Soundstage
– Lindsey Buckingham with special guest Stevie Nicks
Picture: C+
Sound: B- Extras: C- Concert: B-
After several eras of Fleetwood Mac as a blues band, the
arrival of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks began the most commercially successful,
Pop oriented and even risk-taking era of the band. Among those many risks being taken were inspired and executed by
Buckingham. After the unbelievable
successes of their debut album with the group and of Rumours, he took
over for their massive Tusk project that was a hit and remains one of
the most ambitious album releases in music history. When the underrated Mirage arrived, he felt it was more
like of “Rumours II” and he was already working on solo projects. That is among the material revisited in his
recent performance on the PBS series Soundstage.
Three decades later, instead of the wild exploration of
the human psyche and delvings into the oddest side of masculinity that marked
his first two solo albums (Law & Order, Go Insane) that made
him one of the most formidable artists of the 1980s, this feels like further
resignation about his art and life than even the third solo album Out Of The
Cradle offered. It is a good
concert, with Nicks joining him on Never Going Back Again and Say
Goodbye. They still have their
chemistry and it offers some of the show’s best moments.
Trouble, Big Love, Go Insane,
Go Your Own Way and a gem called Murrow Turning Over in His Grave
are among other highlights. The earlier
hits are visited with so much of the energy turned to self-reflective Folk that
many may not enjoy this show, but it is not bad despite the arrangement change
and slowdown of the artist. If you were
expecting Holiday Road from the first Vacation film, forget
it. This is not that Lindsey
Buckingham. At least he can reinvent
himself, though purists might prefer the older album cuts.
The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is a little
weak in definition, but lit well and shot about as well as these shows
get. Color is better than usual. The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is not bad, though
not as interesting as Fleetwood Mac’s The Dance and absolutely no match
for the DVD-Audio of Rumours, but still plays well enough. Extras include two bonus songs, but that is
all.
- Nicholas Sheffo
