Lindsey Buckingham at the London Palladium
Lindsey Buckingham
London Palladium, 1 October 2022
So, after all these years Lindsey finally played his first ever UK date but the rest of the European tour was cancelled the next day. I feel so lucky I saw one of only two dates that he actually played but hope Mr Buckingham is okay. What a night though!
Many years ago I wrote a bucket list/wish list of acts I wanted to see live before I die and right at the top of that list was none other than Lindsey Buckingham solo. I've seen him live of course with Fleetwood Mac, sometimes front row, and even managed to strum that legendary Turner guitar of his during those crazed solos where he thrust his guitar into the crowd. It's always been thrilling to watch him perform and work the crowd and obviously his work with the Mac is absolutely classic, in the best possible way. But since I was a kid, after discovering his solo work which is way more eccentric and left field, I dreamed of seeing him play live.
The problem of course is that Mr Buckingham never came to Europe on his solo jaunts, probably because his solo records never sold much here (years ago I even had to get his first two albums on import in Tower Records because they were so hard to come by in the UK). Many years later I did come close though: Lindsey announced a rare UK show at the Palladium in 2011 and I managed to get a ticket but then a member of his band got sick and, rather than play without a member of his band, the tour was cancelled. 
Over ten years later and Lindsey finally announced a ten-date European tour on the back of his new self-titled record, which came after being booted from the Mac (Stevie had had enough of him and cruelly told the band, it's him or me, and so they recruited Neil Finn and Mike Campbell to replace poor Linds creating a rather underwhelming new version of the band) and a heart attack, which left many thinking that may be it for Lindsey Buckingham, with reports he may have even permanently lost his voice. So the new album and the tour announcement was the nicest of surprises and best, he was even playing the Palladium, a relatively intimate venue for him, as he was supposed to do back in 2011.
But again the Gods decided the time wasn't right and the tour had to be postponed when Lindsey got Covid. New dates were announced and Lindsey even made a little video just before departing telling of his excitement at finally playing in Europe solo. Then, again, things started to go wrong when the first dates of the tour kept getting cancelled due to "medical issues", in fact five dates in all and it looked like the whole tour was cursed. Berlin though got lucky and Lindsey finally played his first ever European date and those of us waiting for the next show in London, breathed a sigh of relief although right up until he stepped on stage I can't deny I felt nervous. Not even a train strike that day could keep me from this precious show!
When Lindsey did finally emerge, I must admit, I was shocked at how much older he looked. The last time I had seen him in the flesh, so to speak, was back in 2015 and he still looked healthy and full of energy but the heart attack and the stress of the situation with the Mac , as well as the fact he's now in his 70s, have obviously taken a toll on Buckingham and it seemed pretty certain that the medical issues reason given for cancelling the previous shows, were his. Lindsey looked positively frail as his gingerly walked on stage in his skinny jeans and black jacket, with a shock of high but thinning, curly hair. He looked smaller and way more gaunt than I remembered. Was he even able to perform this show?
All doubts were gone the moment he started to play. Diving straight into his solo work, his nimble fingers began the intricate guitar picking of Not Too Late. "Reading the paper, saw a review, said I was a visionary but nobody knew," he sang, in what could not have been a more perfect start to the show. Despite his appearance, Lindsey's guitar work was clearly still stellar and his voice actually sounded stronger than ever. I've seen rock shows at the Palladium before but tonight it was beautifully clear and louder than I expected: my rock music-loving heart was in heaven.
He let the music do the talking to begin with, playing deeper tracks like In Our Own Time and Stars Are Crazy (for some reason this one, which was never a favourite, really resonated with me tonight) from Seeds We Sow and thrillingly, for they have meant so much to me for so much of my life, he gave us tracks from his earlier solo albums, Soul Drifter from Out Of The Cradle sounding soulful and melodic, I Must Go from Go Insane sounding punchy and vibrant and Doing What I Can sounding like the Mac hit that never was, with Buckingham's guitar front and foremost, giving brilliant Tango In The Night vibes.
One of my absolute favourite Lindsey solo tunes though is an acoustic number, with just incredible guitar-picking, called Shut Us Down, from his 2006 album Under The Skin. I've played this song over and over through the years but to finally hear it live was truly an unforgettable experience. His guitar work was just stunning to witness and the emotion in his voice brought it to another level. What an absolute treat and a complete showcase for Lindsey's undeniable talent.
This brought us to what may have been the most memorable part of the show as the rest of the band (another guitarist, a drummer and a keyboard player, who Lindsey joked he wasn't sure what he was actually doing back there - turned out he was jokingly filling in an application for UK citizenship!) departed the stage leaving just Lindsey and his acoustic guitar and proving without doubt that, although great to hear full band version of the songs, he could easily do the entire thing on his own.
He began with a beautifully slowed down, crooning version of his 1981 hit Trouble, which actually left me feeling tearful. Then came the crowd-pleaser, Never Going Back Again, from Fleetwood Mac's monster hit Rumours, and although I've heard it played live many times before there was something about hearing it in a small theatre that made it that much more affecting and gave me shivers. Then of course he played his totally acoustic and jaw-dropping version of Big Love, the one first debuted on The Dance concert. Again, I've heard it so many times before but witnessing that cascading fall of fingers and Lindsey's voice in full force was just wonderful.
The band returned to showcase some songs from Lindsey's most recent album (Scream, I Don't Mind and On The Wrong Side) and it was delightful to hear how well they fit in with his classic material and just how well they were received by the crowd (throughout the whole concert there were lots of screams of "We love you Lindsey!").
Lindsey went full force for the final part of the show bringing out the big guns of his repertoire, with all his most well known Fleetwood Mac tunes: Second Hand News, Tusk (drummer Michael Urbano particularly impressive on the one and Lindsey in better form, doing his stalking dance), I'm So Afraid (not as long as some of the Mac tour versions but maybe better for it and earning him a standing ovation) and, of course, ending on the eternally epic Go Your Own Way, with the crowd remaining on their feet and dancing and singing along.
For the encore it was back to the solo stuff and it was particularly exciting to hear the full band version of Go Insane as for years he's played it in acoustic form at his solo shows and even with the Mac. Both versions are great of course but the big pop feel of the full band version was just full of energy and brought me right back to playing it on vinyl all those years back. The final two tunes were rather more subdued: Love Is Here To Stay from the album he did with Christine McVie a few years back and then a gentle cover of Time (originally by the Pozo Seco Singers) from his new album. But it was a rather sweet finale a lullaby to send us off into the night after the high energy of the Mac tunes and probably a fitting way to end the show.
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