Livia
03-22-2007, 10:11 AM
http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/81-03222007-1318453.html
Fleetwood Mac's Buckingham goes his own way
By: PATRICK BERKERY (Thu, Mar/22/2007)
Given Lindsey Buckingham's reputation as a meticulous sonic architect - note the three-day piano tuning he oversaw during Fleetwood Mac's indulgent studio days of the '70s - it's hard to believe he approached his first solo tour in 13 years with virtually no idea of how the shows would unfold.
But as the protean guitarist-songwriter-singer-producer confessed, the show was a work-in-progress right up until he hit the stage for the first date last October.
"We really weren't sure what we were going to do," the 57-year-old Buckingham recalled with a nervous laugh. "There was this idea of me coming out and doing quite a few numbers [solo] first, and we tried some other songs that didn't quite click at first but have since made their way into the show. We pretty much mapped it out after sound check the first night."
Buckingham's 11th-hour fiddling might stem from the fact that he has reinvented himself somewhat on his latest solo disc, Under the Skin, released last October.
With Fleetwood Mac, he's been the agitated guitar hero ("Go Your Own Way"); the inscrutable eccentric ("Tusk"); or the slick pop maestro ("Big Love"). His solo efforts have been alternately quirky and lavish, referencing chiefly the influences of Brian Wilson, the Everly Brothers, and Elvis.
Under the Skin is confessional minimalism, recorded at home and in hotel rooms during Fleetwood Mac's last tour. Its songs are based around Buckingham's dexterous fingerpicking and a whispery singing style, fleshed out by incidental percussion and treated keyboards and harmonies (he's backed by a guitar-keyboards-percussion trio for this tour). It's really not too far removed from low-volume indie tunesmiths like Bright Eyes and Iron & Wine.
The hushed songs deal with midlife crises and dualities, such as balancing family life with the urges of yore (the playful "Show You How"), and struggling with cult status (the starkly frank "Not Too Late").
"It was about trying to tap into a more restrained, more intimate style of singing and playing," Buckingham explains. "Like a couple of steps up from sitting in a living room singing for somebody.
"It was a fairly microscopic approach, trying to re-create it live, and I think it's been paying off."
It's paying off so well Buckingham has decided to keep the tour on the road for a third leg, which stops at the Theatre of Living Arts in Philadelphia on Tuesday, and Harrisburg's Whitaker Center for the Performing Arts on April 3. He's been playing intimate 1,000 seat venues, mostly, where fans can get up close an personal and voice requests for not the obvious Fleetwood Mac staples, but obscure solo cuts like 1981's "Bwana" and 1992's "Turn it On," which Buckingham added to the set due to overwhelming demand.
"It makes you want to take a 15 minute request period," Buckingham says of the rabid fan response. "I've heard some out there things, so I don't think we could pull it off. But there's a lot of gratification in that. And after doing the big Fleetwood Mac shows for (most of 2003 and 2004) it's also gratifying to play these place where you can see everybody and you know they can see and hear you properly."
And that leads to the million-dollar question. After Buckingham wraps this current tour and finishes the more rock-oriented solo disc that he's been working on intermittently for the last several years, can we expect another record or tour from Fleetwood Mac?
"If it were left up to Mick (Fleetwood) or Stevie (Nicks) Fleetwood Mac would be on the road sooner rather than later," says Buckingham. "But if I were to release another solo album in early 2008 and am interested in any kind of touring behind that, maybe Fleetwood Mac could do something in the fall of 2008, I don't know.
"I've heard conflicting reports. I've heard Stevie saying she wants to do it, then I've heard she doesn't want to do it unless (retired singer-keyboardist) Christine (McVie) is there. That doesn't make any sense because Christine's not going to be there. I don't talk with Stevie enough to know if what she says in any given moment has weight or not. My guess is that there will be Fleetwood Mac action, but certainly not an album before there would be touring."
IF YOU GO: Lindsey Buckingham, at The Theatre of Living Arts, 334 South St., Philadelphia, 8:00 pm Tuesday. Tickets: $55. Phone: 215-922-1011. At the Sunoco Theatre at the Whitaker Center for the Performing Arts, 222 Market St., Harrisburg, 7:30 pm Tuesday, April 3. Sold out. Phone: 717-214-ARTS.
E-MAIL: [email protected]
Fleetwood Mac's Buckingham goes his own way
By: PATRICK BERKERY (Thu, Mar/22/2007)
Given Lindsey Buckingham's reputation as a meticulous sonic architect - note the three-day piano tuning he oversaw during Fleetwood Mac's indulgent studio days of the '70s - it's hard to believe he approached his first solo tour in 13 years with virtually no idea of how the shows would unfold.
But as the protean guitarist-songwriter-singer-producer confessed, the show was a work-in-progress right up until he hit the stage for the first date last October.
"We really weren't sure what we were going to do," the 57-year-old Buckingham recalled with a nervous laugh. "There was this idea of me coming out and doing quite a few numbers [solo] first, and we tried some other songs that didn't quite click at first but have since made their way into the show. We pretty much mapped it out after sound check the first night."
Buckingham's 11th-hour fiddling might stem from the fact that he has reinvented himself somewhat on his latest solo disc, Under the Skin, released last October.
With Fleetwood Mac, he's been the agitated guitar hero ("Go Your Own Way"); the inscrutable eccentric ("Tusk"); or the slick pop maestro ("Big Love"). His solo efforts have been alternately quirky and lavish, referencing chiefly the influences of Brian Wilson, the Everly Brothers, and Elvis.
Under the Skin is confessional minimalism, recorded at home and in hotel rooms during Fleetwood Mac's last tour. Its songs are based around Buckingham's dexterous fingerpicking and a whispery singing style, fleshed out by incidental percussion and treated keyboards and harmonies (he's backed by a guitar-keyboards-percussion trio for this tour). It's really not too far removed from low-volume indie tunesmiths like Bright Eyes and Iron & Wine.
The hushed songs deal with midlife crises and dualities, such as balancing family life with the urges of yore (the playful "Show You How"), and struggling with cult status (the starkly frank "Not Too Late").
"It was about trying to tap into a more restrained, more intimate style of singing and playing," Buckingham explains. "Like a couple of steps up from sitting in a living room singing for somebody.
"It was a fairly microscopic approach, trying to re-create it live, and I think it's been paying off."
It's paying off so well Buckingham has decided to keep the tour on the road for a third leg, which stops at the Theatre of Living Arts in Philadelphia on Tuesday, and Harrisburg's Whitaker Center for the Performing Arts on April 3. He's been playing intimate 1,000 seat venues, mostly, where fans can get up close an personal and voice requests for not the obvious Fleetwood Mac staples, but obscure solo cuts like 1981's "Bwana" and 1992's "Turn it On," which Buckingham added to the set due to overwhelming demand.
"It makes you want to take a 15 minute request period," Buckingham says of the rabid fan response. "I've heard some out there things, so I don't think we could pull it off. But there's a lot of gratification in that. And after doing the big Fleetwood Mac shows for (most of 2003 and 2004) it's also gratifying to play these place where you can see everybody and you know they can see and hear you properly."
And that leads to the million-dollar question. After Buckingham wraps this current tour and finishes the more rock-oriented solo disc that he's been working on intermittently for the last several years, can we expect another record or tour from Fleetwood Mac?
"If it were left up to Mick (Fleetwood) or Stevie (Nicks) Fleetwood Mac would be on the road sooner rather than later," says Buckingham. "But if I were to release another solo album in early 2008 and am interested in any kind of touring behind that, maybe Fleetwood Mac could do something in the fall of 2008, I don't know.
"I've heard conflicting reports. I've heard Stevie saying she wants to do it, then I've heard she doesn't want to do it unless (retired singer-keyboardist) Christine (McVie) is there. That doesn't make any sense because Christine's not going to be there. I don't talk with Stevie enough to know if what she says in any given moment has weight or not. My guess is that there will be Fleetwood Mac action, but certainly not an album before there would be touring."
IF YOU GO: Lindsey Buckingham, at The Theatre of Living Arts, 334 South St., Philadelphia, 8:00 pm Tuesday. Tickets: $55. Phone: 215-922-1011. At the Sunoco Theatre at the Whitaker Center for the Performing Arts, 222 Market St., Harrisburg, 7:30 pm Tuesday, April 3. Sold out. Phone: 717-214-ARTS.
E-MAIL: [email protected]