UNIVERSITY PROGRAM COUNCIL
BUCKINGHAM NICKS
Morgan Auditorium
January 29, 1975
Allegedly guitarist Lindsay Buckingham and singer Stevie Nicks had already been hired to join British blues band Fleetwood Mac. However, as fate would have it, the pair had a few concerts on the books before they could move on. The shows included a Jan. 29 at The University of Alabama date, followed the next night by a gig at Jacksonville State University’s Pete Matthews Coliseum, with the band's Jan. 31 finale at Birmingham's Municipal Auditorium. The Tuscaloosa show was a sell-out in the 625-capacity Morgan Auditorium. The Dickery was a popular local record store on The Strip in Tuscaloosa. The staff had been playing the band’s eponymous album for weeks and it sold well. Another influential record store in Birmingham called Medusa had also championed the duo’s music. Buckingham Nicks gained a lot of traction among Alabama students and proved to be a favorite among campus radio station WUAL, and its disc jockeys. During the concert in Morgan Hall – the same auditorium that hosted acts like Tom Waites, Frank Zappa, Tom Waites, Jimmy Buffett, and Billy Joel -- devoted fans heard versions of Buckingham Nicks songs such as “Frozen Love,” “Landslide,” “Rhiannon” (reportedly the group’s first performance of the tune), “Monday Morning,” and “Never Going Back Again,” that would eventually end up on future Fleetwood Mac albums. The raw, youthful, exuberance of the concert was memorable. "I've got to tell you how touched we are there are this many people here, and we love you very much. Thank you." Buckingham told the crowd. By the time the encore “Crystal” hung in the air, the band felt all the love the audience could muster. They had cast a spell over the crowd. Within days the singer-songwriters would join what would become Hall of Fame band Fleetwood Mac and change the direction of pop music in the 1970s and 1980s for good. Rumor has it the pair had been rehearsing with The Mac before the Alabama shows, which proved to be a historic, albeit bittersweet send-off. UPC mainstay Mike Trucks was quoted in The Birmingham News in 2018 saying that Buckingham Nicks was paid $2,500 for their work with ticket prices for students going for $2 [general admission tickets were also sold]. There are several bootlegs of the Tuscaloosa concert floating around the web. There are links below.