Review Stevie Nicks with The Pretenders Live in Columbus, Ohio March 17, 2017

Concert review: Stevie Nicks shares inspiring stories through and outside of music
by Hannah Herner
The Lantern
Photo: Jack Westerheide

Stevie Nicks is exactly what I wanted her to be, but I know she doesn’t care what anyone wants her to be. When the 68-year-old rock star took the stage at Nationwide Arena on Friday night, clad in a black lace dress and crazy-tall boots with a tambourine in hand, I knew it was going to be a night to remember.

As she told the crowd, this show was for her. She went through her catalog of songs and picked some of her favorites as well as some that hadn’t seen the light of the stage, for a show unlike the thousands shes done during her more than 40 year career.

Unsurprisingly, as a 21-year-old, I was much younger than most of the audience. Like, I’m sure, many of the young people there, I discovered Stevie Nicks through my grandfather. After he died, my dad and I were putting together a playlist for the reception, and he had me buy Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumors” album since it was my grandfather’s favorite. I never knew this before he died, but I’ve tried to make up for it by listening to the tracks and trying to see what he saw in them.

The best part of a concert is when an artist speaks directly to the audience, and does more than just awkwardly asking “How are you feeling tonight?” Nicks delivered with an anecdote for every single song throughout the night, plus some stories about her bandmates and clothing items she wore on stage —including the original Bella Donna cape! The concert lasted two hours and 15 minutes and by the end the crowd was chanting for her to just sing, but I live for personal anecdotes.  

The stories she told of working with Prince seemed to get the most response from the audience. She said she actually wrote my personal favorite of the night, “Stand Back” while listening to Prince’s “Little Red Corvette” in a limousine. She called him and he came over to approve his influence on the song and help her lay down the track before speeding off in a purple Camaro.

A surprising anecdote went along with “Moonlight (A Vampire’s Dream).” She said she was disheartened that people do not buy as much music in the age of the internet, so she didn’t want to make new music anymore. But the “Twilight” saga, of all things, pulled her out of a hiatus in 2011 as she wrote a song inspired by the movie and Bella and Edward’s love affair. I just love that Stevie Nicks loves “Twilight.” Amazing. 

Nicks also did a bit of motivational speaking, as many artists tend to do when they take the stage. She told audience members that, regardless of their ages, they should follow their dreams. A personally inspiring story was when she talked about wearing her one expensive outfit and strutting across campus when she was enrolled at San Jose State University in California, causing people to move out of the way. She that through her “vibe,” she convinced people by her “vibe” she was important, and she convinced herself that she was going to be a big rock star one day.

Nicks faked it until she made it, and she definitely made it.

Concert review | Stevie Nicks/Pretenders: Fans wait to hear old favorites held until late in show

By Curtis Schieber 

For The Columbus Dispatch

Photo: Eric Albrecht

About 20 minutes into her two hour-plus set last night in the Nationwide Arena, Stevie Nicks finally delivered one of her trademark spins. Remaining in place, she went once around, slowly. The packed house, especially the vocal diehard fans, went wild.

It seemed a long wait for those outside the cult of Stevie Nicks to get a little something that related to the gypsy-like, often self-obsessed Fleetwood Mac singer of lore. The current tour is not a review of her hits, with Mac and on her own, but a book and music tour without the publication of a book.

Some of the material came from her newest release, 2014's "24 Karat Gold: Songs From The Vault," a collection of unreleased compositions dating back to 1969. It dovetails, with the recent extended reissues of her first two solo albums, 1981's "Bella Donna" and 1983's "The Wild Heart."

Nicks has taken the opportunity to focus on a selection of her material deeper than just the hits and, more importantly, to tell the stories behind most of them.

It was, perhaps, too much information. While for a time at the beginning, the finely detailed chronology of songs such as "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" were interesting—who knew that she was such an admirer of Tom Petty that she sought out their producer, Jimmy Iovine for her first solo album, "Bella Donna." Or that "Stop Draggin'" was borrowed from Petty after Iovine didn't hear a hit on that collection?

That one and the Prince story that explained the inspiration for the 1983 dance hit "Stand Back," were keepers. Turns out Nicks heard "Little Red Corvette" on the radio, composed "Stand Back" based on it and eventually enlisted Prince's help finishing it.

Many of the other stories became tedious as the set wore on, at least to most, other than the fanatics.

Though a few songs such as "Gypsy," the newly recorded vintage composition "Starshine" and the raving dance number "Stand Back" not only fed the legend but provided memorable performances, it wasn't until "Gold Dust Woman," late in the show, that the Stevie Nicks we've come to expect came around. Building the mystery from the start, the singer ended fairly convulsing, as if possessed by the characters in the song.

The contrast between the storytelling and the Pretenders, who opened the evening, couldn't have been greater. Chrissie Hynde and her newest incarnation—which, after 37 years still includes founding drummer Martin Chambers—delivered a vibrant hour-long set that felt as comfortable as an old pair of shoes but didn't rely on nostalgia for its appeal.

Old faves including "Back On The Chain Gang," "Stop Your Sobbing," "Brass In Pocket," and the smoldering reggae-based "Private Life" proved that, at 65 Hynde can still deliver the goods with no-nonsense and fevered rock-and-roll.

Review Stevie Nicks Live with The Pretenders Memphis March 8, 2017

Stevie Nicks, Chrissie Hynde in fine form on double bill

It was a fitting close to International Women’s Day as two of rock’s iconic female figures, Stevie Nicks and the Chrissie Hynde, took the stage of FedExForum on Wednesday. Appearing with her solo band, Fleetwood Mac star Nicks was the ostensible headliner, but it was Hynde and her group The Pretenders who stole the show, with both women presenting district and distinctly different visions of musical and personal empowerment.

Resuming her work with the Pretenders last summer after a four-year break, Hynde and the band — which includes founding drummer Martin Chambers and new-era additions James Walbourne on guitar, Nick Wilkinson on bass and Eric Heywood on pedal steel — sounded sharp and inspired during a 15-song set that covered the expected hits as well as material from the band’s recent album, “Alone.”

Hynde was in classically cantankerous form early on, rightfully berating a couple of audience members down front who were popping off cell phone camera flashes in her face. After apologizing — on their behalf — Hynde settled down and found both the aggression and nuance of songs like “My City Was Gone” and “Stop Your Sobbing.”

Thirty-five years after the implosion of the original Pretenders lineup — following the death of guitarist James Honeyman Scott and the firing and subsequent death of bassist Pete Farndon — Hynde and Chambers have somehow managed to keep the group a compelling force, with the new members, particularly flash guitarist Walbourne, providing a fresh spark.

One of rock’s most stylish singers, Hynde also showed a depth of emotional range on the spare ballad “I’ll Stand by You,” while one of her rare solo songs, “Down the Wrong Way,” seemed to take on new life in the Pretenders context.

Ohio native Hynde took the opportunity to rave about Memphis, having visited several local haunts — Graceland, Shangri-La Records and Imagine Vegan Café — on a day off before the concert. She noted that she skipped a return to the local jail, where she stayed during the Pretenders' first tour on disorderly conduct charges after kicking out the windows of a police car. “They didn’t want me back,” she quipped.

After a brief break, Nicks and her big band — which included longtime guitarist/musical director Waddy Wachtel on guitar — emerged, sounding strong, if somewhat measured during their 18-song performance.

Nicks presented the set as part storyteller’s session, part deep dive into her catalog. Vocally, she was in fine form, but the somewhat awkward pacing — songs broken up by Nicks’ long  narrative interludes — meant that musical momentum was hard to sustain.

Still, Nicks’ tremendous personal charm — part girl next door, part witchy woman, part mother figure — was hard to resist, and the crowd of devotees were held rapt by her, expressing their devotion vocally and visually, with many dressing in homage to her (sartorially speaking, the audience at a Nicks concert could double for a renaissance fair crowd).

The liveliest moment of Nicks' set came during an early version of the Tom Petty-penned “Stop Dragging My Heart Around” as Hynde emerged from the wings and the women, along with Wachtel, presented the song as a three-way romantic drama.

Ultimately, amid all the stories and banter, Nicks managed to cover all the expected ground, delivering strong versions of her solo hits (“Stand Back,” “Edge of Seventeen”) and closing with a flourish of Fleetwood Mac favorites (“Rhiannon,” “Gold Dust Woman,” “Landslide”) that were impossible to resist.

- Bob Mehr
The Commercial Appeal

Review: A Night of Nostalgia with Stevie Nicks
POSTED BY JOSHUA CANNON
Memphis Flyer

"We've followed her for seven cities now," a man 20-years-my-senior told me midway through Stevie Nicks' 18-song set. "Amazing, after all these years, she's still got it." 

She never lost it. Backed by a multi-piece band that included a pianist, hammond organist, two backup vocalists, a drummer, bassist, and longtime musical director and guitarist Waddy Wachtel, Nicks' brought a storied discography to life — a "gothic trunk of lost songs." Tracks she wrote over the span of 40 plus years; deep cuts from albums that seldom or never got the live treatment. The audience didn't mind, an eclectic bunch: mothers and daughters, married couples and young couples, a man in a top hat hopelessly waving a bouquet of white roses in Nicks' direction, a pack of gypsies who led me to my seat. 

The energy was palpable, though, when Nicks and co. rolled through Fleetwood favorites like Gypsy, a moment when anyone still sitting found their feet; Gold Dust Woman, made bigger than ever by her band; Rhiannon, the alcohol had taken hold by this one, there was lots of aisle-dancing; and Landslide, the stripped down closer, during which there was lots of hugging and audible disappointment that the show would soon end. 

Nicks, donning a black dress with flowing sleeves, a sequined shawl, black fingerless gloves, and, for "Bella Donna," the original silk chiffon scarf ($2,000 when purchased, "ah, shit, that's a lot of money, Stevie," said a concerned person behind me) draped over her in the 1981 promos, paused briefly after her first song and scanned the Fedex Forum. 

"You have to let us, for a minute, sink into your Memphis-ness," she said. "You know this is a very special city. This is on that list of cities — Los Angeles, San Francisco, Nashville, Memphis, New York — where you come into the city knowing those are the important shows. I'm extremely happy to be here in your musical city that has so much history." 

Each song came with a story, a bit of nostalgia about who she was and where she was when they were written. Stand Back was born after Nicks heard Prince's Little Red Corvette on the radio and wrote lyrics around his melody. After getting his approval, Prince visited her in the studio, where he played on the track, and the two played a game of basketball. A montage of photos of Prince would later appear on screen behind her, a source of motivation for Nicks. 

"The sad thing is now he's gone," Nicks said. "But when I sing Stand Back, he's here. When I'm nervous, I say, 'Prince, walk with me.' And he does." 

Nicks' storytelling broke up what could have been a traditional arena rock production. "I could do this until I'm 90 years old," Nicks said. "Because I have fans who are kind enough to listen." Her diving into the details brought a closeness to the audience, removing a wall. We could have been in her living room. When she went into Stop Draggin' My Heart Around, which she wrote with Tom Petty as their friendship blossomed, show opener Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders appeared from the darkness to sing. 

Earlier in the evening, The Pretenders' bare-bones band — drums, bass, guitar, pedal steel — showcased Hynde's magnetism. On "I'll Stand By You," Hynde's vocals were as powerful as they've ever been. Wearing a Shangri-La Records T-shirt, Hynde said the band had a better experience in Memphis this go around, visiting Graceland and Imagine Vegan instead of the jail where she was once held overnight for disorderly conduct. 

"Memphis is progressing in the right way," Hynde said. "But I didn't go to the jail where I was held overnight for kicking out the windows of a police car. They didn't want me back." 

Closing the show, Nicks revisited 1973, when she lived for three months in Aspen, Colorado on $250. One evening while home alone in a condominium where she was renting a room, Nicks' wrote Landslide on an acoustic guitar, finding the lyrics as they came to her. 

"I was a little girl, and I wrote this little song, and this little song took all of us to the top," Nicks said. "Did I ever dream I'd be in Memphis playing for you?" 

Review Stevie Nicks Live in Tulas, Oklahoma March 6, 2017

Stevie Nicks revisits storied career at BOK Center
By JIMMIE TRAMEL
Tulsa World

PHOTO: CORY YOUNG

Stevie Nicks has it. And she gets it.

Some folks are blessed with “it,” a difficult-to-describe quality that helps make a person remarkable.

“It” is a gift, really. You can’t teach it. You can’t buy it. You just have it, or you don’t.

Nicks has “it.” This was evident the second she arrived on stage Monday night at the BOK Center.

Between Nicks’ aura (swear you can almost see the glow) and that hypnotic voice (Homer’s sirens should take lessons from her), it was reinforced during a two-hour, 15-minute set that this person is a singular, special talent. Good luck finding another one like her.

And, as mentioned up high, Nicks “gets it” — she gets that she can make a concert experience more meaningful, more personal, by engaging a crowd in conversation rather than hurriedly plowing through a set list and saying “goodbye, Tulsa.”

Nicks performed, encore included, 17 songs. Before almost every song, she told a story related to the song. And, in rare instances when she went immediately from one song to another with no chit chat in between, she “back-splained” the tunes she had just sang.

I don’t know how the majority of attendees felt about Nicks shifting back and forth between sing gear and talk gear, but why in the heck wouldn’t you want a concert to be a one-of-a-kind experience with artist commentary? If all you want is song after song with no elaboration, maybe a greatest hits album should be your next adventure. Here’s to more artists using the Nicks concert format instead of being mute or predictable.

One of the first stories Nicks told was a recollection of her desire to take a break from Fleetwood Mac and record a solo album. While making her first solo album, she was told the album didn’t have a single. Thankfully, longtime pal Tom Petty had a song ready to go. He teamed with her for “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around.” Nicks said the song kicked her album “right up into the stratosphere,” and a solo career was successfully launched.

Because of Petty, Tulsa has a six-degrees-of-Kevin Bacon connection to Nicks. When Petty was a pup, he lurked about Tulsa during the Leon Russell/Shelter Records era. “A lot of people used to think Petty was from Tulsa,” Dwight Twilley, who was in the Shelter Records stable, told the Tulsa World in 2010.

Petty and the Heartbreakers received the Legend Award at the 2003 Radio Music Awards in Las Vegas. The presenter was Nicks, who said at that time, “(Petty) not only started out as my greatest musical influence, but today he’s still my greatest musical influence.”

Nicks’ BOK set included a song (“Starshine”) she recorded with Petty and the Heartbreakers many years ago.

“It was really such a good track that, if either one of us had been doing a record, it would have gone on one of those records,” she said. “But neither of us was doing a record, so it went into what I like to call the gothic trunk of lost songs and there it stayed until now.”

The song is a track on Nicks’ new album, “24 Karat Gold: Songs From the Vault.”

Nicks’ set was a mix of new and old, of solo works and Fleetwood Mac songs (“Rumours,” the monster Fleetwood Mac album that everybody — everybody — owned turned 40 last month). Hits revisited during the show included “If Anyone Falls,” “Gypsy,” “Stand Back,” “Gold Dust Woman,” “Edge of Seventeen,” “Rhiannon” and “Landslide.”

Nicks’ told a story about how the Prince song “Little Red Corvette” inspired her to write “Stand Back.” She said she feels like Prince is standing beside her when she performs the song now.

Early in the show, Nicks sang “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” and the crowd cheered when she was joined on stage by Chrissie Hynde, lead singer of the opening act, the Pretenders. Hynde said during the Pretenders’ gig that she used her spare time in Tulsa to visit the Woody Guthrie Museum.

Near the end of the show, Nicks, 68, expressed appreciation for the crowd and said she feels like she could do this for another 10 years. She’s got “it” on her side.

Review Stevie Nicks and The Pretenders - San Diego March 2, 2017

Review Stevie Nicks and her stories at Viejas Arena
by Leslie Hackett
The San Diego Union Tribune

Photo: Leslie Hackett

There’s a fine line that separates telling stories between songs and letting the music speak for itself. Last night at Viejas Arena, Stevie Nicks was on the wrong side of that line.

Sure, it’s fun to hear that “Every time that big black limo came to pick me up (to go out on tour), that would be the end of a relationship.” Or that one of her first Bella Donna-era shawls cost her a fortune, but at least, according to her frugal mother, she bought silk chiffon, which would last forever (as was proven when Nicks put it on mid-show).

but, when you go to a Stevie Nicks concert, it’s her captivating, raspy singing voice — the one that has been reeling in fans for nearly 50 years — you want to hear most of all. And that’s not what happened Thursday night.

The highlight of the night turned out to be the opening act. The Pretenders — with Chrissie Hynde, one of the two remaining survivors of the original Pretenders, at the helm — rocked the arena. The band took the stage at 7:15 p.m. and roared through 15 songs in its hour-and-15-minute set.

As for stories in between songs? There was just one.

Hynde told the audience that she and the band took a bus from their hotel to Hillcrest (which was met with a roar of applause). “I always like to get on the bus to see if there’s someone who can recognize me,” she said.

Hynde and the band members stopped in to pick up some vinyl at Record City (“Because vinyl is final!” she shouted), and she was particularly impressed by the healthy juice bars and vegetarian restaurant offerings in the area. “But it’s still not as great as my hometown — Akron, Ohio,” she said with a laugh.

While The Pretenders were the opening act, they aren’t just any opening act. The Pretenders, like Nicks, is a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee band, and from opening song “Alone” to “I’ll Stand by You” to set-closer “Brass In Pocket,” they held true to the fact that they’re “gonna make you, make you, make you notice.”

As for Nicks’ musical performance, she stated from the beginning that it wasn’t going to be the traditional show she’s done a million times. Her 18-song set, which started at 8:45 p.m. and ended at 11 p.m., was mostly music from her solo albums, peppered with some Fleetwood Mac favorites, including the two encore songs of “Rhiannon” and “Landslide.” Many of those Nicks played came from what she called her “gothic trunk of lost songs.”

Probably the most powerful of the night was “Stand Back,” a song Nicks wrote to the melody of Prince’s “Little Red Corvette” and for which he played some of the musical track for on the 1983 “The Wild Heart” album version.

But, of course, it was an acoustic guitar and “Landslide” that pulled the whole show together. A song Nicks said she has tried over and over to walk away from the stage without playing remains a continual fan favorite, it continues to be a part of every show. Arms locking together and warm embraces could be seen among the diverse, multi-generational audience members — a sign that Nicks, even with all of her stories, can unite an audience and end on a high note.

Review Stevie Nicks with The Pretenders Live in Portland February 28, 2017

Stevie Nicks in Portland: Fleetwood Mac hits and gold dust memories
by David Greenwald
Oregonlive.com

Photo: David Greenwald - Check out the 45 photos in the gallery

"This is a journey," Stevie Nicks said on Tuesday night. "This is a trip. I'm just asking you to come with me."

From the days of "Fleetwood Mac," Nicks has had fans who would follow her anywhere. But at her Moda Center tour stop, she was looking for indulgence: an evening of storytelling and memories accompanying rare, revived tracks from across her band and solo career, some gathered on 2014's "24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault."

"This is a journey," Stevie Nicks said on Tuesday night. "This is a trip. I'm just asking you to come with me."

From the days of "Fleetwood Mac," Nicks has had fans who would follow her anywhere. But at her Moda Center tour stop, she was looking for indulgence: an evening of storytelling and memories accompanying rare, revived tracks from across her band and solo career, some gathered on 2014's "24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault."

Nicks didn't skimp on the hits, including Fleetwood Mac staples: "Gypsy," "Gold Dust Woman," "Rhiannon" and finally, "Landslide." But she was more excited to share songs such as "Crying in the Night," a soaring, harmony-bright Buckingham/Nicks track she hadn't performed ever until this tour. It would've been a No. 1 hit if she'd given it to the Eagles.

Nearly every song came with the background behind it, and the storytelling was as compelling as the music. Nicks has always deeply inhabited the characters in her songs, and along with her indelibly witchy popular image, perhaps been too convincing as a bohemian spell-caster. The minutes with Nicks, human being, were surprising and often hilarious: she lacks, say, Cher's comic timing, but she was nearly as amusing--and much more sincere.

"I used to drop by his house, only after calling, of course," she said of politely visiting Tom Petty, whose work inspired her solo debut, "Bella Donna." "I wanted to make a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers record, from a woman's perspective."

She picked up Petty duet "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" after their mutual producer, Jimmy Iovine, got serious and told her she didn't have a single. Pretenders' Chrissie Hynde, who delivered a ferociously punk opening set, took the stage with visible joy to step into Petty's shoes for the song, and the two singers barely made it through without laughing at each other's moves.

And Nicks remembered the pre-fame days she spent waitressing and waiting for her musical breakthrough: it came for her and Lindsey Buckingham with Fleetwood Mac, and she sang "Belle Fleur" about the about the black limousine that whisked her away to rock fame and fortune. Making "Bella Donna" on her own a few years later meant convincing Fleetwood Mac she wasn't going to break up the band.

"Get it through your head!" she said, remembering the conversation.

She also paid tribute to the late Prince: after his "Little Red Corvette" inspired Nicks to write "Stand Back," she called him up for his blessing and 15 minutes later, he was at the studio to help record. On Tuesday night, the result--like so much of Prince's work--was remarkably current, a pulsing synth-rock freight-train that might've graced (or just inspired) 2011's '80s-reviving "Drive" soundtrack.

"Every time I sing that song, Prince is standing right there with me," she said.

On "Edge of Seventeen," she showcased his image on the video projections behind her, the song concluding with a nod to Prince's "When Doves Cry."

Hearing the Fleetwood Mac material apart from the band's gravity let it orbit in intriguing directions: "Gold Dust Woman" went through the heaviest transformation, gaining psychedelic weight to the point of stoner-metal. As the band went into a guitar break, Nicks head-banged, and a puff of cannabis smoke floated through section 122.

Among other revelations: it took the "Twilight" movies and their inspirational (!) teen vampire romance to lead Nicks back to the music industry after almost a decade away. She sang "Moonlight (A Vampire's Dream)" with a visual of rippling water and a full moon behind her--if this music thing doesn't work out, Nicks has a future in fantasy screensavers.

But for every behind-the-scenes moment, Nicks also gave us the comforting familiar: costume changes, tambourines and spin moves, and the captivating voice whose quivering wisdom the 68-year-old Nicks has only grown into.

"You have to believe in your heart," she advised. On Tuesday, it was easy to believe in hers.

Reviews - Stevie Nicks with The Pretenders Salt Lake City, Utah Feb 25, 2017

'Talk to Me': Stevie Nicks chats up Vivint Arena in memorable SLC return
Doug Fox Daily Herald

Photo by: Sammy Jo Hester, Daily Herald - VIEW MORE

Stevie Nicks was in a chatty mood Saturday night at Vivint Smart Home Arena.

Maybe it was because the rock icon was back in her onetime hometown of Salt Lake City. Maybe it was because she was excited to return to the road for the bonus round of her "24 Karat Gold Tour," with this show being just the second in a 20-date tour extension that kicked off Thursday in Reno following a two-month break. Maybe it was a side effect of the Gold Dust Woman's desire to sprinkle intimate insight and detail into the background of nearly every tune in her 18-song set.

Whatever the reason, Nicks split her two hours and 15 minutes on stage between singing and sharing stories from behind the music of her illustrious 44-year recording career. And you know what? Give us more shows like this -- ones where it's as if the artist is standing in your living room and carrying on a musical conversation at their own relaxed pace rather than punching some imaginary time clock monitoring exactly when they need to be off stage.

Nicks even joked about her gift of gab late in the performance.

"There's too many stories in my life," she said, before laughingly considering what her concerts might morph into another five or six years down the road. "Pretty soon, there won't be any music. It'll just be me sitting in a chair talking. It will be the cheapest show ever. I won't even need a band."

As bands do go, Nicks has always managed to surround herself with some amazing musicians, whether on stage or in the studio, a fact that was never more evident than it was Saturday night -- both in terms of live performance and with her revelations into each song's background. This has been true since she broke into music as a duo with partner/guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, continued on with that pair's tenure in Fleetwood Mac, and been a constant throughout her solo career as well. Some of her best stories revolved impromptu recording sessions with Tom Petty's Heartbreakers and Prince, among others.

Both Prince and Tom Petty had notable influences in Saturday's set. Nicks told of how she wrote one of her biggest hits, "Stand Back," on her lone wedding day, literally working through her honeymoon night on it, after hearing Prince's "Little Red Corvette" on the radio for the first time. Recognizing Prince's influence on the song, she later rang him up from Sunset Sound studios in Los Angeles to seek his permission to finish the track. He happened to be in town and showed up at the studio 15 minutes later, as Nicks said, "Dressed to the 9's in purple," to hear what they'd recorded.

"If you hate this, it's over, we will throw it in the trash right now,' " Nicks said she told Prince. "(But) he loved it. I said, 'Would you like to play on it?' And he said yes."

In true rock star fashion, Prince had brought a guitar with him in his car. He added some guitar and keyboards to the final track.

"He, like, finished in an hour," Nicks said. "(He said), 'I love it. Be seeing you.'

"Now when I sing it, he's right here," Nicks said, motioning just to her side on stage.

Nicks' collaboration with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers is more obvious, since the band literally helped catapult her solo career with the duet "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" in 1981. Short of T.P. and the Heartbreakers personally showing up, it's hard to imagine a more spirited version of the tune being performed live than this tour's rendition. As she has been doing all tour, Chrissie Hynde, frontwoman of opening act The Pretenders, walked into the "Stop Draggin' " party like she was walking onto a yacht, strolling confidently out to thunderous applause during the first verse. There was so much genuine interaction between Nicks and Hynde, as well as guitarist Waddy Wachtel, that it was blatantly obvious how much fun everyone was having.

In the grand tradition of concert "walk-ons" -- where artists from other bands on the bill make a guest appearance in another's set -- the best ones tiptoe the tightrope between rehearsal and spontaneity. In this, "Stop Draggin' " was a huge early-set success. Although planned, it seemed to catch most of the crowd by surprise. Additionally, whether true or not, it appeared as if Nicks and Hynde almost decided on the fly who would take some of the lead vocal lines.

Nicks alluded to that after the song, saying that with so many singers -- five in this song, counting Wachtel and full-time backup singers Sharon Celani and Marilyn Martin -- it is hard to keep track of who, exactly, is supposed to sing what.

"You tried your hardest just to smooth it over," Nicks laughingly said to Wachtel after the song, "but you just couldn't do it."

Wachtel, who in addition to lead guitar duties is also the band's musical director, has been with Nicks from the start. He literally performed as a session musician on the "Buckingham Nicks" album in 1973 that led to duo's destined decision to join Fleetwood Mac the following year. Wachtel has played on every one of Nicks' solo albums and tours, and his performance -- not to mention his wild frizzy hair -- also figures prominently in the band's live show.

Nicks' latest album, "24 Karat Gold: Songs From the Vault," provided the perfect template for her strong storytime approach. The album features a collection of songs that Nicks wrote and recorded over the years that for some reason never quite fit musically or timing wise into any of her other projects. Over time she metaphorically placed them in her "gothic trunk of lost songs."

She played three songs from that album -- "Belle Fleur," "If You Were My Love" and "Starshine." The latter song, which Nicks co-wrote and recorded with Petty and the Heartbreakers (she thinks around 1979), certainly sounded like it could have been a vintage single for either of them, and helped drive home the sometimes fickle nature of the music industry.

"I wasn't doing a record (at the time) and he wasn't doing a record," Nicks said. "If either of us had been doing a record, it would have been on it. So it went into the gothic trunk of lost songs."

Nicks' set was extremely well paced in terms of song selection and running order. She could have filled the entire show with hit singles -- but to her credit, she didn't. She only played four Fleetwood Mac songs, and branched out into much of her lesser-known solo material as well. In less-capable hands this might have been a bit of a gamble, but it was no threat to a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer of Nicks' stature.

To be sure, Nicks did scatter hits occasionally throughout the show, before backloading it with four songs guaranteed to garner a great reaction. An especially intense 10-minute version of "Gold Dust Woman" set the beginning of the end in motion. That was followed by the main set-closing "Edge of Seventeen." The encore featured "Rhiannon" and "Landslide," two songs from her Fleetwood Mac debut. Nicks noted that she has sang both those songs every single performance since they were written.

"I wrote this song in Aspen," she said of "Landslide." "I wish I'd written it here."

Nicks owned the crowd from the moment she walked on stage in her trademark platform heel boots, flowing black dress, black fingerless gloves and an ever-changing array of scarves, shawls, jackets and capes.

One such cape, by the way, was the silk chiffon one she wore on the "Bella Donna" album cover. The cape, she said, cost her $2,000 in 1981 and remains in perfect condition today. She laughed considering what her mother would have said at paying that initial exorbitant price tag.

"(But) $2,000 over 35 years is a very good price," Nicks noted.

That's very likely the sentiment anyone in attendance Saturday night will have years from now when they look at the price on their ticket stub. Seeing someone of Nicks' legend, caliber and overall talent, still performing at a very high level, is not an opportunity to be missed. You simply can't put a cost on gathering memories like that -- or missing out on them.

Adding to the value of the night's entertainment, The Pretenders, also a R&R Hall of Fame act, performed a tight 15-song, one-hour set. The band showcased both new and old material along with well-known hits "Back on the Chain Gang," "My City Was Gone," "Middle of the Road" and "Brass in Pocket."

Pretenders frontwoman Hynde runs the show, naturally, along with the animated efforts of lead guitarist James Walbourne, original drummer Martin Chambers, and the more laid-back efforts of bassist Nick Wilkinson and keyboardist Ricky Peterson. Peterson deserves special notice for pulling double duty, as he also is a member of Nicks' touring band.

In one sense, Nicks and Hynde are polar opposites. Hynde, rocking her signature fringe mop hairdo, hit the stage in skinny jeans, a T-shirt and a short-waisted pink tuxedo jacket, which she removed six songs in. But in another sense, Nicks and Hynde are kindred spirits who can rock with the best of them. As unlikely as it sounds, there are fewer sights more pure rock and roll than seeing the statuesque Hynde, bent at a three-quarters side angle, jamming on a harmonica with her Fender Telecaster slung behind her back during the end of "Middle of the Road." Perhaps you had to be there.

On any other night, The Pretenders would have been the talk of the town. In this tour, however, Nicks gets the final word.

Concert review: Stevie Nicks’ “gothic trunk of lost songs” filled with magic moments

By Eric Walden, 

The Salt Lake Tribune

"She was magical. Make sure you put that in your write-up," my wife insisted upon leaving Saturday's Stevie Nicks concert at Vivint SmartHome Arena in Salt Lake City.

She had a point. How else to explain an artist I had no particular affinity for prior to entering the building delivering two and a quarter hours of the best concert-going experience of my adulthood?

Magic seems as good an explanation as any.

OK, so you could argue that many of the live performances — bolstered by two guitarists, a bassist, drummer, Hammond organist, grand pianist, two female backing vocalists, and the occasional Nicks-shaken tambourine — were infused with a depth and energy that isn't always apparent (to me, anyway) on her recordings.

Still …

That hardly tells the whole story, though Nicks proved quite adept at just that, often preceding or following the tunes that comprised the night's setlist — many pulled from her "gothic trunk of lost songs" — with meandering, colorful and humorous tales.

Among her topics of conversation:

• Her two-plus years growing up in Utah: "My parents threatened to send me to that Catholic [high] school downtown if I didn't get a B-plus average [at Wasatch Junior High]. … That place turned out to be a lot fun! It was coed! I didn't brag about it 'cause I knew they'd whip me out of that school and put me in a convent."

• Her humble pre-Fleetwood Mac career: "I was still a waitress and a cleaning lady, and I had a Toyota Corolla with no reverse. And all of a sudden I'm flying first class and riding in a limousine — something I never thought I'd do unless I was the one driving it."

• Her expensive-yet-theoretically-practical fashion proclivities: "This is the original 'Bella Donna' cape. My mother, if she were standing here, would fall over if she knew how much it cost. It was $2,000! It's made of silk chiffon! … But look at it — not even a loose thread anywhere. So, you take $2,000 and spread it over 30-something years … now, all of a sudden, if my mother was standing here today, she would say, 'That was a very good choice of fabric!' "

Nicks also spun yarns of having to promise not to break up Fleetwood Mac in order to make her first solo record (but giving her label a panic attack by quasi-joking that what she really wanted to do was join Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers), having nothing to do one night in Brisbane, Australia, and winding up "thoroughly and completely in love with the love story of Bella and Edward" after getting sucked into the first two "Twilight" films, and meeting a young Prince sometime between 1975-77 "when hardly anyone knew who he was" and remarking to him, "You don't say much do you? You need to talk a little more."

Of course, Nicks also has a way with words in her songs, and she proved equally enchanting there over the course of her 18-tune setlist, which included four selections apiece from Fleetwood, 1981's "Bella Donna" and 1983's "The Wild Heart," three from the 2014 rarities collection "24 Karat Gold," two from 2011's "In Your Dreams," and even one from her original "Buckingham Nicks" album from 1973.

She got the crowd rolling early by having The Pretenders' Chrissie Hynde trade lines with her on her Petty duet "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" (with guitarist Waddy Wachtel taking on Petty's parts). Other highlights included the ethereal, "Twilight"-inspired "Moonlight (A Vampire's Dream)," the unexpected electro rave-up "Stand Back" (an offshoot of Prince's "Little Red Corvette"), and the main-set closer "Edge of Seventeen," which had the audience dancing and singing along on all those "Whooooo! Whooooo! Whooooo!"s.

Really, though, just about everyone's favorite moments came in her Fleetwood performances. "Gypsy" got the crowd swaying, and the encore included "Rhiannon" and a sparse acoustic guitar and piano arrangement of "Landslide," but perhaps the singular moment of the entire evening was the hypnotic-and-transfixing-yet-swaggering run through "Gold Dust Woman."

Hynde and The Pretenders opened the night with a no-frills hour of straight-ahead rock, starting off a bit flat before settling in and catching a groove around their fourth song in. Her mid-set trifecta of "Back on the Chain Gang," "I'll Stand By You" and "Don't Get Me Wrong" would've been her inarguable highlight if not for her rousing, set-closing edition of "Brass in Pocket."

When The Pretenders wrapped up, Hynde told those assembled, "Stevie will be on in about 20 minutes. Don't go anywhere!"

Great advice — unless, of course, you'd simply already had too many magical moments in your life.

Updated Tour Stats - Stevie Nicks 24 Karat Gold Tour

Nine shows reporting so far to Billboard Boxscore.

New to the list - The Forum in Los Angeles - Dec 18th

Stevie Nicks, The Pretenders 
Toyota Center - Houston, Texas - Oct. 29, 2016
Gross: $970,641
Attendance / Available Seats: 8,440 / 9,306

Stevie Nicks, The Pretenders
American Airlines Center - Dallas, Texas - Oct. 30, 2016
Gross: $930,988
Attendance / Available Seats: 9,409 / 10,299

Stevie Nicks, The Pretenders 
Amalie Arena - Tampa, Fla. - Nov. 2, 2016
Gross: $823,927
Attendance: 7,930 / 9,379

Stevie Nicks, The Pretenders
Verizon Center - Washington, D.C. - Nov 14, 2016
Gross: 836,038
Attendance / Available Seats: 7,678 / 11,872

Stevie Nicks, The Pretenders
Bridgestone Arena - Nashville, TN - Nov 17, 2016
Gross: $939,129
Attendance / Available Seats: 12,300 (12,300)

Stevie Nicks, The Pretenders
Van Andel Arena - Grand Rapids, Mich. - Nov 23, 2016
Gross: 772,272
Attendance / Available Seats: 7,863 / 9,982

Stevie Nicks, The Pretenders
Mohegan Sun Arena - Uncasville, Conn - Nov 25, 2016
Gross: 627,559
Attendance / Available Seats: 7,431 / 7,431

Stevie Nicks, The Pretenders
Madison Square Garden - New York, N.Y. - Dec. 1, 2016
Gross: $1,575,376
Attendance / Available Seats: 15,167 / 15,167

Stevie Nicks, The Pretenders
The Forum - Inglewood, Calif. - Dec. 18, 2016
Gross: $1,379,531
Attendance / Available Seats: 14,210 / 14,210

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Interview Stevie Nicks: ‘I was so sick — I couldn’t shower. I almost died’

Saturday's edition of The Times UK has a four page interview spread with Stevie. Check out the full interview at Fleetwoodmac-UK.com

The Fleetwood Mac singer talks about her past lovers, drugs hell — and why, at 68, she’s not too old to get married

Fleetwood Mac / Stevie Nicks Manager Howard Kaufman has passed away

Irving Azoff

Azoff Issues Statement Regarding Kaufman's Passing

Irving Azoff has released a short but moving statement about the passing of his former partner, Howard Kaufman. 

Howard was a giant among men. He never sought the spotlight, but was the best in the business.

We worked together for more than 45 years. He was a great influence on me and taught me a lot.

Despite his major health issues, he always wanted to work till the end and I’m glad he got his wish.

It’s a tragic loss for our industry. He will be missed by me as well as scores of others he touched.

Pollstar confirmed Thursday that Kaufman had passed away. No further details were available at press time. 

Kaufman was one of the most powerful managers in the industry despite keeping a low profile. At the time of his death his company, H.K. Management, shepherded acts like Stevie Nicks, Aerosmith, Jimmy Buffett, Jeff Lynne’s ELO, Lenny Kravitz, Chicago, and Def Leppard, along with co-managing Fleetwood Mac.

Kaufman and Irving Azoff ran Front Line Management from 1974 to the early '80s until Azoff was named prexy of MCA Records. The two merged their companies in 2005 and resurrected the moniker.

Kaufman became a special adviser to Azoff when Ticketmaster bought the company in 2008 and Azoff was named CEO of Ticketmaster Entertainment. He is also credited, during his days at IFA, with encouraging Fred Bohlander and Dan Weiner to step out on their own and form Monterey Peninsula Artists.

Pollstar

Howard Kaufman
by Bob Lefsetz
Subscribe to his email newsletter - great insight on the music industry

He famously told a household name band he'd make them more money in two years than they had in the previous twenty.

And then he did.

Most people don't know who he was. Because unlike those that followed him into the business, Howard was not about fame, he was about protecting the interests of his artists, and money.

And everybody cares about the money. Knock around this business long enough and you'll hear the famous cliche... "It's not about the money, it's about the money."

And Howard started off as an accountant. He worked with James William Guercio. And then he went on to partner with Irving Azoff and steer the careers of Jimmy Buffett and Stevie Nicks and Aerosmith and Def Leppard and... You want someone in your corner, and that was Howard. He could be funny and he could be stern, but one thing's for sure, you could not pull the wool over his eyes.

The first time I met him was on a plane down to Chula Vista, to see Jimmy Buffett, and he told me Fleetwood Mac was gonna reform and I asked him about new material and he told me he'd be happy if they never made another record. This was 2003, he already knew where the bucks were buried, on the road. You see old does not mean dumb, does not mean over the hill, oftentimes it means wisdom and foresight and Howard had it.

And now he's dead.

Click the "Read More" to continue reading

Stevie Nicks says another Fleetwood Mac album is unlikely but is happy for Christine and Lindsey

Stevie Nicks says another Fleetwood Mac album is unlikely: ‘We’re not 40 anymore’
The music icon says the band are more keen to focus on touring

BY: ALISTAIR FOSTER
Evening Standard

Stevie Nicks says she does not think Fleetwood Mac will make another album together — because they are “not 40” any more.

The singer, 68, believes the band  are more likely to focus on touring and doubts they will ever record a  follow-up to 2003’s Say You Will.

She said: “If the five of us were to get together to make a record it would take a year, which is what it always takes us.

"It would be a whole year of recording, then press, then rehearsal, and by the time we got back onto the road, it would be heading towards the second year, and I don’t know whether at this time it’s better for us just to do a big tour.”

The band has sold more than 100 million records and reformed with the classic line-up of Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, John and Christine McVie and Mick Fleetwood for a world tour, which ended in 2015.

Nicks said: “It’s every single penny we make divided by five, so the expense of making a record, which is huge, and then to get back on tour ... we are not 40.

"We have to take that into consideration — how long can we do tours that are three-hour shows? Would you rather spend a year in the studio or get back on the road? I think that the band would choose to tour.”

Nicks, who is focusing on her solo career, is also reluctant to make new music.

She said: “I don’t write as many songs any more because with the internet, the way that kids listen to music, all the streaming, and the fact that if they’re very savvy, if they want to get it and not pay for it, they can.

"It goes against the grain of our whole belief in, ‘You write a song, you record it, and you put it out there and people should buy it’.

"We realise it’s not our world any more and the younger kids don’t look at it like they’re taking from us... we don’t have the impetus to write 20 songs because we know that unless you’re under 20 you’re not going to sell many records.”

She is not involved with the new album by McVie and Buckingham, which is not a Fleetwood Mac record.

She said: “I’m sure it’s going to  be great, because Christine is super-inspired. I’m really happy for them.”

On July 9, Nicks will support her old friend Tom Petty with his band The Heartbreakers at Barclaycard Presents British Summer Time in Hyde Park.

She said: “I’m the girl who always wanted to be in his band and he’s always the one who said, ‘No, no girls allowed.’ There’s just no one else I’d rather be on stage with than Tom.”

All about the lights... Stevie Nicks 24 Karat Gold Tour

Stevie Nicks has gone solo for the 24 Karat Gold tour playing more than two dozen arena dates in North America before the end of the year. Production designer Paul Guthrie of Toss Film & Design in Minneapolis chose 88 ClayPaky Mythos fixtures for the lighting rig.

He previously deployed Mythos on tours for Miranda Lambert and Macklemore. Nicks’ latest tour, in support of her album, 24 Karat Gold – Songs from the Vault, launched in Phoenix and will wrap in Los Angeles. While the iconic singer/songwriter appears as a solo artist, she tapped the Pretenders to open for her – delivering a powerhouse show for ticket holders.

A veteran of Nicks’ tours, Guthrie endeavoured to: “create something new and a bit more modern” for her new show. “Stevie enjoys using video content so the tour features a lot of video on an LED videowall backdrop and L-shaped scenic pieces,” he explained. “Our overwhelming lighting edict is always no smoke. So we defer to lighting the band and adding in layers of light to create new looks.” The versatility of Mythos offers myriad options to Guthrie. “It’s fun to have one light that can produce a multitude of different effects in the same head,” he said. “Mythos is basically the workhorse light in the rig.” He notes that the tour’s complement of 100-120 moving lights is now considered a medium- size rig for an arena tour adding: “It used to be that 16 were considered to be a lot! We’ve come a long way.” PRG’s Las Vegas office supplied the fixtures.

Eighty Mythos are mounted in the overhead lighting trusses where they form solid lines of fixtures. Guthrie reported: “On the downstage and mid-stage trusses they provide stage wash and beam effects. Those on the most upstage of the trusses, upstage of the videowall, create layers to add depth.” Eight more Mythos are positioned on the floor upstage of the band to illuminate their dynamic performance.

Tom Wagstaff, the lighting director for the Pretenders deploys about 60 Mythos, on the downstage and mid-stage trusses, and repositions the complement on the floor, says Guthrie. For the 24 Karat Gold Tour Thomas Mayer is the lighting crew chief and Cecil Nelson, Matt Schiller and Scott Naef are the lighting crew. A.C.T Lighting is the exclusive North American distributor for Clay Paky. Francesco Romagnoli, Clay Paky Area Manager for North and Latin America, added, “Mr. Guthrie always does great work and is trusted to work with great artists. It’s always a please to collaborate with him.”

TPIMagazine

Best Reissues of 2016 - Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac

Stevie Nicks: “Bella Donna”/”The Wild Heart” (Atco/Modern/Rhino) -- The albums that established the charismatic Fleetwood Mac singer as a solo star get expanded nicely. “Bella Donna” gets supplemented with nine outtakes (including four worthy songs that didn’t make the album) and a 1981 concert. “The Wild Heart,” her solid, if overly synthy, 1983 follow-up, meanwhile has nine outtakes. Insightful liner notes help illuminate Nicks’ life and career during this period. -- Ratings: “Bella Donna” -- 4 stars; “The Wild Heart” -- 3 ½ stars

Fleetwood Mac: “Mirage” (Warner Bros.) -- Following the artistically bold, but commercially disappointing “Tusk,” Fleetwood Mac retreated to safer pop territory on “Mirage.” This reissue adds 20 outtakes to the finely crafted original album, including a pair of strong unreleased Stevie Nicks songs, “If You Were My Love” and “Smile at You.” -- Rating: 3 ½ stars

Daily Herald

Review Stevie Nicks in Las Vegas December 17th

FIVE THOUGHTS ABOUT STEVIE NICKS WITH THE PRETENDERS AT PARK THEATER (DECEMBER 17)
by Spencer Patterson
Las Vegas Weekly

1. For the record, the first song performed publicly at the Las Vegas Strip’s newest music venue—attached to the Monte Carlo resort (soon to be rebranded with the same Park name as the theater and adjacent outdoor plaza)—was “Alone,” the title track from the Pretenders’ latest studio album. The first hit, 1981’s “Message of Love,” arrived two numbers later.

The sound inside Park Theater ranged from fairly muddled for the Pretenders’ first half-dozen songs (turn up Chrissie Hynde’s vocals!; and is that slide guitarist actually playing, ’cause we can’t hear him at all) to somewhat improved midway through that opening set (Hynde sounds great, but there’s still no slide in here) to pretty pristine for Stevie Nicks’ headlining performance (which bodes well for the future).

3. The venue lays out roughly like the Colosseum at Caesars Palace or the Axis at Planet Hollywood, though it’s less ornate than the former and less comfy than the latter. The lobby’s chandeliers and the second floor’s circular patio deck are memorable touches, and two giant side-stage screens provided close views of the musicians, but the theater itself felt a bit generic for Las Vegas’ most modern concert hall.

Sight lines seemed clear across the venue—unless you were seated on the flat floor and someone stood up in directly in front of you. The primo seats appear to be those in sections 201 through 205, and then working back.

A few logistical quibbles: Armrest drink holders render armrests virtually useless (there’s a reason most venues build their drink holders into the backs of the seats in front of you). Concession lines looked lengthy all night, probably because there aren’t many areas set up to sell food and drinks at this point. And upstairs bathrooms are quite small, so time your visits wisely.

4. The Pretenders are one of those, “Oh, I know that song!” bands. Serious fans aside, I doubt most attendees knew they’d recognize so many tunes on Saturday—“Back on the Chain Gang,” “I’ll Stand by You,” “My City Was Gone,” “Middle of the Road” and “Brass in Pocket” among them—and the band still left some of its classic cuts (like “Talk of the Town” and “Show Me”) unplayed during a healthy 15-song set.

At age 65, Hynde remains a strong singer and a magnetic presence, bringing an Elvis T-shirt and good grand-opening awareness to the stage: “Elvis played on this stage … in spirit. We’re the first band to play this stage.” She also marveled that Las Vegas will soon have hockey, and delivered this zinger during her intro of 65-year-old founding drummer Martin Chambers: “We couldn’t get Buddy Rich, because he’s dead.”

5. Nicks explained that she designed her latest solo tour to excavate deeper cuts from her catalog, and she did just that Saturday night, at one point reeling off six-consecutive non-charting songs between Fleetwood Mac classic “Gypsy” and synthy solo favorite “Stand Back.” That unorthodox approach largely succeeded, on the strength of Nicks’ still-powerful pipes (her voice sits in a lower octave these days but retains its singular, spine-tingling quality), her crack eight-piece backing band (Hynde also joined in for “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around") and her folksy between-song storytelling. The 68-year-old singer occasionally got off track as she related the origins of songs like Buckingham-Nicks oldie “Crying in the Night” or newer solo composition “New Orleans,” but the loose approach brought a cozy, living-room vibe to the sold-out, 5,300-capacity room.

Of course, the crowd cheered loudest for the night’s closing quartet of all-timers—“Gold Dust Woman” and “Edge of Seventeen,” and then “Rhiannon” and “Landslide” in the encore—and whenever Nicks twirled in place, proving that even in shiny new buildings on just-enlivened stretches of the Las Vegas Strip, some things never change.

Review and Photos Stevie Nicks and The Pretenders Live in Los Angeles

Review Stevie Nicks opens a 'gothic trunk' of lost songs at the Forum
by Mikael Wood
Pop Music Critic
LA Times

Stevie Nicks brought her usual assortment of accessories to the Forum on Sunday night, including a tambourine festooned with glittering streamers and a dark-blue garment she described as “the original ‘Bella Donna’ cape.’”

Unchanged since she started wearing it around the time of her debut solo album in 1981, the cape cost $2,000, she said, and was made of silk chiffon — the same material used to create ships’ sails, according to Nicks.

“It’ll never fall apart,” she added.

Yet the 68-year-old singer also had one item she doesn’t normally bring on the road, and that was her “dark Gothic trunk of mystical, magical lost songs.”

Two years ago, Nicks reached into the vault for “24 Karat Gold,” an album collecting new recordings of orphaned tunes she’d written as long ago as 1969, well before she and Lindsey Buckingham joined Fleetwood Mac and quickly became pop superstars.

Now, with Fleetwood Mac on a break following last year’s reunion tour with Christine McVie, Nicks is touring behind the record, performing those lost songs for adoring audiences happy to hear them (provided she also sings “Gypsy” and “Stand Back,” of course).

Implicit in any such project is the determination to set a story straight — to show it was the world, not the artist, that kept this music from achieving its full potential.

On Sunday, for instance, Nicks told a story about recording “Starshine” decades ago at Tom Petty’s place in the Valley. Then she suggested the crisp, hard-driving rock cut would’ve been a huge hit if only she or Petty had been putting together an album at the time.

Because they weren’t, she said, “it ended up in the trunk.”

Instead of bitterness, though, Nicks found warmth in her recollections, helped along perhaps by the concert’s location — not merely in her hometown but at one of the arenas where Fleetwood Mac helped invent arena-rock.

“Ah, the Forum,” she said at one point, and you could sense the fond memories swimming in her head.

Indeed, as strong as Nicks’ singing was, she was even better company between songs as she told funny, detailed stories about where the music had come from.

“Belle Fleur,” she said, had been inspired by all the times she’d happily left behind a boyfriend at the beginning of a Fleetwood Mac tour; “If You Were My Love” was about … well, she couldn’t place the name exactly.

She provided entertaining background on more familiar tunes too, including “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,” her early-’80s duet with Petty that she said represented her attempt to worm her way into the Heartbreakers. (Here she shared the tune with Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders, who opened Sunday’s show with an assured set of punchy, no-frills rock.)

Nicks also did an extended homage to Prince, dedicating her recent piano ballad “Moonlight” to him and explaining that she’d written “Stand Back” after hearing his “Little Red Corvette” while in the car driving to Santa Barbara for her honeymoon.

Later, images of the late pop icon flickered across a video screen as Nicks, her voice wavering with emotion, appended a bit of “When Doves Cry” to “Edge of Seventeen.”

In Prince, she no doubt recognized a fellow traveler, someone as devoted to image as to sound. But what gratified about this straight-talking performance was Nicks’ willingness — her eagerness, really — to chip away at her outsize persona.

Like that $2,000 cape, it’s sturdy enough to withstand some wear.

Stevie Nicks and Chrissie Hynde are timeless in Forum show

By ROBERT KINSLER

OC Register

Photo by Kelly A. Swift - View Gallery

While 2016 has seen more than its fair share of loss in the music world (David Bowie, Glenn Frey, Prince, Merle Haggard, Sharon Jones, Sir George Martin and Leonard Cohen for starters), two of classic rock’s most celebrated women showcased their distinguished legacies in a sold-out concert at the Forum in Inglewood on Sunday.

On the final night of their two-month 24 Karat Gold tour, Stevie Nicks and the Chrissie Hynde-led Pretenders seemed energized by the large and enthusiastic crowd, and the two icons were frequently able to acknowledge each other and the bond each has with her fans.

Over the course of more than two hours, headliner Nicks and her backing ensemble (six musicians and two female backing singers) showcased both Fleetwood Mac classics and solo hits. However, it seemed the Phoenix native was equally revitalized by material not well known, acknowledging some songs had not made it on her records despite the strength of the initial demo recordings.The 68-year-old songstress was in an especially introspective and reflective mood, often providing details on the genesis of her songs and celebrating the life of her late friend Prince.

Among the hidden gems performed was “If Anyone Falls,” a beautiful song enhanced by colorful and moody visuals projected on a large screen, including two ghostly ballet dancers. But Nicks could turn things around quickly; for the third selection she jump started the mood in the Forum when Hynde joined her on stage for the playful duet “Stop Draggin' My Heart Around” (originally recorded with Tom Petty). Other audience favorites included “Gypsy” with Nick’s seasoned soprano enticing while artful black & white images of rain and old city views appeared in the background, the propulsive rocker “Enchanted,” and a powerful song written in the wake of Hurricane Katrina (“New Orleans”) among other standouts in the first half of the night.

The last half of her run included the shimmering “Starshine,” driving “Stand Back” (when Nicks twirled during an instrumental break, the crowd cheered), a luxurious “Crying in the Night” (one of the oldest songs she performed, a track from 1973’s “Buckingham Nicks” album), the piano-anchored “Edge of Seventeen,” and sweeping encore featuring two of her most beloved Fleetwood Mac classics, “Rhiannon” and “Landslide.”

Chrissie Hynde’s hour-long set leading the Pretenders may have drawn the most cheers when radio hits were played, but there is little doubt the Ohio native is equally concerned with the here-and-now. The Pretenders’ 15-song outing featured a number of songs from her wonderful 2016 album “Alone,” one of the best discs of 2016. In fact, the Pretenders kicked off their set with the title track from the Dan Auerbach-produced effort, with lead guitarist James Walbourne unleashing some blistering guitar work, and the 65-year-young Hynde showcasing her distinctive vocals with the power of her early ’80s performances.

She also positioned her new album prominently with “Gotta Wait,” another guitar-anchored new track that immediately entices. Listening to the Pretenders (whose lineup includes original drummer Martin Chambers) was to be firmly reminded that Hynde’s songs never sound dated. If “Message of Love,” “Back on the Chain Gang,” “Mystery Achievement,” “I'll Stand By You” and “Middle of the Road” were released today, this writer’s guess they would still find favor with discerning modern-rock audiences.

Fans are likely divided on her position, but Hynde’s clear-cut admonitions to fans positioned near the stage to “stop taking pictures” and to “stop using your phones” was cheered by many in the crowd. A rocker at heart, Hynde still believes in the power of live music to sweep fans into another realm sans distractions that take the focus away from a powerful performance.

Indeed, this is one long-time fan who has seen many fans experience too much of their concert-going experiences through the distractions of their smart phone while missing out on the singular power of a great rock show.

Stevie Nicks And The Pretenders Perform At The Forum Decembe 18, 2016
Photos: Kevin Winter
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