Review of “Daisy Jones and The Six”: Riley Keough is one to watch

We constantly look for fresh sounds and narratives that can take us to various eras and locations as music enthusiasts. The new 10-part limited series Daisy Jones and The Six, which premieres on March 3 on Amazon Prime Video, is a gift for fans of 70s rock.

The show is based on Taylor Jenkins Reid’s blockbuster book, and tells the story of a young singer named Daisy Jones who joins forces with rising rock band The Six, and how their collaboration results in success, fortune, and ultimately heartbreak.

Daisy Jones and The Six: A Dreamy, Nostalgic Vibe

The ability to transport us back in time is one of the things that makes Daisy Jones & The Six such a gripping tale. The songs themselves are a fusion of classic rock, folk, and soul with memorable melodies, lyrics, and strong performances from the cast, especially Riley Keough as Daisy Jones, who exudes both vulnerability and charisma.

Daisy Jones and The Six: The Story Line

Fleetwood Mac started as a U.K. act with drummer Mick Fleetwood, guitarist John McVie, and his vocalist wife Christine McVie. Later, tumultuous changes were introduced when guitarist Lindsey Buckingham and his girlfriend, singer-songwriter-tambourine goddess Stevie Nicks, were added. Nicks’s addition sent the band skyrocketing on the charts and sparked rumors about her affair with the married Fleetwood.

Daisy Jones & The Six” mixes things up just enough to avoid charges of exploitation, but there’s no skimping on sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. Like Nicks, Keough’s Daisy Jones comes late to the band. A child of wealth and parental neglect, the rebellious, pill-popping, coke-snorting Daisy waits tables while struggling to make it on her own terms.

Daisy Jones and The Six Review and Summary

The music producer Teddy Price offers to mould her talent. Keough, whose performances in “It Comes at Night,” “American Honey,” and “Zola” are replete with the passion and feeling that mark a talent to watch, snaps, “I don’t need shaping,” as Daisy says with the fire we anticipate from him. She is captivating when she displays the dejected eyes that counteract Daisy’s dazzling smile.

Daisy initially rejects Teddy’s attempts to introduce her to The Six, a Pittsburgh band led by Billy Dunne, who is portrayed by British actor Sam Claflin with brooding rock star appeal (“The Hunger Games,” “Enola Holmes”). Claflin, like Keough, has never performed on-screen while singing. Even so, their acting is potent enough to overcome that hindrance.

Daisy is not needed in Billy’s opinion. He believes that things are going well for him in Los Angeles with his brother Graham (Will Harrison), their bandmates Warren Rhodes (Sebastian Chacon), Eddie Roundtree (Josh Whitehouse), and new pianist Karen Sirko (excellently portrayed by British model Suki Waterhouse).

The band called itself The Six even though it only has five members since “5” is already taken and “six” sounds like “sex,” which there is a lot of. Graham longs for Karen who is drawn to heartthrob Billy who has feelings for Daisy instead of his wife Camila, the mother of his kid, and the band’s unofficial photographer and publicist.

The idea, I suppose, is that not even Fleetwood Mac experienced sexual tensions this intricate. The first five episodes are directed by James Ponsoldt, who keeps jumping ahead 20 years as the band members disclose for the first time why they split up following their huge success with “Aurora,” their own album version of “Rumours,” for added impact.

Fortunately, Keough and Claflin really commit to the love-hate dynamic between Daisy and Billy as they compete for control of the band. Unfortunately, not even the best earworms—contributed by talented artists like Phoebe Bridgers, Marcus Mumford, Jackson Browne, and Grammy winner Blake Mills—can compare to Fleetwood Mac’s energetic ‘Go Your Own Way’ boom.

“Daisy Jones & The Six” scores points for being a nostalgic journey through grimy clubs, stadium crowds, and private battlegrounds. But listening to just one line of Stevie Nicks’ song “Landslide” will make you feel more strongly than spending 10 hours witnessing what should have been a brutal rock opera turn into an emo ballad.