Buckingham returns to his more personal material with “Stars Are Crazy” and more new tunes like “End of Time,” “That’s The Way Love Goes” and then performs a lengthy, haunting, blistering electric solo on “I’m So Afraid.” After one more nod to his rock god days with “Go Your Own Way,” Buckingham finishes off the set with Mac-ish poppy tunes “Turn It On,” “Treason,” “Go Insane,” and another acoustic number, the title song from his last album, “Seeds We Sow.” In short, he goes full circle from acoustic to electric to a simple reminder as to why he staged this concert.
In the end, the performance is a demonstration of Buckingham’s point that the small machine feeds the big one and vice versa. Any of his solo songs could be layered into a Fleetwood Mac track, and any of his mega-hits can be made into a more intimate statement. This concert also proves, once again, that Buckingham can be a one-man show as a songwriter and performer, an ensemble player, and an artist with values and ideals to share in his lyrics.
One word of caution: due to several extreme changes in volume along the way, it’s worth keeping the remote handy. Even in the acoustic portion of the show, a quiet passage can suddenly blow the listener out of their chairs without warning. Of course, we get a Buckingham interview as a bonus feature. Not surprisingly, he feels his new offerings are his finest work to date. I’m not willing to go that far, but agree Buckingham’s “small machine” is more than a placeholder in between Mac reunions. In particular, this man’s guitar playing is among the best there is, whether in stereo, Dolby, or live. That alone is worth the price of admission.
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