12/15 Lindsey Buckingham at Uptown
Lindsey Buckingham Setlist
Tour Dates Dec 17 The Criterion Oklahoma City,OK
Dec 18 Orpheum Theatre Wichita, KS Dec 20 Boulder Theater Boulder, CO May 17, 2022 The Helix Dublin, Ireland May 19, 2022 Sec Armadillo Glasgow May 21, 2022 Liverpool Philharmonic Hall Liverpool May 22, 2022 London Palladium London May 24, 2022 Capitole Ghent Gent, Belgium May 25, 2022 La Cigale Paris, France May 26, 2022 Tivoli Vredenburg Utrecht May 28, 2022 Stage Theater Am Potsdamer Platz Berlin May 30, 2022 Cirkus Stockholm, Sweden May 31, 2022 Folketeateret Oslo, Norway Jun 2, 2022 Heartland Festival 2022 KV, Denmark Read More
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Lindsey Buckingham has more than earned the right to Go His Own Way--
After over five decades of music, most as the creative leader of Fleetwood Mac, seven studio and three live solo albums, a Rock Hall inducted member, and numerous other accolades, the seventy-two year-old singer/songwriter/guitarist can still embrace his past while also envision his musical future, as evidenced during his almost two-hour set at the Uptown Theater in Kansas City.
The evening opened with a half-hour acoustic performance from young singer-songwriter Sammy Brue, a Portland-raised / Ogden, UT-based artist who was writing songs at age ten and signed to New West Records by the age of fourteen. His latest is last year’s Crash Test Kid, which includes the song he closed his set with, “Teenage Mayhem” a bluesy number that also found Brue wanting to expand his folk audience and form a full band (Brue), which he plans on pursuing, departing the label as a now independent artist.
Brue proved generally likable to the mostly classic rock-aged audience, coming off similarly to the indie-folk sensibilities of a Brett Dennen. The new album he describes as a “therapy session”, putting his observations of the world to paper as song lyrics, and it will be interesting to see how he and his full band, further develop their craft.
Though his seventh studio album was complete some four years ago, personal and public health issues and separations from both his wife and his famous band members, kept the project on the shelf until this September, when Lindsey Buckingham finally released his self-titled solo album (on Reprise Records).
Generally, expectations seem higher with any self-titled work (especially seven records in) and Buckingham and his crack band didn’t disappoint the loyal crowd that braved the earlier hurricane-like winds and rain, to come see him perform live.
The headlining set began with 1997’s “Not Too Late” under dim lighting, but still illuminated enough to see the unique artistry of Buckingham’s singular finger-picking guitar style. With its lyrics, “What am I doing anyway, telling myself it's not too late” it seemed a conscious choice as an opening song, with the lyrics also mirroring his current mood and outlook.
As mentioned, the mostly veteran backing band was rock solid throughout, highlighted by his longtime guitarist Neale Haywood, who has also been a live player with Fleetwood Mac since 1997, and longtime keyboardist Brett Tuggle, who has previous live stints with Steppenwolf, David Lee Roth, Fleetwood Mac, and even Fleetwood’s ‘90s offshoot band, The Zoo.
1992’s “Soul Drifter” is another take from Buckingham on transition and evolution and again, can be assumed that he chose that song to add to his setlist, as a result of the musical and personal independence he finds himself in once more, as well as maybe 1984’s “I Must Go”, though its lyrical subject matter deals with drug abuse, not band separation.
Buckingham obviously feels little pressure to deliver on all the hits live, either with Mac or solo, and we didn’t hear several expected Mac classics or even solo hits like “Go Insane” or the soundtrack smash, “Holiday Road”. Buckingham, like many musicians of his classic rock generation, has earned the right to play what he wants, and so includes those songs that make the most sense to him in terms of a two-hour setlist, with his loyal audience not seeming to mind too much.
“This is one of our favorite towns and this wonderful, wonderful venue…!” Buckingham exclaimed, mentioning several times between songs how happy he and the band were, to be able to return to the road and playing shows in front of live audiences again.
A third of the way in, the band left the stage for an extended Buckingham solo set, which did include 1981 solo hit, “Trouble” and the first Fleetwood Mac cover of the evening, a 1977 Rumours deep cut, “Never Going Back Again” - “Been down one time, been down two times I'm never going back again” which could again be inferred to reflect his current feelings about the superstar band.
Those songs, followed by Fleetwood Mac’s 1987 hit, “Big Love” were refreshing to hear in their bare essence, with only Buckingham and his finger-picking strumming, and urgent sounding coital “oohs” and “ahhs” that would end “Big Love”.
As the band rejoined, he reminded the audience of his new self-titled album and remarked that they would be playing several songs from it next, and the crowd was treated to its first four tracks, in running order.
The main set would end with four back-to-back Mac classics that brought the audience to its feet to sing and dance along, including an extended “Go Your Own Way”, perhaps Fleetwood Mac’s best-known song, and which forty-five years later, still speaks to the rift between he and Stevie Nicks.
The encore began gently, with the melodic, “Love is Here to Stay” from 2017’s collaboration album with Mac keyboardist Christine McVie, initially begun as a Fleetwood Mac record. “Wind blows one way, time goes, but love is here to stay” Buckingham emotes lyrically.
The evening would conclude not with the bang of a Mac classic sing-along, but rather a warmly harmonized cover of a mid-60’s folk classic, “Time” - “Some roads lead home, some roads lead back, some roads are paved in white, some wrapped in filthy black” Buckingham sings and reflects on this cornerstone song of the new record, and a track he’s wanted to put his own spin on, for years.
Staying current with recent collaborations with the likes of Halsey and The Killers, a new solo album that looks forward as well as somewhat back, and a new lease on life following a heart scare and personal and professional upheavals, Lindsey Buckingham clearly has much more to say, and his musical chops still remain enough near their pinnacle, that we should all lean in and listen.
(click on any image to enlarge and see in full)
Lindsey Buckingham with Band |
Sammy Brue |
Sammy Brue |
Sammy Brue |
Lindsey Buckingham Poster |
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Lindsey Buckingham |
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Lindsey Buckingham |
Lindsey Buckingham |
Lindsey Buckingham |
Lindsey Buckingham at Uptown Theater, Kansas City (2021-12-15) |
| john ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com |
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