The crowd buzzed. Hummed. As a mismatch of old and young, well-dressed and casual, disinterested and nauseatingly enthusiastic, they had not been forced to wait the agonizing hours until the pretentious appearance of an overpaid performer. This was Turlock Community Theater, after all.
At only a few minutes past 7:30 PM on Tuesday, October 19, Lindsey Buckingham sauntered on stage—both confident and noncommittal. Dressed in a simple T-shirt and faded jeans, armed with only an acoustic guitar, and supported by a small mass of engaged, but not obsessive fans, he began a subtly powerful song that built in both momentum and sound quality.
It was a far cry and a smaller venue away from his days with Fleetwood Mac almost four decades ago.
The time was ripe for Buckingham to again start a solo project when the full band finished their reunited world tour in 2011. Before kicking off yet another reunion in 2012, he took a brief hiatus to the smaller stage, by playing at local venues such as the Turlock Community Theater, which was sponsored by the classic rock station 104.1 “The Hawk”.
Despite the somewhat older audience and more humble stage presence, Buckingham definitely exuded both charisma and energy, regardless of the venue. His throaty vocals nearly overpowered the lone melodies of his guitar(s)—stage hands kept changing them between songs. In contrast, his varied and intricate strumming patterns helped build energy up until the end of song; in most cases, where a performer plays with a single instrument, songs tends to get monotonous due to a repetitive sound.
The concert carried on in this pattern for nearly half an hour, which left the ambivalent audience with a sense of both admiration for his musical prowess, and confusion as to whether or not the empty drum sets, keyboards, and bass guitars in the background were specifically for aesthetic purposes. Personally, I wish he had initially pumped up the crowd with some favorites, and then delved into the artsy stuff later, but that all depends on stylistic preference.
By the time the full band joined Buckingham onstage, a nostalgic group of women began their own “groupie” dance off to the side, but the crowd—for the most part—remained subdued, respectful. It was the sort of night where the connection between the performer and the fans was a quieter, fragile one, rather than a screaming mass of adoration. Buckingham repaid the audience with several favorites that everyone else seemed to know by heart—favorites that I was just beginning to hear for the first time—but he also introduced some new music that he has been working on in recent years. It was this versatility and timelessness as a performer that earned my respect for the gentleman.
For some performers, I suppose playing at the Turlock Community Theater would be a last-ditch effort at a dead career that hasn’t produced anything within the last twenty years. But for him, he was simply introducing his music to a new generation, at a new gig, sans Stevie Nicks. Although his current music has a more “progressive rock/easy listening” vibe, it didn’t hurt to finish the night with a rousing rendition of “Go Your Own Way”. It seems that Fleetwood Mac will follow him wherever he goes.
