Hartford Courant (03/27/1993), The Sting is Ready for Buckingham and He Doesn't Disappoint

Hartford Courant, March 27, 1993

The Sting is Ready for Buckingham and He Doesn't Disappoint
by Roger Catlin

Lindsey Buckingham could hardly believe the noise.

Sure, he has performed in football stadiums 50 times larger than the Sting in New Britain as part of an outfit that issued the biggest-selling album by a rock group.

On his first tour in a decade -- and his first tour as a solo artist -- he seemed surprised by the cheers. This is something all his years in a studio, crafting pop perfection, did not bring him.

And so gratified was he to hear it that he seemed to bask in the applause at his show Thursday.

The Sting is the kind of place that reveres '70s album rock, often booking bands that imitate groups from that era when the managers can't get the real thing. They'd would erect a statue to Peter Frampton if they could. So Buckingham, who brought new life and sharp songs into a badly slumping Fleetwood Mac in the '70s, was a welcome sight indeed.

He began alone with a guitar, looking young and lean, to present intriguing and softer solo versions of the "Big Love" he gave to the Mac and and his own "Go Insane."

As his nine-member band came on stage, idiosyncratically including four guitars and three percussionists, he promised he'd get along with the crowd "as long as you don't yell out `Go Your Own Way' too soon."

Although he made way for splendid versions of his overlooked "Out of the Cradle" album, with the bubbling, intricate harmonies of "Don't Look Down" and sizzling, building rockers such as "This Is the Time" that suggested Neil Young, Buckingham brought back a lot of his songs from the Mac days. From "The Chain," a slower, careful arrangement, to "Trouble," to a "Tusk" that suggested the percussion but little of the brass of the original.

There is a kind of pristine sheen to his songs that preclude any looseness or jamming; he's still more of an introspective studio guy than a stage extrovert. Yet he can build to some rocking endings, as he did late in the show, where the textures of all the backing guitars came in handy.

He also could quiet the large club with a solo acoustic foray or even a couple of short, spoken-word pieces.

The biggest part of his album -- and his show -- was some strong songs that were shimmering in their pop catchiness, as in "Countdown," or in their tunefulness, as in "All My Sorrows."

In such a setting, his voice seemed on better display than it would have been in an arena. And years of saving his voice has paid off in a powerful, authoritative rasp to a compelling whisper.

Thanks to Les for posting this to the Ledge and to Anusha for formatting and sending it to us.

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