The Top 20 Global Concert Tours ranks artists by average box office gross per city and includes the average ticket price for shows Worldwide. The list is based on data provided to the trade publication Pollstar by concert promoters and venue managers.
The GLOBAL CONCERT PULSE ranks each artist by its average boxoffice gross per city worldwide and is based on data reported within the last three months.
Legend and icon are such overused terms that they’ve become almost meaningless.
Goddess. Now that’s the appropriate word for Stevie Nicks.
Not just because she became the first woman to be inducted twice into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (with Fleetwood Mac and as a solo artist). Not just because she’s the oldest woman, at 77, to headline on the arena circuit. Not just because she’s become beloved by multiple generations thanks to recent appearances on TV’s “American Horror Story,” cosigns from Taylor Swift and Harry Styles and a viral TikTok of a man skateboarding to the Nicks-sung Fleetwood Mac oldie “Dreams” that ignited a surge in streams and sales during the pandemic.
It’s because Nicks rocks with relentless passion, colorful personality and punching-above-her-weight power as she demonstrated Wednesday night at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul. She showed an ability to touch hearts and minds — and feet. Yes, you can dance to Nicks’ music even if you’re not draped in a shawl and twirling like she does.
Her dancing during the opening “Not Fade Away,” “Stand Back” and “Gold Dust Woman” was a crowd-tantalizing treat, though she may not be as agile as she once was. Remember, she fractured her shoulder this summer, forcing the postponement of this concert that was originally scheduled for August.
It was a thoroughly satisfying, late-in-career arena performance, as the expected mystical and magical combined with some down-to-earth chattiness. Moreover, Nicks’ seductive husky siren of a voice was in fine form, for the most part, and she remarkably hit her high notes on Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’” and “Gold Dust Woman.”
The otherworldly hippie with long blond hair, an endless supply of shawls and beads draped on her microphone stand is revered by women, who made up the majority of the 14,000 fans in St. Paul, for being a survivor. She survived the romantic traumas of Fleetwood Mac and facing her overbearing ex, Lindsey Buckingham, night after night onstage. And she knows Fleetwood Mac is history after the 2022 death of her Mac soul sister Christine McVie.
Nicks pressed on, touring, writing poetry for Swift’s 2024 “The Tortured Poets Department” album, recording with Gorillaz and Dolly Parton and releasing last year the most politicized piece in her catalog, “The Lighthouse,” a spooky single in reaction to the repeal of the Roe v. Wade abortion decision
“Don’t let them take your power,” Nicks implored Wednesday during the dark, haunting stomp of a tune. Afterward, she declared: “It’s an anthem. It’s yours.”
Besides featuring that political detour without any between-song preaching, this Nicks concert was very different from her two most recent performances in the Twin Cities. Two years ago, she was paired with fellow Rock Hall of Famer Billy Joel at U.S. Bank Stadium. Nine years ago, she teamed with the Hall of Fame Pretenders, led by Chrissie Hynde, at Xcel Energy Center.
This time, Nicks plucked an unknown rural Minnesota singer/songwriter, Anna Graves, to open. Apparently, Graves’ booking agent’s aunt is a friend of Nicks and introduced her to Graves’ music. And the 28-year-old was courageous enough to perform solo in a hockey arena. Saying she graduated from Northfield High and lives in Webster, Minn., she was earnest and engaging, with a clarion voice and some promising songs.
With an obscure opening act, the evening didn’t exactly have the gravitas of Nicks’ two most recent Twin Cities performances. No one was complaining as she delivered 14 songs in 100 minutes.
The highlights were many, including the electrifying “Edge of Seventeen,” Fleetwood Mac’s closing acoustic “Landslide” (dedicated to her late husband Kim Anderson from Minnesota), the captivating “The Lighthouse” and “Stand Back,” which started with the buzzy synthesizer funk of the Twin Cities’ own Ricky Peterson and kept building in tension as Nicks and her eight-person band rocked out.
In her seventh solo Twin Cities appearance, Nicks was chatty, as is her wont in solo shows.
She shared a backstory about producer Jimmy Iovine telling her she needed a single after they’d finished recording her debut solo album in 1981. He was also producing Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers at the time, and he asked Petty if he could try a duet with Nicks on Petty’s “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around.”
“It was just enchantment,” she said of collaborating with Petty.
On Wednesday, veteran Los Angeles guitarist Waddy Wachtel sang Petty’s part on “Stop Draggin’” as photos of Petty, Bob Dylan, Prince, Joni Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin appeared on a giant video wall behind the stage. For part of the night, Wachtel served as Nicks’ key foil in much the same way Buckingham was in Fleetwood Mac.
Nicks didn’t go into detail about the collaborator on “Stand Back,” her 1983 hit. But the story goes Nicks heard Prince’s “Little Red Corvette” on the radio while driving to her honeymoon suite, and she started humming along to the melody. She recorded a demo that night and called Prince to tell him about it. A few days later, he came to the studio and played synthesizers on the record without receiving credit, though he did get a royalty split.
Nicks didn’t say anything about Prince on Wednesday. Goddesses don’t need to talk about gods.
Stevie Nicks busted one of her white wings this summer, forcing the twirling songstress to postpone a number of shows, including an August stop at the St. Paul hockey arena then known as Xcel Energy Center.
Nicks absolutely enchanted the crowd of about 14,000 at her make-good gig Wednesday night at Grand Casino Arena. And her once-fractured shoulder wasn’t apparent in the slightest during her delightful, spirited performance.
Now 77, Nicks certainly moves more slowly than she once did, but she’s still got every bit of that larger-than-life charisma that’s kept her star burning for more than five decades now. It’s no wonder she was the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice.
In interviews, Nicks often speaks about focusing her energy on doing things she finds fun, which as one would imagine rarely include her former life and musical partner Lindsey Buckingham. After seeing her sixth local show of the past 20 years, it was clear performing live is one of those things that brings her joy. In between her solo hits and Fleetwood Mac classics, Nicks smiled and chatted with the audience, sharing stories about her songs and her life. And, yup, she really did seem to be having fun.
She opened with a rollicking take on Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away,” a song that was released when she was 9 years old. It must be a favorite of hers, as she recorded a version of it for a 2011 Holly tribute album. She’s never performed it live until this tour, though. Maybe she relates to its title, as she’s showing no signs of fading away herself.
From there, she explored her solo career, turning in a fantastic take on “If Anyone Falls” and performing “Wild Heart” and “Bella Donna” as a medley, another first for Nicks on her current run of dates. (After wrapping “Bella Donna,” she told the crowd the cape draped over her shoulders was the same one she wore on the back cover of her 1981 solo debut album of the same name.)
Because she’s got so many gems in her catalog, she casually dropped a goosebump-inducing version of Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” in as the fourth song of the show. Her voice has grown huskier with age, not a bad thing at all, and remains strong. She also knows where she needs a little help and employed a pair of backup singers to beef up some of the numbers.
Nicks’ band extended the instrumental introductions to some songs like “Edge of Seventeen” and “Stand Back” to give her time to slip backstage and change into a new shawl. One of the few weak points of the evening arrived in the latter, as someone — maybe her longtime musical director Waddy Wachtel? — made the decision to downplay the song’s distinctive synthesizer hook in favor of a muddier, guitar-heavy take. (Prince, by the way, played it on the original recording.)
Given her age, it’s not too surprising she’s drawing such strong crowds these days. Surely, some of her fans are worried this might be their last chance to catch Nicks live.
Nicks clearly realizes that speculation is out there. At the close of her main set, she told the audience with a steely resolve: “See you next time. And there will be a next time. Hope to see you here!”
Stevie Nicks Sings for the Things Money Can’t Buy on Rock a Little: Platinum Album Features Extravagant Production, Includes the Hits “Talk to Me” and “I Can’t Wait”
Mobile Fidelity’s 180g 45RPM 2LP Set Presents the 1985 Record in Audiophile Sound for the First Time: Strictly Limited to 4,000 Numbered Copies, 40th Anniversary Reissue Plays with Exceptional Balance and Clarity
1/4” / 15 IPS Dolby A analog copy to DSD 256 to analog console to lathe.
Looking back on her career in the early 90s, Stevie Nicks described the first track of Rock a Little as “the most exciting song that I had ever heard.” This coming from a superstar who was already closely affiliated with several bajillion-selling Fleetwood Mac albums — to say nothing of her own benchmark solo debut. Her remarks attest to the enthusiasm and effort she invested in her third record, a 1985 work that quickly furthered Nicks’ profile and cemented itself as a piece of 80s pop lore.
Mastered at MoFi’s California studio, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing in California, strictly limited to 4,000 numbered copies, and housed in a Stoughton gatefold jacket, Mobile Fidelity’s 180g 45RPM 2LP set presents Rock a Little in audiophile sound for its 40th anniversary. Helmed by a cadre of producers and engineers, and recorded for a reported one million dollars, the platinum-certified album teems with a head-spinning array of colors, tones, dreamscapes, and accents. This reference-grade reissue marks the first time they are all brought to light and conveyed with proper balance, dimensionality, and positioning.
Though Rock a Little doubtlessly has period characteristics of a mid-80s LP, Nicks and company spare no expense when it comes to distinguishing the music with expansive sonics distinguished with lush melodies, high-tech percussion, echoing vocals, sampled keyboards, and layers of sophisticated accents. The degrees of spaciousness, headroom, and dynamics are nothing less than inspiring, while the newly enhanced detail, texture, and clarity make the songs sing like never before. As for Nicks’ voice? Wait ’til you experience the transparency and depth.
Those advantages extend, of course, to the aforementioned “I Can’t Wait,” a statement-making opener shot through with modulating synthesizers, splashy drums, metallic guitars, and serious drama. Holed up in a massive studio, Nicks required just one take to nail her part, which she called “magic and simply not able to beat.” The singer-songwriter also distilled the reverberating emotional essence of the Top 20 tune, stating “when I hear it on the radio, this incredible feeling comes over me, like something really incredible is about to happen.”
The same can be said for nearly all of Rock a Little. Crafted by the likes of Songwriters Hall of Fame multi-instrumentalist/producer Rick Nowels, Heartbreakers organist Benmont Tench, bassist Bob Glaub, jack-of-all-trades Greg Phillinganes, and session-pro guitarists Waddy Watchel, Les Dudek, and Danny Kortchmar — along with another two dozen or so participants — the record spills with diverse ideas, shapes, and moods. Everything is in the right place, as evidenced by the swirling glide and sensual undertow of the slightly funky title track to the snapping rhythmic pace and big hooks of “Imperial Hotel,” one of Nicks’ standout moments.
“What was it she wanted?” Nicks queries on “No Spoken Word,” continuing a theme of contemplation that runs through the narratives. Nicks never lands on a definite answer, but hearing her explore loneliness, love, and the secrets we keep to ourselves proves continuously rewarding. Take her passionate performance on a cover of Chas Sanford’s “Talk to Me,” a Top 5 smash furthered by tasteful saxophone lines and understated folk elements. Immersive yourself in the grand sonic corridors of “If I Were You,” laden with Nicks’ signature mysticism.
Moreover, surrender to the gravitas of the closing “Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for You,” a piano ballad composed about the death of Joe Walsh’s three-year-old daughter. As Nicks asserts earlier on the album, she sings for things money can’t buy.
So, rock a little, yes, but dare to feel even more.
TRACKLIST
Side One:
I Can’t Wait
Rock a Little (Go Ahead Lily)
Side Two:
Sister Honey
I Sing for the Things
Imperial Hotel
Side Three:Some Become Strangers
Talk to Me
The Nightmare
Side Four:
If I Were You
No Spoken Word
Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for You
Also Available to pre-order
Mobile Fidelity’s Hybrid SACD
Mobile Fidelity’s Hybrid SACD Presents the 1985 Record in Audiophile Sound: Strictly Limited to 3,000 Numbered Copies, 40th Anniversary Reissue Plays with Exceptional Balance and Clarity
Mastered at MoFi’s California studio, strictly limited to 3,000 numbered copies, and housed in mini-LP-style gatefold packaging, Mobile Fidelity’s hybrid SACD presents Rock a Little in audiophile sound for its 40th anniversary.
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