of those prolonged, slow instrumentals.

[lovethemac1]

Originally Posted by DownOnRodeo

I'm glad they're also supporting Lindsey's solo tour!
No doubt they were blown away by Lindsey at The Dance like the rest of us were.



The imagery of this cracked me up.
But with my very jetlagged, whirlwind itinerary to get to the Birmingham show next month, I'm worried I'll fall asleep during the concert if he does any of those prolonged, slow instrumentals.

Haha, well, he slept through the opening act pretty much the whole thing.

But once Lindsey came on, he didn’t at all. There was so much more sound and volume and energy (from both the stage and the audience) that it would be impossible. You’ll probably find it ok to stay awake. I hate jet lag, that’s why I gave up my international travel aspect of work. Couldn’t do the 35 hour travel times anymore. Along with 13-15 hour time zone differences.

Enjoy the show Joe!! I know you’ll love it!!

[sodascouts]

Thanks for the review, lovethemac1!

The meet'n'greet sounds a bit disappointing... by putting it before the show, they've made it so it has to be rushed. I'm not terribly impressed with that, frankly.

I knew we'd only get a short time, but I thought it would be more than the time it takes to pose for a photo. "Stop talking"? Really? Of course you don't want to allow someone to drone on and on, but I think you had said all of two sentences. "Meeting" is not just saying "Hi", posing, and moving along.

Not cool.

If there's not time to give people their money's worth before the show, put it after the show again.

[lovethemac1]

Originally Posted by sodascouts

Thanks for the review, lovethemac1!

The meet'n'greet sounds a bit disappointing... by putting it before the show, they've made it so it has to be rushed. I'm not terribly impressed with that, frankly.

I knew we'd only get a short time, but I thought it would be more than the time it takes to pose for a photo. "Stop talking"? Really? Of course you don't want to allow someone to drone on and on, but I think you had said all of two sentences. "Meeting" is not just saying "Hi", posing, and moving along.

Not cool.

If there's not time to give people their money's worth before the show, put it after the show again.

Definitely, I agree with you. It was originally supposed to be after the show but I’m guessing they moved it so that him and his family could head home after the show.

[elle]

Originally Posted by lovethemac1

Definitely, I agree with you. It was originally supposed to be after the show but I’m guessing they moved it so that him and his family could head home after the show.

all m&gs are now moved to before the shows. only Portland was after. i think that it may be venue policy to have to close everything down by midnight or something. his shows end just before 11pm, so by the time m&gs are over it's close to midnight. and Portland offered only 30 m&gs, while i think all other venues have more like 50. but that's just a speculation. i like after show m&gs better, because you don't have to rush to get there in time. if you are late for the opener you still would get to have m&g after - and that's not gonna be the case now when all are moved to before. on the other hand, maybe we can complain where's that Gift of Screws that was on the original setlist if the m&gs are before the show?

[elle]

Originally Posted by sodascouts

Thanks for the review, lovethemac1!

The meet'n'greet sounds a bit disappointing... by putting it before the show, they've made it so it has to be rushed. I'm not terribly impressed with that, frankly.

I knew we'd only get a short time, but I thought it would be more than the time it takes to pose for a photo. "Stop talking"? Really? Of course you don't want to allow someone to drone on and on, but I think you had said all of two sentences. "Meeting" is not just saying "Hi", posing, and moving along.

Not cool.

If there's not time to give people their money's worth before the show, put it after the show again.

well, most people going to m&gs really only care for a photo and something signed. i've been to several m&gs for other bands and they were always before, and always rushed way more than Lindsey's seem to be. he still seems to be taking time to hear what people want to tell him and to make some nice personable remarks. so it's up to you what you want to tell him, since you know you have only minuscule amount of time.

[DownOnRodeo]

Originally Posted by sodascouts

"Meeting" is not just saying "Hi", posing, and moving along.

Glad it's not just me who thought that after reading lovethemac1's review.

If the show finishes at 11 pm and there are 60 m&g people to "process," I can see that there would be logistical issues, and we know that Lindsey doesn't like to stay up too late. But sorry, in that case they need to shorten the opening act and have Lindsey finish at 10:40 or whatever.

Obviously no one wants to be standing around in line while some clueless gasbag is chatting up a storm with the celeb for 5 minutes, but if you can't get say 60 seconds of talking without being told by a minder to "Stop talking!", that's pretty lame, regardless of it being better value than Mick's "fleece n greet" by many orders of magnitude. lovethemac1 and her long-suffering hubby deserve better than that after making it all the way down to LA for the show.

That said, I don't imagine I have much more than 30 seconds worth of anything to say, at least in such a high-pressure situation.

[sodascouts]

Originally Posted by DownOnRodeo

regardless of it being better value than Mick's "fleece n greet" by many orders of magnitude.

It's a better value in terms of it being cheaper and including a ticket, yes. However, he might take a page from Mick's book and do a Q&A. It gives people the feeling they've actually spent time interacting with the artist.

[DownOnRodeo]

Originally Posted by sodascouts

It's a better value in terms of it being cheaper and including a ticket, yes. However, he might take a page from Mick's book and do a Q&A. It gives people the feeling they've actually spent time interacting with the artist.

Also I was thinking it would be awesome if Brett was milling with the m&g crowd as well, so we get that extra time with the performers (and in Brett's case, a fully fledged FM/LB insider). Maybe that would work best if the m&g was after the show, so that even those who were not already familiar with him would be able to identify him as one of the performers and talk about the show.

[elle]

https://folkworks.org/reviews/folkwo...es-his-own-way


LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM GOES HIS OWN WAY

At The Orpheum Theatre

With Opener J.S. Ondara from Nairobi, Kenya

Friday October 12, 2018, 8:00pm

GUNFIGHT AT THE OK CORRAL
By Ross Altman, PhD

Lindsey BuckinghamLOS ANGELES (FolkWorks) Lindsey Buckingham has plenty to say before he ever takes the stage, and I’m not even referring to the lawsuit he filed last week against his former band Fleetwood Mac. Opening for him is African folk singer J.S. Ondara from Nairobi, Kenya via Minnesota—where he immigrated inspired by his adoration of Bob Dylan. He tells the story in his nine-page novella—which he had for sale for $5 in the 92 year-old lobby that once had a Wurlitzer Organ—The Starred and Striped Fairy of the West. He learned English as a second language in school and by listening to the songs of Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Neil Young and Dylan. His first album won’t be released until February, 2019, Tales of America. With FolkWorks April 13, 2019 Folk/Roots Festival—From Zimbabwe to Appalachia—I figure I’m in the right place at the right time.

Ondara is a tall, dark, distinguished-looking gentleman dressed in a Mark Twain white suit and brown Sinatra-like Fedora hat. He plays an acoustic cutaway guitar and if Dylan has not always remembered his Jewish roots, this strange figure from another country has somehow acquired his own, with lines like “Somebody call the doctor ‘cause the days of insanity are coming on”—and then the kicker—“Somebody call the Rebbi”—not, you will notice, “the Rabbi,” which would be strange enough, but the east European Jewish pronunciation, “Rebbi.” I could hardly believe what I was hearing—it was so charming, coming from a Kenyan. His new video, profiled on NPR today, is called The American Dream, an ironic version about a policeman carrying a rifle, and masked and hooded suspects on their way to purchase a gun. And right in the forefront one of them is wearing a paper mask scribbled with Dylan’s iconic line from The Times, They Are a-Changin'," “Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command.” The tag line is “It was just an American dream.” He introduces each song with the modest disclaimer, “Here is another song you’ve never heard.” But trust me—you will be hearing them in the future.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a05c9rshejA)

The most striking thing about Ondara’s performance is his truly remarkable falsetto voice that highlights each song—and especially his one song presented a cappella. His songs—backed by rhythmic, folk-style acoustic strumming are rooted in American myth, history and legend, and his voice commands attention. I am grateful to Lindsey Buckingham for bringing this Nairobi immigrant on tour with him—in light of the tragic circumstances so many immigrants now find themselves in. Buckingham’s actions speak louder than words in clearly defying the shameful “new normal” and letting us know that this country is still what JFK proclaimed it to be—“A Nation of Immigrants.” His forty minute opening set was uplifting and a perfect complement to the folk-rock headliner to follow. Bravo! And speaking of Tales of America, here is one that frames the extraordinary concert I heard—a true tale from the Old West that has inspired movies, books and songs.

The original “Gunfight at the OK Corral” lasted only 30 seconds; Lindsey Buckingham’s epic reimagining lasted just under two hours, and when the last shots rang out he and his musical brothers were still standing. The Clanton Gang showed up in absentia—aka Fleetwood Mac; Morgan and Virgil Earp and Doc Holliday were Buckingham’s own keyboard, electric bass player and drummer. Wyatt Earp ambled onto the stage with his Buntline Special—aka Taylor 814-ce cutaway acoustic-electric guitar—aka Lindsey Buckingham—now a solo artist—at the historic Orpheum Theatre in downtown Los Angeles—aka the OK Corral. And for the next two hours—from 9 to 11pm—Wyatt proceeds to mow the outlaws down just the way the original Earp did on October 26, 1881 in Tombstone, Arizona. “I couldn’t have hoped for a better homecoming,” he exclaims at the end.

Born in Palo Alto, California in1949, Lindsey Buckingham turned 69 years old on October 3rd—the date Woody Guthrie died in 1967 and another folk singer was born—and put on the most amazing show I have ever seen. Every song and arrangement was a work of art unto itself, and the whole was greater than the sum of its parts—Coleridge’s definition of a great work of art. The lighting and sound were both dazzling. It was spectacular.

Imagine the Beatles without George Harrison; imagine the Stones without Keith Richards; imagine U2 without the Edge; imagine Cream without Eric Clapton; now imagine Fleetwood Mac without Lindsey Buckingham. You don’t have to; for right after the Grammy Musicares celebration last January, they fired Buckingham on the eve of their 2018 tour. He has now filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court to recoup some of the 12 million dollars being fired will have cost him. Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow he once sang~ now it’s clear he hasn’t. He was here to celebrate his three CD Solo Anthology: the Best of Lindsey Buckingham. With Never Going Back Again—his classic finger-style guitar piece—Lindsey Buckingham is never going back to Fleetwood Mac.

And neither am I. There’s an old principle of law known as “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.” It’s as old as—well, as old as Mother Goose. In Fleetwood Mac’s case the goose is Stevie Nicks; and Lindsey Buckingham is the gander. On virtually the same day it was announced that Stevie Nicks is nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist—and would become the first female artist to be elected as both a member of a band and subsequently as a solo artist—Lindsey Buckingham filed suit for having been fired from Fleetwood Mac for wanting to book a solo tour in addition to his bookings on the Fleetwood Mac tour. And guess who was the instigating member of the band who put her foot down to prevent him from doing so—it’s Fleetwood Mac’s way or the highway? That’s right—Stevie Nicks. She got him fired for wanting to do exactly what she has been doing for twenty years—becoming known as a solo artist in addition to being a part of the band.

In the meantime, who’s going to sing Don’t Stop, thinking about tomorrow, on which Buckingham shared lead vocals with author Christine McVie? Not Buckingham. The alert audience—with a dozen requests—didn’t even request it. Reuters reports, “Buckingham said he learned he had been dropped two days after a Grammy Musicares celebration in New York in January 2018 honoring the main members of the band - Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, and Buckingham.”

"Less than a week after having shared a stage at Musicares, the other members of Fleetwood Mac had suddenly cut Buckingham off entirely," the lawsuit said.

"If there is a way to work this through, I believe we must try. I love you no matter what," he wrote earlier in the year. Rolling Stone reports that Buckingham blamed Nicks, his former girlfriend, for the rift, saying the band’s manager told him that Nicks was angry when Buckingham smirked while she was giving a speech at the January Grammy event.

He put on as good a show at the Orpheum as he did in the L.A. courtroom this week. With its two glorious chandeliers and baroque stage curtains and restored antique theatre seats it becomes a trip down memory lane from its visual effect alone.

Buckingham is a most generous performer—both to his audience and his band. His introduction of them at the end was filled with enthusiasm and gratitude. Unfortunately, due to my seat so high up I didn’t understand all of their names——but a reader kindly sent them to me: Jimmy Paxson-drums, Federico Pol, Jr.-bass, Brett Tuggle-keyboard and guitars, and Michael Kianka-keyboards. Buckingham was also deeply grateful to the audience for coming out to see him and what he called his “new start.” Every song was punctuated at the end with his dynamic “Thank you!!” He was joyous throughout and kept thanking us for being there. Lindsey Buckingham is a great performer who gives his all.

My only counsel to Mr. Buckingham is, “Go Your Own Way.” He always has. On Wikipedia I learn, “The band gave an early demo of the song to a Los Angeles DJ to test audience response. The DJ said the song would not work on the radio because of its complicated rhythm. Only then did Lindsey Buckingham add the acoustic guitar, later saying that the acoustic guitar part ‘was the glue that brought the whole song into focus.’”

Go Your Own Way by Lindsey Buckingham was the first single from Fleetwood Mac’s award winning eleventh LP Rumours, from February 4, 1977. It was the last song of the concert—before the encores:

[Verse 1]

Loving you isn't the right thing to do

How can I ever change things that I feel?

If I could maybe I'd give you my world

How can I when you won't take it from me?

[Chorus]

You can go your own way (go your own way)

You can call it another lonely day

You can go your own way (go your own way)…

But I didn’t come to the Orpheum Theatre just looking for hits. I also wanted to hear Jill Fenimore’s favorite finger-picking piece—Buckingham’s Never Going Back Again—and it was worth the trip, $39.50 cheapest ticket and six flights of stairs climb to the upper balcony to row Q-126. As soon as the magical first notes came out of the speakers the full house gave him a standing ovation. It was just beautiful, and made me appreciate even more Jill’s version—from whom I first heard it—and the effort it took her to master it.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQ4GRj2j1EY)

But mainly I was looking for a song that would put the concert on my “Gatekeepers of Freedom” shortlist at year’s end. And after the first encore I thought, “Oh well, it’s still a great concert.” And then came a thunderous standing ovation and the second encore, a more recent song from 2008 on Lindsey Buckingham’s solo album Gifts of Screws. The song is called Treason, and sounds like it was written today—not only as a love song inspired by personal betrayal, but for the progressive resistance to the undemocratic anti-immigrant policies and philosophy of hate emanating from the White House.

I called you up they said you weren't there

Years ago I was low why should I care?

I wandered down where the sky meets the sand

Closed my eyes told you lies out of my hand

Deep down there's freedom

Deep down there will be a reason

At the end of the season

We will rise from this treason…

Treason was picked up by the entire audience—who understood its contemporary relevance. Without any overt political statements—or mention of the lawsuit—he was understood throughout to be singing truth to power—personal and political. On Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time, Buckingham is 100. And unlike most of the others on the list he doesn’t play with a pick. He plays almost exclusively with his thumb and bare fingers, due, he says, to coming up in the folk revival years—renowned Rick Turner Model 1 guitar—from which he goes back and forth to the Turner Renaissance acoustic. He developed a style that allows him to play both rock and folk—and emphasizes that the role of the guitar in his music is to frame the songs—not to show off as a guitarist. He credits Chet Atkins with giving him this perspective on his instrument.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePAuRVBwA-w)

The historic Orpheum Theatre—restored to its former glory from when it was built in 1926—is at 842 South Broadway. Give my regards to Broadway! And to Wyatt Earp, who died in Los Angeles. And to Lindsey Buckingham, who was reborn here—last night at the Orpheum.

Folk singer Ross Altman has a PhD in Modern Literature from SUNY-Binghamton; he belongs to Local 47 AFM; Ross may be reached at greygoosemusic@aol.com

[lovethemac1]

Originally Posted by DownOnRodeo

Glad it's not just me who thought that after reading lovethemac1's review.

If the show finishes at 11 pm and there are 60 m&g people to "process," I can see that there would be logistical issues, and we know that Lindsey doesn't like to stay up too late. But sorry, in that case they need to shorten the opening act and have Lindsey finish at 10:40 or whatever.

Obviously no one wants to be standing around in line while some clueless gasbag is chatting up a storm with the celeb for 5 minutes, but if you can't get say 60 seconds of talking without being told by a minder to "Stop talking!", that's pretty lame, regardless of it being better value than Mick's "fleece n greet" by many orders of magnitude. lovethemac1 and her long-suffering hubby deserve better than that after making it all the way down to LA for the show.

That said, I don't imagine I have much more than 30 seconds worth of anything to say, at least in such a high-pressure situation.

Thank you, we had a good chuckle at that comment, my husband would like to agree that he's my long-suffering husband!! haha, dragged all over hell's half acre to follow me on my music quests.

Anyways, I do agree with you all that 30 secs is really not long enough, and you do need your questions all ready to go. I'm just relieved that by the time we made it in, we had waited in so many lines that my nerves were calmed right down, and I didn't cry like a baby on Lindsey's shoulder. But it is a high pressure situation, most people in line looked like deer in headlights. So you really can't have much of a conversation.

The other thing about having the meet and greet before the show, that was a bit frustrating was: you are there early, you are finished the meet and greet early, you can't leave the venue after the meet and greet and before the show yet there is about 45 mins to an hour of waiting for the opening act to start. But the opening act is really worth seeing. And lots of people who didn't come for the VIP experience missed it. It's only one night, and a fun one at that, so I really don't want to complain tons. The concert itself was worth all of the other little things.