A&E

Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie deliver an uneven mix of new and old songs

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Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie perform in concert for their 2017 tour at Park Theater, Saturday, July 22, 2017.
Wade Vandervort / Special to the Weekly

Three stars

Lindsey Buckingham & Christine McVie July 22, Park Theater.

No matter how much some members of the audience might have wished it was, Saturday night’s performance by Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie at the Park Theater was not a Fleetwood Mac concert. You could tell partially by the smaller venue (the full band’s last several shows in town have been at arenas) and the limited attendance (the entire balcony was empty), and in case anyone was still in doubt, Buckingham and McVie played a set heavy on songs from their recent album as a duo, saving most of the big Mac hits for a short burst at the end of the set.

Lindsey Buckingham, Christine McVie Concert at Park Theater

The show opened slowly, with Buckingham and McVie performing four songs together before the four-member backing band took the stage, including an odd, slowed-down, stop-start version of Mac favorite “Never Going Back” that drew big applause as it began but sounded dreadful. Things picked up once the veteran hired guns joined the core duo, ably filling out both new songs and Mac hits, and giving extra life to some of the new material that sounds a bit flat on record. Naturally, the audience responded best to the familiar songs, but there was a surprisingly strong response to many of the new songs as well. Fans called out for hits like “The Chain” and “Songbird” (neither of which were played), but one man yelled loudly for “Red Sun,” a highlight of the Buckingham/McVie album, right before the band launched into it, and it sounded nearly as satisfying as one of the classics.

The audience finally got to its feet for a climactic run of Mac hits, and then Buckingham and McVie made the puzzling choice to close the show with two new songs, ending on the slow, melancholy ballad “Game of Pretend.” It was another example of the disjointed pacing, which included a few long, rambling speeches from Buckingham about the creative process of making the new album, and made it difficult for the show to build momentum. Still, both singers sounded great and were clearly enthusiastic about sharing both new and old songs with the audience (Buckingham, a brilliant guitarist but also a shameless ham, sometimes displayed so much enthusiasm that he overshadowed his musical partner). Two-fifths of Fleetwood Mac may not quite be sufficient, but it came close enough for one evening.

Setlist:

“Trouble”

“Wish You Were Here”

“Never Going Back”

“Shut Us Down”

“Sleeping Around the Corner”

“Feel About You”

“In My World”

“Too Far Gone”

“Hold Me”

“Little Lies”

“Tusk”

“Love Is Here to Stay”

“Red Sun”

“You Make Loving Fun”

“I’m So Afraid”

“Go Your Own Way”

Encore:

“Everywhere”

“Lay Down for Free”

“Game of Pretend”

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