Members of the infamous drama-infused rock-and-roll band of the 1970s Fleetwood Mac, Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie temporarily branched off from the band to produce a rock-and-roll album of their own, “Buckingham McVie.”
After returning to Fleetwood Mac following a whopping 15-year leave, McVie proposed new material to her fellow bandmate that instantly sparked musical chemistry and was regarded by Buckingham as “stronger than ever.” The two immediately began composing and recording once McVie rejoined the band. After Fleetwood Mac completed another world tour, the duo pursued a tour of their own. Meanwhile, frontwoman Stevie Nicks also diverged from the band for her own 24 Karat Gold solo tour.
Making an appearance on Halloween at the Riverside Theater was quite strange considering Fleetwood Mac typically sells out arenas on their tours. Nonetheless, the experience proved to be much more intimate and crowd-involved as both Buckingham and McVie interacted with the audience during their performance and provided a generous amount of band and solo music history in multiple detailed monologues.
Their new self-titled album was released in June 2017 and was an obviously huge hit, as it did not take long for the crowd to ease into a sound that closely resembled Fleetwood Mac’s pop-rock genre. They did, however, seem to venture out in their new tracks with unique and atypical percussion series and guitar riffs which made the new content all the more interesting. They chose a perfect balance of both new Buckingham McVie songs as well as Fleetwood Mac classics.
Buckingham opened with a haunting acoustic rendition of his solo hit, “Trouble,” followed by a few new songs from Buckingham and McVie. The tribal-esque sound of the percussion in the track “Too Far Gone” made the audience both come alive and stand with mouths agape in awe as the drummer, Jimmy Paxson, shook the entire theater.
McVie swayed about the stage away from her normal position at the keyboard and sang to individual audience members. Meanwhile, Buckingham made a point of showing the crowd that age is but a number and that he can still shred his guitar just as well as he could in the ’70s. All eyes were especially fixed on his intricate finger-picking during the Fleetwood Mac hits “Never Going Back Again,” “You Make Loving Fun” and “Go Your Own Way.” And if that wasn’t enough, Buckingham electrified the venue with his prolonged guitar solo in “I’m So Afraid” that made one question how his fingers weren’t permanently intertwined with the strings. If one wasn’t familiar with his talent already, that solo alone guaranteed a newfound appreciation for it.
Not only can Buckingham and McVie still bring the heat, but their incredible performance of their new music convinced the audience that their music will never die. They seem to always generate new meaningful songs that continue to carry on Fleetwood Mac’s unique pop-rock sound while still experimenting with variations of additional instruments to create something different.
Though mostly an adult crowd, it was settling to notice some teenage faces that understood Buckingham and McVie’s contribution to rock and roll and their unique sound as a basis and inspiration to a full spectrum of modern artists.