Live At the Bass Performance Hall

Lindsey Buckingham’s element has always been the recording studio, which is what makes this concert recording such a welcome surprise. Without having to share the stage with his Fleetwood Mac bandmates, Buckingham is given full rein of the sound design and even in concert his sonic imprint is distinctive. Recorded in January 2007 at the Forth Worth venue of the same name, Live At the Bass Performance Hall is full of the sounds he loves: high-pitched acoustic instruments, minimal rhythmic accompaniment, complex guitar fingerpicking, and plenty of reverb and echo. Handclaps form the backbeat for “Cast Away Dreams” and “Under the Skin,” while a solo reading of “Big Love” climaxes in a torrent of fingerpicking and desperate cries. Buckingham gives old songs masterful stage arrangements — the layered harmonies of “It Was You” and “Show You How” are nothing short of sublime — but the album’s most moving moments come when he sings his old songs alone with guitar. The solo renditions of “Trouble” and “Never Going Back Again” emphasize the dreamy melancholy that has long been Buckingham’s specialty.