FANS ARE NOW RATING THE SHOWS AS WELL

1-5

5 BEING THE BEST

Rated "5" by Michele Jackson

As I boarded the airport shuttle headed for baggage claim, the recorded voice announced, “Concourse T. T as in Tango.” Now that had to be a good sign.

I got to the Variety Theater at about 7:00, the crowd was lined up, curved out into the street. It was nice to see Lindsey’s name up in lights, but the marquee jutted out in a triangular manner. Lindsey’s name was just on one side of the sign. On the right side they had the name of tomorrow’s headliner up there.

They didn’t let us in for an hour and since the place looked pretty small, I was afraid I wouldn’t get a good seat, but as it turned out it was pretty open, I could have stood in front of the stage on the floor or in one of the first rows (considered the worst seats visually, according to management). I chose a seat on the side, because the chairs there were elevated and offered a better stage angle.

In the lobby they had key chains, Under the Skin (for $20, which is a lot, but still less than what Max paid!), a black shirt with Lindsey on the front, and a red shirt with a guitar on the front, with Lindsey’s name. I bought the black one and a key chain. I wanted the red but it only came in junior sizes? Are there a lot of children out there who want Lindsey Buckingham t-shirts?? Are there a run on these things in boys' departments everywhere? Speaking of which, I notice how one of his kids calls “Daddy” at the end of Flying Down Juniper. Pretty cute.

The show starts at around 8:45. No need to crane my neck, to wait, wonder or anticipate. Lindsey walks directly out onto the stage the second the lights go down. He comes to his mic, says “Good Evening” and starts playing Not Too Late right away. He is wearing jeans, a black cotton shirt with a v-neck and a black leather jacket. My unbiased, objective, completely neutral opinion is that he’s, um, gorgeous.

Not Too Late: Keyboards and a drumkit are set up on stage, but Lindsey is playing alone. He says, his head bent over his guitar. I have no interest in standing near the stage, but for the new songs I wish I had been there, right beneath him, so he could look down and see me singing along to the new songs and know that his longtime fans have already embraced the album, snatched it up off the shelves. To me, he’s the Beatles on Ed Sullivan. I hope he knows there are people out there, rare though they might be, who feel that way about him.

The room is quiet as he plays, you can hear the squeak of the guitar strings. At the close of the song, there’s an echo effect, so his voice is softly repeated with each word. The crowd whoops and hollers for him when he is done. He doesn’t really acknowledge it. Keeps his head down. I should be saying goodnight . . .

Trouble: The crowd recognizes the song and starts clapping in appreciation. It’s good, but not as good as it was for Soundstage. Come and keep your daddy warm . . . I love that part. This time at the end of the song, when everyone is cheering, Lindsey responds with a hearty Thank You. He is smiling and being himself all of a sudden. A little silly, shuffling through his familiar mannerisms, tilting his head to the side, extending a hand, stomping his feet and smiling.

Someone yells, “Happy Birthday.” He says, “Thank you. It came out the same day as my album. Maybe that’s a sign.”

Never Going Back Again: The crowd yells as they recognize the song. He plays it like he did for the FM tour, except towards the end he gets exuberant and his voice takes on force, emphasizing the fact that he really never does intend to go back, making the closing lyrics almost a roar.

When it’s over he tells the audience it’s nice to see them. The band takes the stage, Neale, Brett, Taku. Neale asks if Lindsey has been having a good time. They chuckle.

Cast Away Dreams: Lindsey said that a lot of his old songs went onto the FM album [well, not all of them Lindsey] and so he started writing a lot when he was on the road. The crowd applauds the name “Fleetwood Mac.” Lindsey continues that one time he and his wife were on the road and then she left after they had a little disagreement. She told him that he had to let some things go that he’d been holding onto. After she left, he realizes that she was right. And he saw that he could let them go and instead of mourning the loss, he could actually dance on the dreams that he was releasing. That’s how the song came about and he described it as being intimate. He sang it sweetly, making it the lullaby that it is. Because I’ve heard these songs more recently than I’ve heard his other stuff, when he plays the new stuff, I have this sing-a-long mentality, because I HAVE been singing along to them all this week. I am kind of taken aback when I find that everyone in the room is not singing too. However they ARE listening. The room is crowded and the floor area is full of standing people, concentrating on the stage. No one is running for the bathroom or the concession stand. They really seem into the music, even when they don’t know it.

There was a pause and people began yelling out song requests. Lindsey says, “Geez, someone actually called out Red Rover.” Well, did they Linds? I’m not sure, but he sang it anyway.

Red Rover: He says that when he wrote that song he was thinking that the Gods might be unhappy with what’s going on down here and they might be thinking of pulling the plug, but since he wrote it, he’s become more optimistic and doesn’t feel that way anyway. The stage is bathed in red as he sings.

It Was You: Very lovely. This is now my second favorite song right now. Mickman mentioned that you can’t hear the words of the chorus on the record, well you can hear them in the theater and Lindsey sings the children’s names with special relish and enthusiasm.

His voice seems very strong. Better than it did on the SYW tour, although he has lost some range and can’t hit the high notes anymore. Of course, that doesn’t stop them. He tries for them sometimes and ends up sounding hoarse and raspy, but he smiles at that and, of course, the audience smiles back.

Big Love: The band leaves again and he does his thing. The Dance has made this number famous. In fact, before the show started the woman next to me was telling her date that Lindsey BETTER sing “Big Love” because that’s what she got dressed and came out for. Well, he didn’t disappoint.

Go Insane with the Sardonic World introduction. Because this has been on a rest, Go Insane sounds delicious to me, just fantastic. I really think people are mesmerized during the guitar breaks.

Under The Skin: To introduce the song Lindsey says that he feels that everything we need is under the surface waiting to come out. He reproduces the whisper quality of the studio recording in wonderful fashion. I do giggle briefly when the line, “everything grows under the skin” sends bacterial thoughts racing through my brain.

World Turning: Whoa! Not my favorite FM song. Liked the interaction with his co-writer in days past, but did not care for it much on the SYW tour. Tonight, however, I think it’s one of the evening’s highlights. Not only is Lindsey in good voice singing the lyrics alone, but they seem to take on a new, stronger meaning that way. They seem personal and I never thought it was a personal song before. I bet he did this on the CMT show. Anyway, it’s incredible. For the percussion solo, I cannot see Taku but just listening I know that he looks incredibly hot when playing.

Lindsey sits on the floor while Taku performs. Then they do a remix of the song. Like a DJ would. Lindsey isn’t singing. He’s still on his voice. But there’s a recording of his voice and they’re “scratching” it, so he’s saying, “back, back, back, on the ground, turn around, get down, get down” in stutter time. I really liked it.

I’m So Afraid: Again, usually not my favorite song, but takes on a different life here. For one thing, it wasn’t a surprise that Taku’s solo in World Turning didn’t last as long as Mick’s, but what IS surprising is that Lindsey’s guitar solos are shorter tonight than they are in FM. He must have listened to some of the feedback that said they went on too long. Anyway, since he didn’t do Come, ISA is the song that really had the solo of the evening and I thought it tremendous.

He changed the tempo of the lyrics, so that they sound lighter. Strange move for a song about agony staying so long that you slip and fall and you die, but somehow he does make it a little lighter and a bit sultry. In places, he sounds almost sing song-y, but it works, because what starts off rather whimsically, becomes gradually more intense, so that really the appreciation for the solo builds very nicely, the more complex his playing becomes. The ascent is a smooth, effective one. He doesn’t go as crazy at the end as he did with FM. Less ham, but more meat. There’s a well-deserved, enduring ovation. Lindsey takes off his leather jacket.

I Know I’m Not Wrong: What can I say. When FM added it to the second leg, Lindsey obviously knew it was a keeper.

Tusk: Of course, we here recognize this song from a mile away. You hear the jungle sound effect and you know immediately, but it takes a little while for the rest of the audience to catch on to what it is. When they do, they’re into it. For the instrumental at the end, Lindsey goes over and jams with Brett and it makes me remember the face of a pretty girl – with an accordion. Sigh.

Murrow: This song does have a redrum murder feel to it, but that’s not a bad thing. The men all deepen their voices to drone the chorus in a monotonous way, but with a mechanical speed that creates a sinister kind of fun. I honestly think that if this song were known to more people, it could be a concert focal point. At the end they are singing along with the audio from a news report.

Go Your Own Way: Well, you know . . .

At the end of GYOW Lindsey says, “Thank you. Goodnight,” in a forceful kind of way that assures me he has no intention of going anywhere.

Holiday Road: Is he the one who sings that song? It’s not as good as it can be. But this is the first night of the tour. It will get better. At the end of the song, Lindsey woof, woof, woofs. Then Brett joins in and starts howling. Lindsey falls onto the floor. That’s a male humor kind of thing. The same people who like The Three Stooges . . .I don’t get it. Well, actually, I did kind of like it when Lindsey first started barking, but then enough.

Lindsey introduces the band. Says they’re all longtime friends. Said that Taku was a little nervous at first and said that he didn’t know how to play a drum kit but, of course, he’s miraculous. Said that Brett is the one who put together the set list and is a man of many talents, playing bass tonight, even though he usually doesn’t. He says that when he last toured he had about 30 people up there on stage with him, but his album being what it is, it only makes sense that the band be smaller this time.

Show You How: What can I say? That’s the reason I came. The boys trip me up though because the vocal arrangements on the chorus are not like they are on the album. Brett and Neale are singing one line and Lindsey is singing another and Lindsey is kind of emphasizing the word “how,” throwing it out there. It’s not like it is on the record, but just as good.

My 27th year of loving Lindsey, but it could have started tonight. If this were Day 1, after this evening I’d still be truly, madly, deeply.

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