Approachable Lindsey

[sodascouts]

In another thread, Janet mentioned how "back in the day" getting a "close encounter" with Lindsey was unheard of. Some other people have mentioned to me that when they attended concerts in the 70s, Lindsey really didn't try to interact with or engage the crowd in any meaningful way. They said it muted crowd response to him somewhat.

However, in the Mirage video, you see him reaching out to touch fan's hands; during the Dance he was already pointing and winking at girls in the front row, lol, and now of course you have Lindsey at his most approachable and engaging.

Any theories on this progression and what it might be due to?

[face of glass]

I think it's:

Either the money. Someone's telling him to interact with the crowd more so that they can draw more people into the concerts.

Or his attitude. He might still be Lindsey Buckingham the ultimate studio nerd, but he has become older and lost some of the old insecurities, even though some of them might still remain. I read somewhere that before making Out Of The Cradle he went to therapy and that must have helped him in this respect a lot.

In the end it's good that's he's opening up in certain respects and not just for the fans. If he was reserved before, he's now grown and knows how to laugh at that insecure young man he used to be.

BTW, I like the fact that Lindsey didn't do the usual '70s rock guitar hero antics on stage during his younger days. It's the music that matters in the end, not how you use that talk-box or how you destroy that guitar or how you get the audience to sing along.

[chiliD]

I think the "opening up" of Lindsey is in inverse proportion to the amount of weed he smokes/smoked. Pot really has an "internalizing" affect...(and a healthy dose of "paranoia").

He's especially now allowing himself to actually RELATE to the audience, acknowledging that the audience MATTERS, rather than just serving up the tunes and playing that "tortured artist" role.

[wondergirl9847]

I dunno what is causing him to be different this time 'round...could be a number of things. He is married now with kiddos and he's probably learned how to be more open, less selfish. Perhaps, the Mrs. is nudging him and saying "Hey, you should interact with the front row, they'd LOVE it!!" Who knows?

I'm so glad he's this way now, because it gives people more incentive to wanna be close (as if we didn't already! LOL) and also it is giving people a fresh, new look at Lindsey, whereas, many people go for Miss Stevie, they see him bein' so nice and interactive and they go home in a daze murmuring "Dang, he rocks!!"

He is ECSTATIC about this album and tour, and when he's satisfied with the work (Tusk, anyone?), we get AWESOME, crazy tours!!

[sodascouts]

Originally posted by wondergirl9847
Perhaps, the Mrs. is nudging him and saying "Hey, you should interact with the front row, they'd LOVE it!!" Who knows?

Do you think? I find that idea odd since so much of his interaction is with horny girls a la "Come" lol.

[wondergirl9847]

Well, I figure if she is secure enough to go along with he and Stevie's onstage antics, I would guess that she'd be okay with *ahem* horny gals a'la Come.

[Les]

I would think that age and confidence and happiness and a family have a good deal to do with it.

I don't actually think that Lindsey ever wanted to be as popular as Stevie or Fleetwood Mac. I don't think that it bothered him so much that they out-sold him. What I think bothered him was his perception that people only ever wanted him to be "that Rumours guy," and not who he was. They wanted him to be that Rumours guy in the kind of music that he made, and they wanted him to be that guy who wanted to make that kind of mega-selling, accessible material. The more pressure he felt from within the band and from within the fanbase to ditch his ideas that were labeled weird (but that he found exciting), and to conform to being that guy, the more he completely didn't want to be that guy, and the more his confidence waned. And the more he withdrew from people he thought wanted to impose that upon him, and the more kind of defiant he got.

Add to that Lindsey's very intense and narrow focus on music, and music almost solely for many years, and I think you maybe produce a somewhat "closed" individual in some respects.

He's also talked about living in "emotional exile" for most of his years in FM. By that, I think he literally felt like he sealed himself off from a lot of his emotions in order to function in the band. He's said rather openly that he knows forcing himself to do that really screwed him up.

Sooo, after all that, he did something he needed to do for his survival. He escaped. He left the band. A good portion of the pressure to be something he didn't want to be was gone. By doing so, he also removed himself from that immediate microcosm of Mick, Stevie, John & Chris and could start to deal with some of those emotions he crammed down for years. I don't think all of those emotions even necessarily had to do with them, but he just got in the practice of not dealing with some things. Therapy would appear to have done wonders for opening him up a lot in all aspects.

Insert wife and kids, who he may not have been open enough in the past to even consider having, who provide a foundation of love and support and safety he hasn't really felt before. He's said many times how his family is something he never thought he'd get the chance to experience. Now that he has it, I think it's created a great deal of happiness. And kids especially force you to be a more social person.

He's said many times that he gained back a good deal of confidence in his musical abilities in his time away from the band, which he's now happy to be able to give back to them.

So I think all of that has opened him up immeasurably. I think he's very consciously worked pretty hard to be more comfortable with himself and be more open, which is very commendable, because it's not always so easy to do, especially later in life. That's my .05.

[Tango]

I've thought about this a lot this tour. While Chili's response made me laugh and might have some truth, trackaghost, wondergirl and Les's answer surely cover a lot of psycho social matters that might also be factors. But I have to side with face of glass on part of this. It's good business. You play to the chicks and they keep coming back.

I believe Lindsey WILL do a solo album, and this tour seems to be formed around that. Stevie's clearly not interacting as much with the crowd, and I take that to be a supportive "thing" for Lindsey. Get HIM out there. She really has avoided playing off the audience this time around, it seems to me. It's good for her too, though. Lindsey's an amazing draw, and he needs to be seen. Yes, Lindsey did NOT want to be in the limelight the way Stevie did, but if ALL of FM felt that way, hugged behind their organs, guitars and drums, I wonder if FM would have had the draw it's had. Consider the group Queen. Never minimize the effect of Freddie Mercury as a draw. Same with Gwen Stephanie of No Doubt. SOMEONE's got to play with the audience. Stevie did that. Hey, nothing wrong with the fact that she enjoyed it. But it sure is wonderful to see Lindsey doing it as well now. It's business-- play to the customers. I think at this point Lindsey's even enjoying it. It's a game. It's not "real."

While it's probably a minor detail, if Buckingham Nicks is to be "re-released" and supported in some measure, it would help if BOTH their names were recognized more clearly.

Just another take.

[seteca]

I think the reason he's behaving the way he is has a lot to do with the fact that he is now openly in charge of Fleetwood Mac, he produced the album and had a major part in the production of the show. I mean this with full respect to Mick and John (and Stevie if she's doing backing vocals).....but during the LB songs it's become "The Lindsey Buckingham show with the greatest backing band on Earth", (whereas during the SN songs it's still a collective "Fleetwood Mac" joint performance). Lindsey is on the greatest high known to man....that of true and absolute happiness.

[dissention]

I was just thinking of that the other day! LOL

I used to have an old boot on cassette where people in the audience referred to him as a "f*ckin' asshole." Watching old videos from shows, I can understand why.

"I don't WANT an omelette!"

[Cammie]

Good for Lindsey! This very Shy
Genius has learned to open up in a
public way...both... as a new Husband
and Daddy and a Terrific Musician!

He knows Stevie is the main drama
Queen...Mick the nerdy Drummer...
John the steady Bass Line...and He is
appreciated as The Handsome...Lead
Guitar Man "Pushing" it all together!
Lindsey Is all he Ever wanted to BE!!!

The Dream Man finally "Found a woman
who I get along with...who understands
me!!! I go home at night to play with my
kids before they go to bed!" This gives
LB a stability ~To be Happy~To Enjoy!

[sodascouts]

Originally posted by dissention
I used to have an old boot on cassette where people in the audience referred to him as a "f*ckin' asshole." Watching old videos from shows, I can understand why.

Woah, what tour was this? What could he have done that was so bad, I wonder? Let me guess, Tusk? lol

I've seen boots of FM in 1975-1977 and he doesn't seem that obnoxiously distant - just not actively engaging the crowd like Stevie. And I'm SO glad he's doing that now!

Christy, I think my attitude on Kristen's approval of Lindsey's flirting might be colored by my own embarrassment at screaming for Lindsey's towel at Chicago Soundstage, then realizing I was in the direct line of sight of his wife. :: blushes ::

[Les]

Originally posted by dissention
I used to have an old boot on cassette where people in the audience referred to him as a "f*ckin' asshole."

Oh, I bet some people thought of him as arrogant. But I also know that a lot of Stevie fans simply decided to hate him for his supposed "crimes" against Stevie. So a comment like that doesn't necessarily have a lot to do with anything he was or wasn't doing on stage.

[goldie]

Whatever it is, gosh it's just wonderful how he is acting this tour! I am lovin' every minute of it!

[michelej1]

I never saw FM until after Tusk came out, so I don't know what Lindsey was like on the Rumors tour, but to me I always did consider him the band's front man.

I know that Mick was the actual leader, but being behind the drum most of the time, he didn't have the same access to the audience. Lindsey wouldn't get down into the crowd and let them play his guitar like he does now and he didn't take stuffed animals and all, like Stevie did, but he would introduce songs (sometimes Stevie and Chris' too, not just his own) and say some of the things he still says now like, "You make me feel so good," and generally make band announcements.

I've never seen him as social as he is now, but I always considered him the leader on stage (but definitely not in interviews, etc.). I guess I'm just blind though: when he's around I don't pay as much attention to everyone else, so they would never seem as prominent to me, even if they obviously were. Michele