Buckingham Nicks and The Wallflowers
July 5th, 2017
Budweiser Stage, Toronto
This past Wednesday was a great night of classic rock at Toronto’s Budweiser Stage. Oddly enough The Wallflowers frontman Jakob Dylan was performing in Toronto on the same night that his Dad, Bob Dylan, was performing at the Air Canada Centre. This is my 2nd time seeing the Wallflowers, the 1st at the short lived Deluna Fest in Pensacola Florida. I don’t remember much of that set because honestly they were selling those giant margarita filled plastic whale bones…but…I remember the Wallflowers were there. So…..this time I both remembered AND liked them. The Wallflowers hits came quite a few years back but they still perform them with conviction and to an eager crowd. Their songs have held up well and don’t sound dated. They’re really a great band for a summer night in the city (and honestly I like them WAY more than Bob Dylan).
Let me just state my bias. I think Lindsey Buckingham is one of the greatest guitarists, singers and songwriters of all time. He could play kazoo and tap dance and I’d love it. He didn’t do either of these things and stuck to his strengths of tremendous guitar playing and singer. Early in the set I glanced towards stage right and Christine McVie was there!!! (I really need to pay attention). Most of the crowd were there to here Fleetwood Mac hits and they delivered on those over and over. I was curious to see how their songs and harmonies held up without Stevie Nicks’ distinctive harmonies but Christine and Lindsey and their backing band sound great together.
The reason for their tour was the new Buckingham McVie which grew out of songs Christine shared with Lindsey after her 15 year sabbatical from Fleetwood Mac. It’s a great showcase of their songwriting and decades long friendship and the new material works perfectly in a live environment. I loved how the concert started, with just he 2 of them onstage taking turns playing songs before the whole band joined them for the remainder of the show. And rather than playing a few new songs and then a majority of hits through the encore, they really focused on new over old, even skipping a hits heavy encore for new material only.
It’s great seeing Christine performing (and enjoying it) again. And like I said, Lindsey can do no wrong in my eyes – and no one performs with more energy and conviction than he does. In a twist, my 12 year old daughter attended the show with me. She recently discovered Fleetwood Mac because of the the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack and has dug deep into their catalog (old and new) and was blown away by the show. I can’t imagine a lot of 12 year olds whose favourite album is Rumours.
Buckingham McVie are on tour through August – catch them while you can!
We give this a 6 out of 6ix.