Depot turns into Buckingham's palace for one night

[MacMan]

Depot turns into Buckingham's palace for one night Doug Fox - Daily Herald

Lindsey Buckingham stood embracing his acoustic guitar in a bear hug, eyes closed, a slight smile on his face as he let the waves of applause roll over him.

One thing Buckingham -- best known as the guitarist in Fleetwood Mac -- has obviously learned over his long career in the music business is to appreciate the little things. But getting an extra song from the music icon was no small feat for the crowd at the Depot in Salt Lake City on Monday night.

Buckingham was introducing his planned concert finale -- a song called "Treason," which closes his brand new album, "Gift of Screws" -- and mentioned it would be his final number. Several audience members immediately started yelling out for two more songs.

As the rest of his backup band exited the stage following the would-be closer, Buckingham paused, then relented, walking over to exchange guitars before strolling back to the microphone.

"Want to hear one more?" he sheepishly asked.

Trick questions aside, Buckingham then enthralled the audience with a solo performance of another new song, "Time Precious Time." It was at the end of that song that Buckingham stood motionless, hugging his guitar while soaking in the resounding, and well-deserved, adoration.

It was a fitting finale to the two-hour performance -- Buckingham and his guitar alone on stage. Seeing him in action, one was reminded what an amazing guitarist he is. While millions recognize his work in the plentiful hits produced by Fleetwood Mac, most of his ear-popping guitar wizardry is unleashed in his own solo projects, where he is allowed to really stretch the musical boundaries in whatever direction he chooses.

In fact, seeing him in person may be the only way to truly get a full grip on his guitar prowess.

Maybe it's that his guitar parts mesh into the mix so well with Fleetwood Mac's lush melodies that you can't fully appreciate their level of difficulty listening to a recording. Whatever it is, there's a certain raw elegance to his live playing that leaves attendees shaking their heads with a knowing smile at each other after another stinging solo.

Buckingham's current album is a companion piece of sorts with his 2006 solo release, "Under the Skin." While the earlier release was mostly acoustic-based, the new CD is much more rocking. Both albums were represented Monday, along with some choice Fleetwood Mac and other solo nuggets.

The show got off to a rousing start with two new numbers, "Great Day" and "Love Runs Deeper." The latter song, arguably the high point on "Gift of Screws," featured a blistering solo at the end that Buckingham played while seemingly staring curiously into the sea of camera phones recording his image.

Buckingham then jumped right into two of his biggest solo hits, "Trouble" and "Go Insane."

One of the show's highlights was a three-song solo acoustic set in the middle of his performance. The showcase started off with the Fleetwood Mac staple "Never Going Back Again" and featured Buckingham quieting things down to almost a whisper of a vocal, before ramping things back up to a full-throated roar.

The acoustic break also included the flamenco-style finger frenetics of "Big Love." Buckingham introduced the song by saying it was the final single he did with Fleetwood Mac -- "before I left to regain my sanity."

"When I look back at that time, which was challenging personally, I looked around at a lot of parents who were never with their family -- and I wasn't going to be one of them," Buckingham said. "About 10 years ago, I met my wife and we have three wonderful children. This song is finally in the past and I think it takes on a certain amount of irony because of that."

Buckingham's band -- featuring Neale Heywood (guitar), Brett Tuggle (bass and keyboards) and Walfredo Reyes (drums) -- returned to the stage for "Under the Skin." The song featured Buckingham, Heywood and Tuggle all playing acoustic guitars with capos on different frets -- adding to its lush harmonies.

The undeniable emotional pinnacle of the evening was Buckingham's tour de force rendition of Fleetwood Mac's "I'm So Afraid." The song featured a somber, dark opening before giving way to a maniacal six-minute guitar solo that could have earned Buckingham charges of assaulting his instrument as he slapped and pounded the neck with both hands.

Building on that momentum, he closed the main set with the ever-popular "Go Your Own Way." He returned for "Second Hand News," "Don't Look Down" and "Treason," before the crowd convinced him to play one last number.

It proved to be a fitting end to a noteworthy performance.

Lindsey Buckingham

The Depot

Sept. 22, 2008

1. Great Day
2. Love Runs Deeper
3. Trouble
4. Go Insane
5. Tusk
6. I Know I'm Not Wrong
7. Gift of Screws
8. Never Going Back Again
9. Big Love
10. Shut Us Down
11. Under the Skin
12. Did You Miss Me
13. Come
14.World Turning
15. I'm So Afraid
16. Go Your Own Way

Encore

1. Second Hand News
2. Don't Look Down
3. Treason
4. Time Precious Time

Performance time: 2 hours

[michelej1]

So, Lindsey actually faked them into thinking he did NOT always plan to close with TPT? What a smoothie. Michele

[AliceLover]

Originally Posted by michelej1

So, Lindsey actually faked them into thinking he did NOT always plan to close with TPT? What a smoothie. Michele

He did that on the UTS tour too with Shut us Down. He would always say "wanna hear one more"?

[gretchen]

Raw elegance....enough said.

[BTFLCHLD]

Originally Posted by michelej1

So, Lindsey actually faked them into thinking he did NOT always plan to close with TPT? What a smoothie. Michele

smoothie... that happened in diego!

[michelej1]

I know Lindsey (with Brett's help) has been doing it for 2 years now, but even when he did it the first time I saw him in Atlanta I was never tricked into thinking he wasn't doing another song. This writer actually seems to think it WAS spur of the moment, when it obviously wasn't.

That's like thinking a band isn't going to do an encore when they run off the stage saying "good night" following their most popular song.

Michele