The Lindsey Buckingham Appreciation Society

[vivfox]

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Saturday, May 15, 2010
My gemini twin
"I have to do something else besides just rock and roll. Rock and roll is wonderful and I love it, but it's not everything. And it's important for me to do other things. It always has been, though. I can't live on just one. I'm a gemini." - Stevie on why she practiced ballet.

Well there you go. Turns out Stevie's birthday is 5 days before mine, on May 26th. (Mine's the 31st. Aaron's is the 27th and Mark's is the 22nd... guess we'll add Stevie to the list of honorees for our Gemini Potluck Party.)

And by the way, with that quote? I am Sold. Officially obsessed with Stevie Nicks. Scratch my entire birthday entry down there and just get me her biography, discography, whatever you can find. I'm diving in. There's something about her that I understand. Yes.

Here's our setlist for tonight, by the way:

Second Hand News
Little Lies
Dreams
Hold Me
Go Your Own Way
Don't Stop

Yes, I had to sacrifice all the other best Stevie songs to get Dreams, but um. I was GOING to get Dreams. And the rest - well, they're all just so This Blue Heavenly.

So one last time, the Fleetwood Mac Cover-Up is tonight at Lizard Lounge. Doors at 7, starts at 8. Please refer to the last few entries for all the details and links you could possibly need.
at 1:15 PM
Labels: influences, TBH

http://thisbluesinger.blogspot.com/2...mini-twin.html

[vivfox]

Yesterday I drove from my house to Hopedale, Ma. to pick up PenguinHead. He gave me a tour of his beautiful apt. and I met his adorable black cat named Zen. Off we drove armed with my GPS to Cambridge to see the L.B. A.S. The GPS made the directions a piece of cake. The hard part was finding a parking space once we got there.

I always say there is a parking spot close to the venue waiting for me and a seat close to the stage waiting as well. PenguinHead was very nervous about driving around trying to locate a parking spot. I was calm knowing it would turn up eventually. We drove up and down many streets and back and forth down Massachusetts Ave. in which The Lizard Lounge has its home and finally after almost an hour we got our spot. Only three blocks from the venue.

We purchased our tickets and then went into The Boston Common Restaurant for dinner. At the same time we were eating the opening acts were playing. Three opening acts were scheduled.

When our food was consumed and we were relaxed we went downstairs to the basement club and sure enough our table right next to the stage was awaiting us. The club accomodates 105 patrons. I'm sure it wasn't sold out. Just as we arrived one of the opening acts was leaving the stage and the next one was setting up. PenguinHead went to get us some refreshments and I started a conversation with the couple next to me. He was a photographer, probably in his late 40's with his date/girlfriend probably in her late 20's. Both very nice and he tells me he is here to phtograph one of the opening acts and is a friend of theirs as well. He had a pro camera and I pulled out my Fugi throw away camera and ask him to take a pic of my friend and I. He oblidged and in conversation I learned that all the band's performing tonight would be playing Fleetwood Mac music. "Too bad we missed the first act," PenguinHead and I said to each other.

Anyhoo the next act comes on and after that a father and son duo and then various other singres and musicians entered and left the stage several times. PenguinHead and I agreed that all the female singers of the night were so-so singers. None of them had any unique style about them. Up to this point most of the male singers were quite good. One of the band's had two drummers with them because they said their original drummer's wife was expecting a baby today so they had a fill in drummer with them as well. The original drummer let the fill in drummer take the main drumkit and I was glad because he was a powerful drummer. The original drummer took the drumkit over to give the temporary one a break, but he wasn't as good IMO.

The photographer sitting next to me called over the drummer from the band he knows to meet me because I told the photog that guy was cute. His name was Brandon and he was very friendly and so adorable. He wore a mini strobelight on a wire around his neck as jewelry.

Again more singers came and went onstage. I thought there were only supposed to be 3 opening acts but it seemed like organized chaos regardless. Some of the highlites performed were songs like Crystal and Say Goodbye. It wasn't just the established hits.

By the time the headline act was ready it was almost 11:30pm and I was a bit tired. I managed to tell the two female performers before they went onstage how thrilled I was with them and their friends for performing my favorite album of all time. I also told one of them I had heavily promoted them on a FM website.

And so it began, the opening chords to Over & Over. It was good and The Ledge was even better. And so it continued right in the order of the album. That was so incredibly cool to hear these songs played in their proper order. Secretly by the end of side one I was very tired and was wishing it was the end of side four.

As the show went on PenguinHead and I had the same responses to every song. The female lead singer with the blond hair has such a terrible voice. She destroyed EVERY song she sang with such off key vocals. It was like watching Taylor Swift on repeat, singing her Grammy performance with Stevie. The bass player had the best voice in the band but he only sang lead on two or three songs. The brunette girl sang lead on maybe one or two songs. She sang way better than the blonde but wasn't that great of a singer either. But like I said, ANY voice was better than the blond girls voice!! There were 6 members in this band. The lead guitar player with the long hair was good on guitar but his vocals were as bad as the blonde girls. Another man played acoustic guitar and some keyboards. The brunette girl played keyboards and just sang into a mic when the acoustic guitarist was playing her keyboards.

The blond girl was so terrible that literally every time she would sing a song at least 5 people would exit the club. PenguinHead rolled his eyes many times and I was laughing histericly at her singing. I danced with myself through a few songs. I watched the man play piano during Sister's of the Moon to compare it to the way I play it and hopefully learned something from watching him. I know I can play Sara better on the piano then the brunette did. I secretly wanted to push the brunette aside and take over the keys on that one and I sooooooo wished I could play tambo for them cause the blonde couldn't even do that effectively.

The best song they pulled off was Tusk. Actually all of side four was a pleasure. I yelled out "I love that song" after Honey Hi was performed. The guitarist and the drummer pointed at me and the drummer said, "me too."
After Beautiful Child in which the blonde managed to scare off another group of individuals I yelled out "Walk A Thin Line" and the drummer pointed at me and said, "this man knows the album."

While The Lindsey Buckingham Appreciation Society was performing I was watching the faces of the many people that comprised of the opening acts and their faces (whenever the blond sang) showed that uncomfortable look in which Stevie showed while performing with Taylor at The Grammy's.

When the Tusk album was completed they closed the show with Farmer's Daughter and then PenguinHead said, "let's go. Let's get out of here."

We walked back to the car and I drove him home. I visited with him and Zen for a few minutes and got a full scale tour of his apartment. His place is very nice and beautifully decorated, especially with his collectibles.

Then I drove home. That drive was way too long because I was sooooo tired. I got home at 4:00am and went straight to bed and slept till 2.

All in all I am glad I went and glad to have made a new Ledgie friend. I was very intrigued by the sights of Boston and would love to return someday.

Love, Viv

[TrueFaith77]

I saw them last night in Brooklyn. I found the band to be very talented. I really loved how they recreated the layered sound of the album, particularly the vocals. Very cool to see/hear. Unlike Viv, I found the blond singer to be really fine. Not off-key at all, just remember these folks were doing their own thing as singers, not trying to recreate the album. I thought she was very compelling. I forgot a lot of the details as usual lol but I remembered really being impressed that they turned "Storms" into a duet. Inspired. And there was one more minor change to a song that I wanted to mention, but I forgot. Also "Never Forget" featured three of the singers taking turns on the verses and that gave the song a proper closing feel commemorating the evening. My one disappointment was that during the show, as I realized how much I was enjoying it (it was REALLY REALLY GOOD), I thought to myself: I wish I had brought my Tusk vinyl album to be signed by TLBAS.

Anyway, the evening reaffirmed my feeling that Tusk is the greatest album I know.

[tothegypsy]

I liked the show in Philly, but I also did not enjoy the blonde singer. I actually started to wonder if since it was the Lindsey appreciation society, maybe they wanted to make Stevie's songs sound bad? haha.

Though to be fair, she sounds like she might do better with material that's written for her voice and not someone else's.

She's Birdie Busch. She already has her own thing going on, especially in Philadelphia. In any case, I really enjoyed the show and the musicianship. Nothing was exact and wasn't meant to be, although the drummer was extremely strong. It was a refreshing and appreciative run-through of the album, straight through, which is a treat to hear. And it looked like they were thoroughly enjoying it as well. In Philly, the place was packed with Mac diehards.

[vivfox]

June 2, 2010...12:53 pm
Interview: Charlie Hall from the Lindsey Buckingham Appreciation Society


It isn’t every day that a band devotes its time to preparing a meticulous cover of an entire album. But then, not all bands are the Lindsey Buckingham Appreciation Society. Throughout May this collective of six musicians–with serious devotion to Buckingham–made their way along parts of the East coast performing Fleetwood Mac’s titular album, Tusk, which was one of Buckingham’s most experimental compositions at the time the album was released in 1979. I caught them at a performance at Union Hall, attended by serious Fleetwood Mac fans (yours truly included). I wanted to know how they got together, why they love Lindsey and whether they have more projects planned for the future. Charlie Hall, co-founder, guitarist, singer and occasional keyboardist for the band answered my questions. Thanks again, Charlie!


The Lindsey Buckingham Appreciation Society at Union Hall

I think it is refreshing that you have all formed this group as a tribute to an artist that you all admire. Do you plan to cover any other Fleetwood Mac albums or any of Lindsey Buckingham’s solo projects? Please tell me that you all have something else up your sleeves….

Well, this whole thing just started as just a one-off attempt at a realization of something we’ve been talking about for ages…but then, the six of us got together, and realized that we really love being together and we seem to take very seriously both playing music and having major laughs. So, now that it has become apparent that there is a bit of an audience for this thing, we are taking stock to see if we can make the numbers work out to bring this to some more audiences – specifically the west coast. As for other future endeavors, who knows? Maybe this’ll turn into an annual affair, where we tackle another Mac record. My vote would be for Mirage, which I feel is a very underappreciated one.

Sounds like some of you met while playing with the same band. How did the rest of you meet?

Well, I suppose we could make a Venn diagram of the whole deal, but in a nutshell, Pat and I met when our bands would play together in Philadelphia in the early ‘00s. We’re both drummers, really, so we never really get a chance to play together. He had worked with Tony Goddess, who recorded some Bigger Lovers stuff. When we approached Tony about the idea he, in typical Lindsey fashion, said ‘Yes, as long as my wife Sam can be involved’. Well, thank god because Sam is our total ace in the hole – singing, playing guitar, keyboards, etc. Anyway, I’ve played in many, many projects with Dave Hartley, including The War on Drugs, The Silver Ages, Gianmarco Cilli, etc…he’s like a brother to me. And lastly, Birdie Busch is a wonderful Philly singer and songwriter and bandleader who I have seen a bunch of times and just kind of approached about the idea because she seemed to have the right spirit. And, lo and behold, the whole puzzle just fit together beautifully.

Did you all collectively realize at one point that you were all bonkers for Buckingham?

HAHA. Bonkers for Buckingham. That’s awesome. If I were more creative, I’d come up with one of those for everyone. I’m Crazy for Christine, for sure. Anyway, it’s funny, as far as Tusk itself goes, the Lindsey tracks were always sort of the roadblocks for me, personally. I’ve always seen Tusk as this treasure trove of gorgeous Christine and Stevie tracks…Over and Over, Brown Eyes, Honey Hi, Think About Me (Christine) and Storms, Sara, Angel (Stevie), which are broken up with these little Lindsey freak outs. But as we really peeled back the layers on this thing, I really came around on the Lindsey tracks too. Birdie (for whom Tusk was fairly unchartered territory at the outset), on the other hand, gravitated right to the Lindsey tunes. I mean, the record itself was really driven by Lindsey and his manic vision. So, while I like to think we’re equally opportunistic when it comes to who we’re bonkers for, I think we do all share size large, er, appreciation, for the genius of Lindsey.

Sometimes covers are way different from the originals, but you all are pretty true to the original album. Is that because it was a tribute show or are you just trying to stay true to the original works?

Funny you should say that. I mean, we definitely wanted to honor this record as a whole, and be true to it in a sense. But I think we also hoped to offset any expectations of roles, etc by having different people sing songs that spoke to them personally, rather than sticking to defined character roles, which involved moving key signatures around, etc. But maybe in the whole scheme of things, those changes were more subtle. What we absolutely did not want to do was to do some ironic or intentionally subversive take on this. I think sincerity, love, and appreciation were at the core of the decisions we made. So, to answer your question more directly, we absolutely do not intend for this to be a tribute show, but rather an honest take on this music that plays to our individual strengths and passions as musicians. And music fans.

So, you really like Lindsey Buckingham. How do you feel about the other members of the band? What can you say about Fleetwood Mac?

Well, I could say a lot about Fleetwood Mac. It’s one of those bands that almost always been there in my orbit. Having been born in 1974, I have very early memories associated with listening to Rumours and staring at the jacket. My brother Allen is nine years older than me, and I spent most of my childhood sneaking his records, trying to take it all in. I remember Rumours just sounding so HUGE and shiny…like “Go Your Own Way”, etc. And then it got all quiet and lovely with “Songbird”. The old peaks and valleys thing. And so then I found Tusk in his collection, and I remember thinking how HEAVY it was, and everything was, like, a sleeve inside a sleeve and they were upside down in the picture and it was so weird sounding. Valleys and peaks. And “Sara”. I would listen to “Sara” endlessly as a kid. (Full disclosure: I still do.) It’s just this mysteriously beautiful wash of cymbals, brushes, tack piano, etc. And I’ve always thought that if aliens came down to earth, and we needed to explain anything about anything, we could just play them “Sara”, and be like, ‘check this out’.

So as far as the rest of the band goes…I feel like it’s an endless cycle of “it’s all about Mick’s drumming”… “No, wait, it’s all about John’s pocket on the bass”…”Wait, of course it’s all about Christine’s soulful Rhodes and singing”…”Or maybe it’s all about Stevie’s two chord, seven minute stream of conscious freak outs about chasing ghosts through the fog”. The reality is, it’s all those things together. McVie and Fleetwood (the one constant through every incarnation of the ‘Mac) really are the Lennon/McCartney of rhythm sections. And having three distinctly different voices and songwriting styles on top of that just makes for such a deep combination. I think a lot of people have an opinion one way or the other about Fleetwood Mac, often informed by the hits or childhood memories or whatever. The hits are great. But there is much more. It’s been really fun doing this ‘Tusk’ thing and having friends really discovering this record for the first time. I can’t tell you how many people have said to me ‘Man, I had no idea _______ (insert revelation here)…this album is so great.’

http://thebusisleaving.wordpress.com...ation-society/

"I’ve always thought that if aliens came down to earth, and we needed to explain anything about anything, we could just play them “Sara”, and be like, ‘check this out’." Charlie Hall (lbas)

[michelej1]

Philadelphia City Paper
http://citypaper.net/blogs/criticalm...oncert-review/

May 18

CONCERT REVIEW: The Lindsey Buckingham Appreciation Society, Johnny Brenda’s, 5/17
3:51 PM posted by Sam Kaplancategories | Concert Review, Music


There was a moment during the Lindsey Buckingham Appreciation Society’s performance of “Think About Me” from Tusk, which they ran through in full. I’m talking about the part when Lindsey sings, “I don’t hold you down, and maybe that’s why you’re around.” That’s when guitarist LBAS’ Tony Goddess looked up and smiled a lot, and I was smiling too — I think everyone was — and my heart just kind of swelled up. For me, that’s the power of Tusk: It’s beautiful and filled with positive emotional stuff, but without all the hokiness.

The audience ranged from people who had first heard Tusk when it was released in 1979 and people who were born around 1979 — or maybe in the decade or so afterwards. But Tusk isn’t the crowd-pleaser that other Fleetwood Mac albums are so audience expectations were difficult to gauge.

“Tusk is not my album,” said guest Amy Miller. “I’ve never listened to the whole thing. I’m more of a Rumours person.”

“I am a Tusk person,” Amy’s friend Grace Cannon said, “but I also have an older sister, so she really nailed the Tusk home for me.” That was the best joke I heard all night.

The cutest quote came from Jeff and Ronnie, a couple who fell into the category of those who experienced Tusk in the original go-round. They sang along all night — they seemed to know the words to every song — so I asked them what their story was.

“Ronnie and I were in college together, and that album bonded us, for life,” Jeff said. I want that to be my life.

Afterwards, I talked briefly with Emily “Birdie” Busch, LBAS’ Stevie Nicks, as well as an accomplished singer-songwriter in her own right. I asked her how it felt to channel Fleetwood’s resident gypsy. “When I initially heard all the songs, I was kind of overwhelmed and intimidated,” Busch said. “But then I realized that I didn’t necessarily need to mimic her. I think I felt a kindred spirit in her kind of wacky, off-kilter sensibility.”

And we from you, Birdie.

[vivfox]

[michelej1]

Excerpts from Q & A with Dave Hartley in Philadelphia Weekly, 11-25-11
[hilarious matter-of-fact way he disparaged the Eagles]

http://blogs.philadelphiaweekly.com/...and-new-music/

Hartley also has a solo project called Nightlands. His debut album was released on Secretly Canadian, Forget The Mantra, in 2010, and he’s since dropped the All The Way 7-inch, and another called Covers (including a cover of a Lindsey Buckingham tune). He’s currently working on a new album, and some of the new material will be included in his gig tomorrow night at PhilaMOCA, when Nightlands headlines with opening sets by Dustin Wong (Ponytail, Ecstatic Sunshine) and Norwegian Arms. We caught up with him for a chat earlier this week. Here’s how it went down.

MMM: One of the last songs Nightlands released was a cover of Lindsey Buckingham’s “Trouble.” Are you a big Fleetwood Mac fan?

DH: I’m obsessed with the Mac. I also sometimes play in the Lindsey Buckingham Appreciation Society, which is a band in Philly that does really intense Fleetwood Mac cover projects. I played bass when they did Tusk recently. They’re doing Mirage soon, but I won’t be playing. I love everything about the Mac. Each character in the band is so irreplaceable, and that’s so rare in a band. When Lindsey left for a while and they got someone else, you know, that’s not Fleetwood Mac. Mirage and Tusk are amazing, and I like Tango In The Night a lot.

MMM: Are you more into the early Peter Green stuff or the Buckingham/Nicks era?

DH: I like the Peter Green stuff, but I’m definitely more into Buckingham/Nicks. I like Peter Green era British blues a lot, but I love Lindsey’s production. He’s a gifted producer, and combined with all these songwriters, they were just awesome. With the Green era, there were tons of comparable bands at the time, like Cream and the Bluesbreakers. But nobody’s comparable with the later version of Fleetwood Mac. The Eagles? Nah, they suck.

[TLBAS]

Hi fellow Ledgies/Lindsey fans. I am the drummer in the Lindsey Buckingham Appreciation Society, a collective of musicians/Lindsey & Mac obsessives based out of Philadelphia. We performed Tusk in its entirety over 3 shows in May 2010. We'll be presenting the follow-up, 1982's Mirage - along with other assorted Lindsey/Mac gems - Feb. 17 in Philly and Feb. 18 in Brooklyn. Feel free to check out our website for more info. Thanks!

[TLBAS]

Hi fellow Ledgies/Lindsey fans. I am the drummer in the Lindsey Buckingham Appreciation Society, a collective of musicians/Lindsey & Mac obsessives based out of Philadelphia. We performed Tusk in its entirety over 3 shows in May 2010. We'll be presenting the follow-up, 1982's Mirage - along with other assorted Lindsey/Mac gems - Feb. 17 in Philly and Feb. 18 in Brooklyn. Feel free to check out our website for more info. Thanks!

[TrueFaith77]

Originally Posted by TLBAS

Hi fellow Ledgies/Lindsey fans. I am the drummer in the Lindsey Buckingham Appreciation Society, a collective of musicians/Lindsey & Mac obsessives based out of Philadelphia. We performed Tusk in its entirety over 3 shows in May 2010. We'll be presenting the follow-up, 1982's Mirage - along with other assorted Lindsey/Mac gems - Feb. 17 in Philly and Feb. 18 in Brooklyn. Feel free to check out our website for more info. Thanks!

I saw them in Brooklyn when they performed Tusk. It was a really good show. Terrific musicianship, harmonies, and, obvs, the songs were great. This is not a Mac imitation group; but a group of dedicated musicians honing their crafts by recreating the intricate Mac sounds--and finding means of personal expression (I was struck by how effective "Storms" was as a male-female duet, for example). Members of the band will probably remember me rocking out the whole concert. I look forward to Mirage! Great choice for a follow-up. I will be there again.

[TrueFaith77]

I also commented on this in the Lindsey thread. Really hope Ledgies are able to make the trek to see this show. TLBAS performance of Tusk was great.

For Tusk, the band did "Farmers Daughter" as an encore.

Any thoughts on what would be appropriate for Mirage?

[TrueFaith77]

Potential encores:

• Cool Water
• Smile At You (angry version)