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Lindsey Buckingham takes a risk by performing at the Musikfest Cafe

Published: Monday, June 11, 2012, 12:14 AM
Updated: Monday, June 11, 2012, 6:00 AM

By Matt Smith | The Express-Times


Enlarge Matt Smith | The Express-Times

Lindsey Buckingham performs for a sold out crowd at the Musikfest Cafe gallery (6 photos)

Lindsey Buckingham and his music can be described as quirky and eccentric, but it cannot be overlooked that the man is a risk-taker.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member is on the tail end of a six-week tour billed as "An Intimate Evening with Lindsey Buckingham." And that is mostly what the show was for the sold-out crowd of 642 gathered Sunday night at the Musikfest Café in the Artsquest Center at Steelstacks in Bethlehem.

A man, a guitar and a microphone, all amplified out over the room. Add to the situation a varied songbook from which to draw, be it in his time with Fleetwood Mac or his solo career, which has been reinvigorated recently having seen the release of three studio albums over the past six years.
The night began smoothly with "Cast Away Dreams," off of 2006's Under the Skin, with more songs played from that album than any of his other solo efforts.

The instantly recognized stripped down version of "Go Insane" started a run of songs that were made popular with different arrangements and styles, including the Fleetwood Mac classics "Never Going Back Again" and "Big Love."

The former gained a vast amount of sincerity over the bouncy recording found on the 1977 mega-selling album Rumours. "Never Going Back Again," about the optimism of finding new love, is aided by Buckingham's trademark soft to loud guitar playing and singing finishing with an emphasis on the chorus that had the crowd thoroughly convinced.
The on again/off again member of Fleetwood Mac mentioned the band a few times over the course of the swift 70-minute show, mostly in reference to the "Big Machine," which referenced the band, and the "Small Machine," a nod to his solo career.

"Tonight I am here on my own," Buckingham stated between songs. "Artists need to take risks in order to grow."

Indeed it is a big risk to perform alone, though some songs, including the blistering "I'm So Afraid," were accompanied by a rhythm track giving the 62 year-old guitarist a chance to show he has not lost the ability to command a room with his searing solos.

His frenzied finger-picking style was on display to close out the set with the 1982 Top 10 hit "Trouble" and the title track off his most recent solo effort, "Seeds We Sow," released back in 2011. A humble and much appreciative Buckingham thanked the enamored crowd and stopped his way off the stage knowing that he proved to himself and everyone on their feet that the risk was well worth taking after all.