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Stevie Nicks gives crowd what it came for — plus a surprise Barbie doll
Photo: maddykawk
By Scott Fowler
Charlotte Observer
A Stevie Nicks concert, like the one Tuesday night at Charlotte’s Spectrum Center, is still an event. Fans dress up in leather, lace, flowing skirts, hats, scarves and the color black — lots of black. Nicks, the former Fleetwood Mac frontwoman turned solo star, rolls through songs and stories with the talented/beautiful/spacey/earth mother persona that she has cultivated through more than 50 years in an adoring spotlight. She can still belt one out, too, and singing “Edge of Seventeen” when you’re actually 77 years old is no simple feat.
Her show was packed to the top row of the upper deck with fans — about 70% of them female and a surprising number of them under age 30. Nicks has stayed relevant for all these years, still able to fill up the Charlotte Hornets’ building the night before they open the regular season, in part because she’s not simply a rock star. She’s an icon with not one but two Barbie Signature dolls made in her likeness — the second of which was just announced and which she revealed to the crowd midway through her show.
“So now I actually have, like, an incredibly fabulous surprise for you!” Nicks cooed. Soon she was giddily displaying the Mattel doll that she calls “Bella Donna Barbie,” which is an ode to the flowy-white-dress look she had when her hit solo album “Bella Donna” was released in 1981. Nicks then proceeded to do a little bit of jokey ventriloquism with the doll and eventually gave it away to a fan.
Video: ashtenree
That Nicks has had not one but two Barbie dolls created in her likeness — the first one portrayed Nicks in her “Rumours”-era Fleetwood Mac garb — gives you an idea of her legendary status. She’s moving more slowly now, having postponed all her concerts in August and September due to a shoulder injury. She only recently returned to touring. Her twirls and spins are more careful, as befits a septuagenarian, and each was cheered enthusiastically by a crowd urging her on. And although her voice remains wondrous, she gets help with the more difficult notes from a couple of excellent backup singers.
Nicks was on stage Tuesday night for an hour and 40 minutes. Given it was a school night, the tight schedule she kept was probably appreciated by all the parents of young children in the audience. Onstage at 8:20 p.m., off at 10 p.m., good night, good luck and thank you very much. But she’s still Stevie Nicks, and she still brought the house down with her two-song encore of “Rhiannon” and “Landslide,” the latter performed as evocative photos of Christine McVie, Nicks’ Fleetwood Mac bandmate who died in 2022, played on the big screen. To me, “Landslide” was the highlight of the show, just as all final encores should be. “Dreams,” “Gold Dust Woman” and a cover of Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’” were also standouts.
Would I have liked to have heard more of Nicks’ vast catalog? Absolutely. Neither “Sara,” “Leather and Lace” nor “Silver Spring,” unfortunately, made an appearance. But the stories she tells between songs — some of them several minutes long — are endearing, too, even when they flutter all over the place like a white-winged dove.
Nicks sang “happy birthday” to the Spectrum Center to begin her show (“Happy birthday to this building, this great old Southern building” went one ad-libbed line). Her concert came on the exact same day, 20 years ago, in which the Spectrum Center officially opened (albeit under another name) with a Rolling Stones concert. The newly-renovated venue does feel refreshed and more open everywhere after its $245-million upgrade. That’s a significant improvement. There’s no doubt it has added a number of places where you can spend your money. After the “great old Southern building” ditty sung for a building that, if it were a person would still not be old enough to buy a drink, Nicks referenced her return to the stage and her shoulder injury like this:
“Well, I think that I’m so happy to be here. I’m pretty sure I’m here. I’ve had a little problem in the past, in the last few months, but I’m not wearing a sling just for you. And I’m really happy to be here and not back there, waiting to leave there and come here. Yes. So anyway, let’s just kick this thing up into the universe and get this party started!” The party was directed by a witchy master of the craft who led a talented band but didn’t play an instrument herself all night. Not a tambourine, not a brief turn at the piano — nothing. A Stevie Nicks concert mainly consists of Nicks, her decorated mic stand, her voice and her assortment of theatrical capes — most of them with their own, decades-old history. And yet you can’t really take your eyes off of her.
It should also be noted that Nicks picked a fine opening act. Country singer Abby Anderson, gave a 30-minute, one-woman show in which she alternated between piano, guitar and stories about growing up in Texas. She seems like a rising star.
But Nicks was the showstopper, along with the cameo by Bella Donna Barbie, the doll with which she was so obviously delighted. Said Nicks at one point late in the show, speaking to the crowd: “We are here. We’re having fun. ... Yes, we’re the lucky ones.”
And it did feel lucky to be there Tuesday. Who knows how many more times Stevie Nicks will come to Charlotte? Listening to her talk about her collaborative friendship with the late Tom Petty and seeing the photos of her with the late McVie during “Landslide” certainly soaked the evening with nostalgia. In what her fans know as her “Edge of Seventeen” walk, Nicks left the mic stand during the instrumental portion and dance-walked-posed all the way from one side of the stage to the other, slowly, with the applause rising at her every stop. Yes, she’s got a new doll. But we’ve still got the real thing.
