New York Town Hall
 

The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...googlenews_wsj

Lindsey Buckingham
The Town Hall
123 W. 43rd St., (212) 840-2824
Sept. 27

Lindsey Buckingham has scaled down musically over the past few years, but nothing in the Fleetwood Mac mastermind's world counts as very spare. Parts of his new album, "Seeds We Sow," are elemental and acoustic, delivered by simple fingers picking strings and sung in a tone of voice close to a whisper. But even whispers prove dramatic when Mr. Buckingham issues them, and his guitar-playing has always been famous for corralling 57 notes where five or six might have sufficed. All of that is part of the legacy, of course, and Mr. Buckingham has a winning habit of remembering the whole of his past when he plays live—so expect a healthy mix of solo songs and Fleetwood Mac classics here.

New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/23/ar...3-29.html?_r=1

Lindsey Buckingham (Tuesday) The Fleetwood Mac singer-guitarist has been on a creative tear lately: this month he releases of “Seeds We Sow” (Mind Kit/Eagle Rock), his third solo album in five years and a good-hearted yet uneven blend of metallic electronic pop (“In Our Own Time”) and bald-faced folk-rock sonnets (“End of Time”). At 8 p.m., Town Hall, 123 West 43rd Street, Manhattan, (800) 982-2787, the-townhall-nyc.org; $68.50 to $99.50. (Anderson)

New York, NY
 

I'm not doing a full review. Or even partial. Just saying I loved the show. Crowd was great.
Highlights: Lindsey bonked his nose on the microphone at the end of Big Love. Not exactly a highlight but it was kind of funny. He seems to have wacked his mouth a few minutes later (needs a keeper. I volunteer! Although I will fess up to tripping over the entrance of Town Hall).
There was some odd wording in one of the songs. Stars...I think. Nevermind. I just looked up the lyrics. First time my head processed "wondering what to buy," and I thought...Huh??? But, it's part of the song;-)
Saw Brett walking into Town Hall. Just walked through the audience and into the door near the stage.
Lindsey could be a phone sex operator. Just saying.
"When commerce was...shall we say...robust?" (that last one is for Farrah).

That is all for now. Awesome show. Time for sleep. Oh, one thing. This is directed at Town Hall...if you are selling front row seats...and insisting on putting a big-assed speaker to the left of the curtain (instead of moving the curtain and putting the speaker ALL the way to the edge of the stage area)...don't sell those seats. It's a little disappointing to think that you will be off to the side but still able to see the whole stage when...you can't. But, I did have a great view of Lindsey. Just never once saw Wally. I heard the sound of drums LOUD and clear.

I've seen Lindsey many times and I was absolutely blown away tonight. This was the best I've ever seen him perform. Like Stevie, he seems to be in a happy place this year and it showed in his show.
The vocals were definitely "processed" through the mics and amps which sometimes seemed to "double" his vocals yet it wasn't bad enough to make him seem fake.
When the guys sang with him it sounded like a small chorus - no kidding.

Great show!!!
Hi to Jenna and Mark!!
And it was nice to meet you, Bree and Rob!

if you saw brett walking in you must have seen me - i shook his hand then got something signed by lindsey even tho he was on the phone!

This was my first LB solo show. WOW!!! I can't wait to see him again!

Hi to Paige and Mark... 2012 baby...

Right on J-bird! ;)

According to G Blog, September 28, 2011 [click link for photos]

http://according2g.com/2011/09/revie...-town-hall-nyc

If you were not at Lindsey Buckingham‘s show at Town Hall in New York on September 27, 2011, you missed something special. Lindsey Buckingham seems to get better with age as he still makes amazing music and when he performs live, he sets the bar a little higher for the definition of the word “amazing.” In his nearly 2 hour set, Lindsey Buckingham ran the gamut of his career playing songs from his early days in Fleetwood Mac to his recent album “Seeds We Sow.” He began the show with a 5 song acoustic set that included “Trouble,” “Go Insane,” “Big Love,” and “Never Going Back Again.” The show could have ended at that point and you would have gotten your moneys’ worth, but the show was just beginning. Lindsey Buckingham’s voice was absolutely flawless and when he sang in his whispered voice, you could hear a pin drop in the theater. After nearly every song, Lindsey received a standing ovation.

For those like myself that came to hear the new material, Lindsey delivered. For those that wanted to hear his Fleetwood Mac hits, Lindsey delivered. For those like myself that wanted to watch him play some of the best guitar you’ll ever see in your life, Lindsey delivered. My favorite song of the night is always the same – “I’m So Afraid.” The guitar solo in the middle of the song is beyond words. There are several videos of “I’m So Afraid” that have been officially released and I urge you to track them down if you want to have your mind blown. After you see that, imagine that experiencing that solo in person! That is what rock and roll is all about. I loved hearing two tracks (“All My Sorrows” and “Turn it On Again”) off his criminally underrated 1993 solo album “Out Of The Cradle.” Lindsey’s released 3 solo albums in the last few years and I think that “Under The Skin,” “Gift of Screws” and “Seeds we Sow” are sort of like the best triple album that you’ve ever heard. The songs fit together so perfectly from acoustic tracks to fast rockers. Mixing the songs in amongst Fleetwood Mac classics like “Tusk,” “Second Hand News” and “Go Your Own Way” was great.

Lindsey talked about the differences between making music with Fleetwood Mac and solo, comparing the two worlds to big versus low-budget films. I will support him no matter what because I’ve seen him in concert at least 10 times (both with an without the Mac) and I’ve never been disappointed once. Lindsey always gives it all he’s got and it shows in the performance. I left the show, like so many other people did, unable to say much more than “wow! That was incredible.” Thanks for giving New York 2 hours of your greatness Lindsey!

Fantastic show. I'm indebted to Patty for selling me her ticket. Loved meeting Sahara--wish I could have met more of you!

rolling stone
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/ne...ances-20110928

Lindsey Buckingham Takes His ChancesFleetwood Mac guitarist delivers hits, new tunes in NYC
By Matthew Perpetua
September 28, 2011 1:30 PM ET

Buckingham has been sticking to a handful of talking points in all of the press for his new solo album, Seeds We Sow, and he repeated them in his stage banter at the Town Hall in Manhattan last night. Basically: he's been splitting his creative life between what he calls "The Big Machine" (Fleetwood Mac) and "The Small Machine" (his often iconoclastic solo career), and the difference is akin to making blockbuster movies and arty independent films. This is a good analogy, but it seems more applicable to his studio output than this live performance, which erred on the side of an earnest blandness, at odds with the genuinely quirky sounds of much of his early solo work (not to mention his music with Fleetwood Mac).

Buckingham opened this show with a handful of solo acoustic tunes that showcased his impressive finger-picked guitar technique before being joined by a trio of sidemen, who performed with great precision without necessarily augmenting his style. Though some selections from Seeds We Sow, such as the anthemic "In Our Own Time" and a driving "Illumination," made a good case for Buckingham's continuing creative vitality, it was difficult to buy his assertion that toothless numbers like "Stars Are Crazy" and "End of Time" are an artistic leap forward when they immediately followed the truly odd (and still magnificent) "Tusk" on the setlist.

The largely middle-aged audience sat politely though Buckingham's newer material but lost it completely when he played more familiar songs, such as early solo hits "Trouble" and "Go Insane," and, well, anything at all by Fleetwood Mac. Buckingham played the old hits with an admirable level of excitement and commitment, and he delivered a particularly excellent solo at the end of the Mac staple "I'm So Afraid."

Strangely, he ended the night with a peculiar anti-climax: After finishing off the main set with that display of guitar virtuosity and an effortlessly crowd-pleasing rendition of "Go Your Own Way," he returned for a three-song encore comprised entirely of obscure solo deep cuts. At this point in Buckingham's career one ought to expect him to be a bit contrary, but since this set played it very safe in terms of song selection – hey, how about a few more songs from Tusk? – the ho-hum conclusion wasn't the right place to take a risk.

Setlist:

"Shut Us Down"
"Go Insane"
"Trouble"
"Never Going Back Again"
"Big Love"
"Under the Skin"
"All My Sorrows"
"In Our Own Time"
"Illumination"
"Second Hand News"
"Tusk"
"Stars Are Crazy"
"End of Time"
"That's the Way Love Goes"
"I'm So Afraid"
"Go Your Own Way"

"Turn It On"
"Treason"
"Seeds We Sow"

Interesting take on a spectacular show...

Does this person from Rolling Stone not know what a LB concert is typically like? Perhaps the spaceship from his home planet or the rock he crawled out from under are looking this guy and want him back.

This was my first LB show and given what I know about his last tour and setlist, this show did not seem like any kind of departure from LB's norm to me.

The only thing that took me by surprise was how completely awesome Lindsey is solo and live!

Yeah, definitely seems to be someone unfamiliar with LB live.

Although his point about Lindsey's "assertion" sounds kinda familiar.

Isn't the reason one goes to a LB show is to hear those obscure, deep cuts?

Folks know where to buy tickets when the big machine rolls into town...

I agree with you. Unfortunately the dozens of people who kept getting up when he played them might not. But that's their problem.

Those must be the same idiots that went on 16 beer runs during the LB songs of the SYW tour...

I kind of agree with the RS review.

Don't get me wrong, I had a great time and I love seeing Lindsey live. But something is a little off when I find myself loving the Fleetwood Mac staples MORE than the solo songs. Some of the new songs sounded great live ("In Our Own Time" and "The Way Love Goes" especially) but the set is somewhat oddly paced and doesn't allow for the build that I personally would have liked to experience. It's great to end with a huge crowd pleaser and I'm a big fan of deep cuts, but I think it would have been better to throw in another known track into the encore to keep the energy up. Then again, of all the non-new solo material, I probably would have chosen ENTIRELY different songs.

Again, I had a great time. Lindsey sounded great, was energetic, put on a good show and his guitar work was sublime as always. But there's a precision to his live shows, a lack of spontaneity and clearly that's how he wants things to be but that combined with the set-in-stone chosen songs of this tour made it for a less exciting outing for me than the Gift of Screws tour shows I went to were. But I was on Cloud 9.5, so even that comparison is not a slight so much as maybe nothing ever will love up to those, in my book.

I would hardly consider ending a Lindsey Buckingham concert with the gospel-like last track from Lindsey Buckingham's last album, released but three years ago to be a "deep cut" choice

Music Review, New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/29/ar...view.html?_r=1
Spiraling Guitar Solos to Pace or Stoke Songs By JON PARELES
Published: September 28, 2011

Lindsey Buckingham’s fingers started to race as soon as he’d basked in some applause at Town Hall on Tuesday night. A half-dozen songs later, all played solo with guitar, they had barely rested. His fingers had done dazzling things: fingerpicking that could be pristine and meditative or pointedly aggressive, counterpoints of staccato thumb-picked bass lines and gliding melodies, quasi-Baroque austerity leading into frenetic strumming.

The guitar was the full partner of his voice, and sometimes the senior partner, pacing the songs and stoking their dynamics, supporting the vocals or sparring with them, hinting at ragtime and raga, grabbing the melodic foreground. Mr. Buckingham’s guitar parts tore away the pop exteriors of songs he originally recorded on his solo albums and with Fleetwood Mac. They unveiled the desperation in songs like “Trouble” and “Never Going Back Again,” and they propelled him to howl, moan and shriek. Performing alone, he stretched pained moments into huge crescendos.

Mr. Buckingham’s songwriting, arrangements and playing were at the core of blockbuster 1970s and 1980s albums by Fleetwood Mac, the band he left in 1987 and rejoined a decade later. But he has also continued a career recording and performing on his own; he made his new album, “Seeds We Sow” (Buckingham/Eagle Rock Entertainment), almost entirely by himself: songwriting, producing, performing. In one of the little speeches he gave onstage — honoring his inner child, insisting on “the importance of change” — he described Fleetwood Mac as a “big machine” and his solo career as a small one, likening it to an independent film that gives a director a chance to “take risks” and “follow your heart.”

Yet Mr. Buckingham does almost exactly the same thing in both settings: writing verse-chorus-verse pop songs around finely worked guitar frameworks. The lyrics can be compelling or perfunctory — “Deep down there is freedom, deep down there will be a reason/At the end of the season we will rise from this treason” — but the guitar parts sparkle with invention. “In Our Own Time,” from the new album, has sudden outbursts of syncopated picking, leaping out like controlled ambushes.

To execute those structures, he brought a band, and that was a mixed blessing. Those musicians, who have long accompanied him, took no risks whatsoever, and the flexibility Mr. Buckingham had when he was playing alone was traded for neatly rehearsed, professional run-throughs that rose or fell solely on their advance planning. The version of “Tusk” was a keeper; it took away the marching-band jauntiness and lingered over the song’s suspicion and need: “Why don’t you tell me what’s going on?” And the somber Fleetwood Mac song “I’m So Afraid” showcased Mr. Buckingham’s spiraling guitar heroics. But for most of his time with the band, Mr. Buckingham merely presented his craftsmanship. Playing solo, as he did in a final encore, he was both a virtuoso and a man singing his heart out.

Lindsey Buckingham appears on Thursday at the Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown, N.J., and in conversation on Nov. 4 at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan.

I would add a few songs I just personally like, but...otherwise, the "feedback" I got while racing down 6th Avenue with people who just left was really positive except for one dude who called it "monotonous."
If I weren't running for my bus, I'd probably deck him (no, I wouldn't. I just like to babble when I write;-)
What I could very much do without? The canned speeches/"ad libs." I was kind of in amused mode when I heard them last night but I might enter p.o.'ed mode when I hear them all again in a few days. It's fine if you see one show and that's it, and...really...I guess that's who the show is geared to, but it's a bit...um...well, I'd say it's kind of like a glimpse behind the curtain. I know it's a performance but it's NOT a play. And, to Lindsey, it seems to be, in some ways. I understand he has something to say and wants people to GET it. I think he also desperately wants to be taken seriously as an artist and brainiac but...let go a little. Just plugging a town's name into the script doesn't quite make it. He HAS done that during some performances but, so far, not at all with this tour. And very little in the second half of the last one, IMO.
Still, it's just a small part of the whole (the little clog in the machine as opposed to a major clog, if you will) so...

^Since Lindsey will definitely read the Rolling Stone review, he will notice what they said about his persistent use of "talking points". If more of the mainstream media mentioned it, he might back off of the scripts.

Michele

Here's my blog on the show (kinda heavy on the trials and tribulations of getting to the show) but still plenty of Lindsey. (The blog itself has YT links, plus one short iPhone shot vid at the end.)

http://maximumtuneage.blogspot.com/2...t-us-down.html

Sometime in the course of Park's attempt to get to the Lindsey Buckingham show at Town Hall in New York City, my sister mused about artists finding out what people went through to be at a show. In this case, they might never know why there were empty seats at a show that had been eagerly awaited since it was announced. Anyway, here's my tale.

Like a good mother's daughter, we dutifully left four hours before the show so we could meet up with another friend -- Jenna, who I met on the Stevie Nicks signing line a couple years back. And thanks to failed signals (in Newark) and a disabled train (in the tunnel just before Penn Station) that lengthened the one-hour trip, we didn't even see her before the show.

We spent a couple hours cooling our heels on the train because of all the "Trouble." We were about to "Go Insane," because they were trying to "Shut Us Down." They'd "Gone Too Far" and it felt like we were going to be there "In Our Own Time" and not Lindsey's. High "Treason," if you ask me. (OK, I'll stop now.)

As fortune would have it, a couple from Toronto had gotten on from Rahway and they were going to the show too. They were doing an ultimate road trip -- nine shows -- two of which they had seen so far. According to Bree, there was always something weird that happened en route to a show (so obviously this whole mess was HER fault), but she had not missed even the start of one yet.

In fact, the freelance filmmaker and traveling companion Rob have been making a tour diary to document the stories that others found unbelievable. Mark and I got to be part of this particular one. After one hour, everyone was still upbeat. Two hours, maybe the worry started to creep in a little. A half hour later and the unrealistic plans started to be hatched (Should we switch to the PATH? Should we try and get a cab?)

So with about 20 minutes before the show was set to start, we finally got sprung and made the quick trek over to Town Hall where ... the lights hadn't even gone down yet. We made it!

And although we rationalized on the walk over that we would survive if we missed the first few numbers, I'm sure glad we didn't. The first five were amazing acoustic performances just belted out one after the other by Lindsey. "Shut Us Down," "Go Insane," "Trouble," "Never Going Back Again" and "Big Love." One seemingly more powerful than the next.

Then we got the band, with the ever-affable and versatile Brett Tuggle (Brett Giggle, if you ever try to text his name to someone that comes up as the default even if you pick Tuggle), lean guitarist Neale Heywood and expressive drummer Walfredo Reyes. They delivered a lovely version of "Under the Skin," this song really stuck with me and was still resonating after the show ended as well as the very soothing "All My Sorrows."

Now thanks to Ticketbastard and its merchant, I didn't get the new CD (which was preordered when I bought the tickets for the show) until the day before the concert. And so I didn't get to get too comfortable with the new material, but Lindsey plucked some of the more choice titles from the effort for the show, including "In Our Own Time," "Illumination," "Stars Are Crazy" and "End of Time." My current favorite track "That's the Way Love Goes" sounded particularly strong.

My only sticking point is Lindsey's profession that the new material is the best work he's ever done and a large leap forward. I don't doubt him for believing it to be true -- he's a renowned perfectionist and there's a lot of fine guitar work in the songs. There's just got to be a better way to voice that sentiment without it coming at the expense of his other material, not just with the Mac but his other solo albums as well. There's a fire in many of those songs that has attracted the audience who came to Town Hall to see him. Many of whom, I'm sorry to say and which I would never do personally, took a lot of breaks during the new stuff.

But for me and Mark, the show seemed to go by super-fast and Lindsey was into "Second Hand News" and "Tusk" before we knew it. Mark kept saying "Already?" And special note for "I'm So Afraid," because seeing this live is Lindsey wielding a vacuum instead of a Turner guitar, he just turns it toward the audience and sucks everyone right in. It's a song of amazing power in concert and something you can't even get from the best recorded copy of the show.

Another "Already?" from Mark as the opening notes of "Go Your Own Way" were sounded. And then we went our own way ... all the way down the aisle to the stage where I stood (with Bree) as Lindsey's feet for the final three songs ("Turn It On," "Treason" and "Seeds We Sow.") Got eye contact too and kind of a "Am I supposed to know her?" look from Lindsey and a great thumbs-up from Brett.

So amazing to be standing at his feet -- and reminiscent of when Park did that for a whole Mac show at the Izod Center -- and to watch where he was looking and the way he plays the guitar. From Row P, it's all so intense and he just gives every song, every word, every note everything he has. Standing at his feet, completely exhausting -- in the best way possible.

After the show (and after finally meeting up with Jenna), I drew the comparison to the way the late great Stevie Ray Vaughan worked. An analogy Mark quickly took to. He later offered a description of Lindsey's writing style as drawing you in with the hook and then smashing you in the face with a brick with the lyrics. And it's both of these powers that seemingly will always bring us back until ... the "End of Time."

^That's a great review. I especially liked the part about using his guitar like a vacuum and sucking the audience in during ISA.

Michele

It's true! And I don't think he moved from that spot for the majority of the solo! It was pretty amazing.

Thanks Michele!
I don't know how that visual popped in my head, but glad it did.

It is! Sad but true, people sometimes just come for the hits. I love to hear the obscure, "other" tracks from my fave artists but I imagine that if I went to a concert of a person I wasn't as familiar with I'd expect to hear the popular stuff. Although I would be open to hearing other stuff because that's how I roll...

With LB's show, though, I feel like all the energy sort of takes the show off. I know there are some complainers about song choices and all, but when you are there in the moment you just get drawn in.

Thanks for the great reviews everyone!

You would think at an LB show people would be more open to it... and I think the majority is. But there's gonna be a segment that wants to hear all hits. The eternal battle for any artist.

I never thought of it before, but do you think there are any people who go "why doesn't he play Trouble or Go Insane like the record?"

Oh sure for the former. I don't know about the latter because a LOT of people are huge The Dance stans and that version has sort of become entwined with that era. It's absolutely gorgeous and I imagine a lot of fans of LB's playing are probably more impressed with this version. I do sort of, um, sometimes want him to play NGBA a little more like the record- or at least how he does it live with FM. But, like I said in my own review, that is my only VERY minute critique if I have one. Honestly.

That's true. There's a whole segment of the audience that got into FM through "The Dance." Re: NGBA. I can see that. In fact, I would like to see that. It is very beautiful the way it is and I'll never ever complain about getting to see it live under any circumstances, but that would be pretty cool.

It may sound cheesy, but I felt very lucky to be there and get to see such an awesome show.

I guess if Lindsey were doing a show for the mega-hit crowd it would be seven or eight songs long and maybe 45 minutes long. A little vanilla if you ask me...

I thought it was nice to see him have a little more freedom in his song choice, in working his set out, etc. I don't think there is a lot of wiggle room in a FM set.

Coming out acoustic and playing that many hit songs early was a huge risk. I mean could he have maybe played I Know I'm Not Wrong somewhere, sure. Maybe one of the hits could have been in the encore, maybe Tusk.

If Stevie's songs really are about Lindsey, then he's not like other people and he'll do what he wants to...

I just saw a photo on FB, that Sahara posted with LB....be still my heart! It is one of the THE BEST photos I have seen of him with a fan. And I am so happy she got it....coming all that way from Ireland to see him.

I can't wait till she recovers from jet lag and posts her review. She encouraged me to join the Ledge back in 2006....and is a good friend. I am so happy for her. HURRAY UP SAHARA....POST!

sound and vision concert review
 

if you click on the link, there are some photos:

http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/blo...ew-live-trails

Going At It His Own Way: Lindsey Buckingham Blazes New Live Trails
Fleetwood Mac's main man takes no prisoners on a solo tour tear
BY MIKE METTLERPOSTED SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

EMAIL

Photo: Krista Mettler
ENLARGE
Gallery: Lindsey Buckingham, Going His Own Way at Town Hall


SEE GALLERY
Lindsey Buckingham totally owned New York's Town Hall this past Tuesday night. Though it was an early stop on a fall tour supporting his sixth solo album Seeds We Sow, Buckingham was in fine fighting form mixing his more reflective, chance-taking solo material with long-embedded Fleetwood Mac classics.

This was my seventh sojourn to an LB solo show. His first Town Hall gig, complete with a literal guitar armada, was on March 31, 1993, in support of the brilliant Out of the Cradle, still one of my system-audition benchmark discs. A decade-plus later, he hit Town Hall on October 10, 2006 to share the acoustic-driven Under the Skin. Wherever and whenever I've seen him, he's always been riveting, intense, and driven — just as he was on Tuesday, from my 10th row just-a-hair-left-of-center vantage point. And Town Hall's wonderful artist-friendly acoustics well-suited the ebb and flow of this fabulous 100-minute set.

I broke my longstanding always-wear-earplugs rule from the moment LB stepped onstage alone around 8:20 p.m., brandishing an acoustic guitar. He interspersed dramatic solo tracks like the set-opening irony of "Shut It Down" with more familiar fare like "Never Going Back Again," the latter enhanced by a new fingerpicked intro.

Speaking of, LB's fingerpicking style is a unique flail-jangle that is a pure marvel to watch, whether he's going at it alone acoustically on "Go Insane" and "Big Love" or blazing away electrically with full band in tow during strum-und-drang attacks on Mac perennials "I'm So Afraid" and "Go Your Own Way." (However, he did have a pick in his strumming hand for one of the encores, "Treason," from 2008's Gift of Screws.)

The set breathed masterfully, moving from pin-drop solo turns to the the right mix of new (a driving "Illumination" and "The Way That Love Goes") and old (Cradle deep cuts "All My Sorrows" and "Turn It On"). As Lindsey told me in our current S+V Interview, "You can't just go out there and play all new stuff or even mostly new stuff; you've gotta find a balance and a context. Over a period of time, I've been able to find songs that succeed with just me and a guitar, so that becomes an element which I can now do with a certain density. I think of the body of work I have as assets. So hopefully we can make a set that hangs together in context. The show has the spirit of something new."

The aural rewards of such a freshly realized spirit makes this tour worth catching. And If I can go at it my own way, I'll be seeing LB live again real soon.
RELATED TAGS:
MUSIC, CONCERTS, FLEETWOOD MAC, LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM

Excellent Review
 

I really appreciate a review from a professional that is also a fan (not that I don't enjoy reading hard core fan reviews on this site). Mettler also penned the excellent interview in Sound+Vision magazine and he has done interviews and reviews back to the OOTC era. Good stuff. Thanks for posting.

The Examiner
http://www.examiner.com/rock-music-i...lo-tour-review

Lindsey Buckingham Embarks on New Solo Tour

Matthew De Marco, Clifton Rock Music Examiner
September 28, 2011


When you get home after attending a rock concert—a good rock concert—and you sit down and go through your pictures, you’re going to think to yourself one of two things: either, “Wow, that show was so intense, my ears are still ringing,” or “That show was really good—it’s a shame more people weren’t there.” Tuesday night’s Lindsey Buckingham show is a great example of the latter.

At the Town Hall, located on 43rd St. between Broadway and 6th Ave., Lindsey Buckingham, the lead guitarist and sole male vocalist of the legendary Fleetwood Mac, played an inspiring concert, promoting his new album, Seeds We Sow…though, it seems not too many people knew about it. The small concert hall was nowhere near sold out, but those who were in attendance were in for a real treat.

Buckingham started the show much like he started his career: with just his guitar. “I started out as just a boy listening to his older brother’s records, teaching himself how to play guitar,” Buckingham told the audience, “and I’ve realized that that child still lives within me, as it does in all of us.” He then played great acoustic versions of five of his biggest hits, including “Trouble,” “Big Love,” and “Never Going Back Again.”


Buckingham then brought out the band. Seeing him backed by a band that wasn’t Fleetwood Mac was a little weird at first, especially for this huge Mac fan, but they did the job. Buckingham said he’s been fortunate enough to work with the “big machine” and the “small machine,”—Fleetwood Mac and solo, respectively—and likened the experiences to directing films; the big films are the money makers, but the smaller independent films “allow you to take risks, follow your heart, and continue to grow as an artist.”

With that sentiment in mind, Buckingham played songs from both machines, peppering in his old classics like “Second Hand News,” “Tusk,” and “I’m So Afraid,” which featured a mind-blowing 5 minute guitar solo. We were also introduced to songs from Buckingham’s new album, which he said could be “the best thing I’ve ever done,” including “In Our Own Time,” “Illumination,” and “End of Time,”—all of which were very subdued, much like the record itself. He ended the set with everyone’s favorite break-up song, “Go Your Own Way,” before going into a three song encore.

All in all, Buckingham’s still got it. His unique, thunderous finger-picking style is still incredible to watch live, and his voice just seems to get better with age. This critic highly encourages anyone with the opportunity to catch him on this amazing tour.

The Examiner, by Jeff Slate, September 28, 2011


Lindsey Buckingham's mastery of guitar, voice and songwriting at Town Hall


September 29, 2011 (New York, NY) -- Most of the over-55 rocker set are phoning it in these days, playing it all too safe amidst diminishing skills. So it was a true pleasure to be blown away by a set of mostly solo material by sometime-Fleetwood Mac member Lindsey Buckingham's performance at Town Hall last night.

Kicking off with a set of 7 acoustic numbers, Buckingham had the typically jaded New York audience on its feet between each number. The opener, "Shut Us Down" from 2006's "Under the Skin" set the template. Buckingham went from delicately fingerpicked melodies to bold but articulated strumming, all the while holding down an exquisite melody with a voice that he exhibits total control of. "Go Insane", from Buckigham's 1984 solo album of the same name, and "Trouble" from 1987's "Law and Order" received magnificent reworkings. Shorn of their 80's production and stripped down to bare-bones acoustic numbers in Buckingham's nimble hands, the songs ebbed and flowed and took the audience places that the original versions only ever hinted at. "Never Going Back Again" from Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours" was familiar and performed to perfection, but didn't pack the same punch as the previous, less familiar but completely reimagined tunes, but "Big Love", a Mac song stripped like the others to its core, fared better.


No matter, the audience were still rapturous in their applause. And deservedly so. In fact, neither Buckingham's studio recordings or his live recordings or concert films have ever really captured the power on display last night.

Finishing off the first part of the show with "Under the Skin" (the title track of one of Buckingham's three recent, excellent solo efforts) and "All My Sorrows" (from 1992's "Out of the Cradle"), Buckingham seemed to gain momentum from energy of the audience as much as the peaks in his playing.

Buckingham's long-time touring band then joined him. After the power of his acoustic set, this was a bit of a let down. The band is excellent, but is perhaps too perfect, devoid of any edge or soul, not really in Buckingham's class. But the show was ultimately about Buckingham and he didn't disappoint.

With every whoop and hollar, every high note, and even every between song, off-mic scream in acknowledgement of the audience, it seemed that Buckingham might blow out that still-powerful voice of his. But his voice, like his guitar-playing, stayed strong and controlled throughout the night. In fact, though Buckingham clearly was working himself hard, he also was in total control of the stage over the course of the night.

Ten more songs whisked by, including Mac classics "Second Hand News", "Tusk" (that's right!), "I'm So Afraid" and the master class in making the quirky a pop classic "Go Your Own Way."

Buckingham talked during his set several times about his career being akin to that of a film director who has been lucky to make blockbusters (with Fleetwood Mac) as well as independent films (his solo works), and how both feed off each other, but also how his smaller projects have sustained him and allowed him to grow and stretch artistically. And he seemed genuinely appreciative that his (relatively) small audience has not just indulged him, but has gone along for the ride with him every step of the way.

Buckingham returned for an encore with three solo songs, "Turn It On", the excellent "Treason" and the title track from his new album "Seeds We Sow." The Town Hall audience was with him until the last note rang out.

Lindsey has got to be paying these Treason lovers. How come no one said anything about it on the last tour and now it's famous?

Michele

It's such an amazing and heartfelt song, why would he need to pay people to mention it?

it's the least strong song off GOS album. and it's the only one from this great album that he picked to do for this tour. do the math...:distress:

It could be worse - he could've done TPT again! :distress:

But otherwise yeah, Treason is not the centerpiece of the album! (Since he insists on doing UTS (the song), why can't he do GOS?)

Go up to the stage and whisper on the down low, "I walk around under moonlight skies . . ." and I bet he'll slip you a sawbuck.

Michele