Lindsey Buckingham

Lindsey Buckingham is one of those rare musical geniuses that defy categorization. Much like Prince or Todd Rundgren, Buckingham is a man with a multitude of talents that is very comfortable on either side of the mixing board and has been responsible for a large part of the Fleetwood Mac sound for the last 30 years. Not to mention he’s a hell of a guitar player.

He opened his set in Portland with a few cuts from his new CD, Gift of Screws, which will be released September 16, and moved seamlessly into “Go Your Own Way”. He bounced in and out of his past solo efforts along with many of his favorites from the Fleetwood Mac days all evening, sprinkling in the new material along the way.

I walked in the door expecting a fair amount of Mac material, but I wasn’t prepared for how tastefully it was done. Buckingham did a stripped down version of “I’m So Afraid” that was out of this world, ending with a blistering guitar solo that had the whole audience up on their feet screaming. As a big Tusk fan, I was really impressed with the way he pulled off a very powerful rendition of the title track without the help of the USC marching band.

The two hour and ten minute set (with encore) flew by and the aisles were flooded with people by the end of the night. Buckingham’s voice was full of power and control right up to the last song, “Treason” from the new album.

Wheter you’re a fan of Lindsey Buckingham’s solo work, or just a big Fleetwood Mac fan, don’t miss him on this tour. So far, this is the best live performance I’ve seen this year.