Friday, August 10, 2012

Review: Stevie Nicks came out smokin’ – her crack band, led by guitar whiz Waddy Wachtel

Rod Stewart & Stevie Nicks at Toyota Center - Houston, TX
Review by By Craig Hlavaty
Photo by Jim Bricker
Houston Press

Co-headliner Stevie Nicks opened the show with Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll" as pictures of rock icons of yore -- that she probably partied "serious" with -- flashed on a giant screen behind her and her band. It was cool to see guitarist Waddy Wachtel in action next to Nicks after years of reading his name in biographies and liner notes, too.

Nicks' set was heavy on the solo big guns ("Stand Back", "Edge oOf Seventeen"), her newish In your Dreams material, and the mammoths from her Fleetwood Mac catalog. She also has a cool little tent onstage that she changes into different goth gear every few songs too.

Houston's August music calendar is getting another dose of Mac with Lindsey Buckingham playing Fitzgerald's in a few days, and the band itself should be here in 2013.

The witchy woman told a great story about visiting injured troops at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, before introducing "Soldier's Angel." During the middle of her story -- a moving one -- someone on the floor of the arena bellowed "Boring!" which was pretty classy.

Thursday night was Nicks and Stewart's last show on this tour together, but she promised more touring in the future. The duo makes for strange concert bedfellows, and they didn't end up taking the stage together as they had on some previous dates.

She closed her portion of the show with a perfect version of "Landslide" with Wachtel. Give us them Mac dates already. Also, her "Landslide" means more at 64 years of age than it ever did when it was written, and she said as much onstage too.

Continue to Houston Press for the Full Review

STEVIE'S SETLIST
Rock and Roll (Led Zeppelin cover)
Enchanted
Secret Love
Dreams (Fleetwood Mac)
Gold Dust Woman (Fleetwood Mac)
Stand Back
Soldier's Angel
Rhiannon (Fleetwood Mac)
Leather and Lace (With Steve Real)
Edge of Seventeen
ENCORE
Landslide (Fleetwood Mac)


Rod Stewart & Stevie Nicks - Houston
30 Days out

"Serving as opening act, Nicks came out smokin’ – her crack band, led by guitar whiz Waddy Wachtel, ripped out a rousing cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll,” and we were off to the races."
Full Review

STEVIE NICKS LIVE IN HOUSTON
Photos by Groovehouse


STEVIE NICKS REVEALS SECRET DUET WISHES


Stevie Nicks revealed that even after all these years in the business, there are still three people she's been dying to work with. Nicks, who last night (August 9th) wrapped her joint dates with Rod Stewart in Houston, just announced two new Florida stops for September, hitting Saint Petersburg on September 24th and Saint Augustine on September 25th.

Nicks told us that she's waited 40 years to share a stage with three distinct singers: "Well, when I moved to Los Angeles with Lindsey (Buckingham) in 1972, I wanted -- there were three songs I wanted to sing two-part harmony with; Paul McCartney 'Yesterday,' James Taylor 'Fire And Rain,' and Elton John 'Your Song.' I've never gotten to sing any of those three songs with those three men! So, I'm still looking that maybe that will happen someday. Because that was before this happened, y'know? That was like way before we were famous."

Via 93.3 WMMR

Rock legend Stevie Nicks remembers free-spirited days with the late Bob Longhi and George Harrison

STEVIE NICKS REVEALS CO-WRITING GEORGE HARRISON SOLO CLASSIC
Newly released is the epic biography about "The Quiet Beatle," titled George Harrison: Behind The Locked Door. Author Graeme Thomson breaks new ground in every era of Harrison's life -- especially his post-Beatles solo career. Among the many revelations in the book is that although uncredited, Stevie Nicks co-wrote "Here Comes The Moon" -- Harrison's 1979 sequel to his Abbey Road classic, "Here Comes The Sun."

Nicks was interviewed for Behind The Locked Door and shed light on the one-off songwriting session in 1978 between the pair in Hawaii, with Nicks and Harrison sharing a mutual friend in local restaurateur Bob Longhi. Nicks recalled, "We were writing a sort of parody of 'Here Comes The Sun.' Longhi was saying, 'You guys are always writing about the moon instead of the sun,' and I said, that's because by then we were all night birds. We just hung out and wrote and sang and talked. I had been famous for not even quite three years and we were talking with George about being famous and what it meant and you had to give up."

The below was originally posted August 10, 2012

Photo by Mary DeVitto
Hana photo an inspiration to Stevie Nicks

Rock legend remembers free-spirited days with the late Bob Longhi and George Harrison

A couple of months ago, Stevie Nicks visited Maui and stopped in Lahaina to present Bob Longhi with a photo taken in the late 1970s, the day George Harrison began composing the song "Soft-Hearted Hana."

There's Bob smiling in the left corner and George looking up playing his guitar while Stevie (in pigtails) is immersed in writing.

I was about to talk with Bob about that meeting and run the photo, but then he left us.

It's hard to imagine Maui without his colorful presence. His Front Street restaurant has long been a magnet for lovers of good food and music. He loved jazz and attracted our best to jam first downstairs and then in the expanded upstairs. And he was especially proud that you could dance to music on a koa dance floor.

Bob was a great raconteur, never holding back on an expletive-emphasized opinion. Who but Bob would subtitle a cookbook, "from Maui's Most Opinionated Restaurateur?" And, who but Bob would select staff shirts with w.t.f. on the sleeves?

Bob counted the famous Beatle as a friend and guided his first hike in Hana's pastoral wonderland. Inspired by the journey, George later composed "Soft-Hearted Hana" - described by a reviewer as, "a strange, stream-of-consciousness Hawaiian hallucination" - and dedicated it on his 1979 "George Harrison" album to Longhi.

"George and Longhi were really good friends, they were close," says Stevie Nicks calling from a tour stop in Florida. "Had it not been for Longhi, we would not have gotten to make that trip to Hana and hang out with George Harrison for two days."

The photo of the trio hanging in Hana has special significance for Fleetwood Mac's legendary singer.

"The photo was taken by my best friend, Mary (DeVitto)," Stevie explains. "She had given me a copy of it a long time ago, and I had it made into an 8 x 10 and put in a little frame. When I go on the road it goes right on my makeup mirror, so before I go on stage, whether it's with Fleetwood Mac or me in my solo career, the three of us are looking back at me and that has been my inspiration every single night. There's lots of nights where you kind of go, I wish I didn't have to go on stage tonight, I'm tired, I don't feel like doing it, and I look at George Harrison and look at Longhi and look at me and I go, well, you just have to, because it's important, it's important to make people happy, so get out of your chair, put on your boots and go out there and do your thing."

The two musicians were having fun coming up with lyrics together in Hana. "We were writing a sort of parody of 'Here Comes the Sun,' but we were writing 'Here Comes the Moon'," she continues. "Longhi was saying, 'you guys are writing about the moon instead of the sun,' and I said, that's because by then we were all such night birds.

"I had met George before that at a record party in Mexico in Acapulco for 'Rumours.' Longhi saw George all the time. He drove me and my friend Sara and Mary to George's house in Hana. And we just hung out and wrote and sang and talked. I had been famous for not even quite three years and we were talking with George about being famous and what it meant and what you had to give up."

Flash forward 30 or so years. During Stevie's trip to Maui in late May, she gave Bob a copy of the historic photo. The news of his death stunned her.

"It's so strange, in the last six months I lost my mom and my godson OD'd and I kind of went underground after that. Then I went to Hawaii and went to see Longhi and spent several hours at his house with four of my best girlfriends.

"He was feeling great and he looked great and was excited about life. He was happy and glowing. We had such a great time. I had made an album in 2010 ("In Your Dreams") that we filmed over a year at my house. It's a documentary and I wanted to show him it, but I ended up having to go back to Los Angeles. I'm so sorry I didn't get to show him the documentary because he would've loved it so much, because it was an album made like the albums we made in the old days with a big house and 20 people there every day and dinners every night, like in the true form of Led Zeppelin. I'm really grateful I had those couple of hours with him."

Since Longhi's opened in the late 1970s, over the years Stevie performed there, "a bunch of times," she notes. "Mick probably played a gazillion times and if I was there I went, too. Mick has always loved Maui, that's why the rest of us went to Maui. Because Mick was always there, whenever there was a vacation all of us followed suit. And the first thing I do when I get to Maui is go to Longhi's."

Currently on a "Heart and Soul" tour with Rod Stewart, Stevie confirms that Fleetwood Mac will head out on tour next year. "At the beginning of next year it looks as if Fleetwood Mac will go into rehearsals, then we will probably be on the road by early spring," she says. "It's always about every three years, which is great because we don't overkill people. I think that's really smart of us. When we tour we like it to be an event."

Photo by: Ashley Mc. Glass @ashleymcglass
Cherishing the memories of her time spent on Maui Stevie concludes: "We were laughing when we got together this time and reminisced about our trip to Hana with George Harrison. We were really young then. We were rocking and beautiful and crazy. And that was all going down on Maui. And Longhi's was like a sanctuary for all of us. I hope so much his kids will keep it alive and jumping because I can't imagine Lahaina without Longhi's. I think his spirit will always be there. He loved it so much. It's a diamond amongst all the other jewels."

By JON WOODHOUSE

This photo of Stevie to the right (background in pigtails) was taken in Maui around May 19, 2012. I can now see why she was wearing her hair in pigtails... She likely presented the top photo to Bob at this time...

Thursday, August 09, 2012

Review: Lindsey Buckingham Live in North Charleston Aug 4th

Don't Stop
BY: Devin Grant

"It was great to finally see someone who had been pretty instrumental in my musical upbringing. Even at 62 years of age, and with really nothing left to prove, Buckingham remains a passionate and energetic performer. He's also incredibly gracious, stopping after each song to take a bow and drink in the crowd's applause in a way that lets one know he truly appreciates it. When Fleetwood Mac tours next year, I'll drive any distance to see them live. For now though, Saturday night's show was a great experience."

Check out the full review.  Cool story leading up to seeing Lindsey live for the first time


WIN tickets to see Lindsey Buckingham Live in Ft. Worth, TX Aug 24th @kxtradio

Enter to win tickets to see Lindsey Buckingham 
at Cendera Center in Ft Worth on August 24. Fill out the form HERE by noon on Monday, August 13.  Winners notified by noon on Tuesday, August 14.  Good luck y’all!

Contest brought to you buy KXT 91.7

NEW DATE: Stevie Nicks Live in St. Augustine, FL. Sept 25th Tix on sale Aug 17th

Stevie Nicks Live in St. Augustine, Florida
September 25th at St. Augustine Amphitheatre

Ticket Prices:
US $59.50 Ticket + US $11.70 Fees = US $71.20
US $87.00 Ticket + US $12.85 Fees = US $99.85

Tickets will go on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. Aug. 17th

Onsale to General Public
Start: Fri, 08/17/12 10:00 AM EDT

Sponsor Presale
Start: Wed, 08/15/12 10:00 AM EDT
End: Wed, 08/15/12 10:00 PM EDT

Friends of Presale
Start: Thu, 08/16/12 10:00 AM EDT
End: Thu, 08/16/12 10:00 PM EDT

Tickets can be purchased in the St. Augustine Amphitheatre box office, online at Ticketmaster.com, or by phone at 800-745-3000.

Go to staugamphitheatre.com for more details.

Review | Photos by Danielle Boise LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM Live in Atlanta

No introductions are needed when discussing Lindsey Buckingham; his epic career in Fleetwood Mac to his prolific solo career precedes him.

LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM 
LIVE IN ATLANTA - JULY 28TH
Review and photos by Danielle Boise

If you haven’t heard of him in the last 30 plus years, then you’ve obviously been living under a rock and seriously are missing out on one of the greatest singer-song writers and overall musicians of our time and must be severely punished for this oversight in judgment.

Lindsey Buckingham quietly took the stage in a manner befitting only rock royalty, shrouded in a moody ambiance, with one spotlight and red light leaking around the corners at Center Stage for his nearly sold out Atlanta stop on July 28.  Yet, he was humbled by the fans that poured into the venue to see his solo performance–and believe me it was truly a solo performance. Only Buckingham and his guitar entertained the crowd of fans.

Continue to the full review at Target Audience Magazine - Includes 25 photos.

Tulsa Review: Stevie Nicks "Her distinctive voice was strong and confident, buoyant and bright"

Rod Stewart and Stevie Nicks poured out their “Heart & Soul” tour at the BOK Center on Wednesday night.
By JENNIFER CHANCELLOR World Scene Writer
Tulsaworld.com

"To put the stars together may feel like an “Odd Couple” pairing — the rebellious blues-rocker blond power woman with the master of the pop-disco-hybrid American songbook.

Boy, it worked. Gloriously.

The night launched with a rollicking welcome and Nicks’ hammering version of the Led Zeppelin classic “Rock and Roll,” backed by a seven-piece band. A stream of photos flashed behind them all, spanning half a century of the genre.

In her trademark way, Nicks adorned the sultry warble of each song with her retro-’70s-era glittered shawls and dark lace, tambourines and baubles, and punctuated the high points with high kicks in black suede platform boots."

Read the rest of this really great review at the original site

PLUS Check out these photos by Matt Barnard


STEVIE NICKS AND ROD STEWART
LIVE IN TULSA August 8, 2012
Over 170 Photos by alnbbates 

Wednesday, August 08, 2012

Album Sales/Charts Update: Fleetwood Mac | Stevie Nicks US, UK, Ireland, Australia


BILLBOARD TOP 200
Sales week ending August 5th Chart Date August 18, 2012

In the US for the sales week ending August 5th and for Billboard Top 200 Album Chart date August 18th Fleetwood Mac's Rumours will re-enter at #171 on a 41% sales boost.  The album sold 2,859 copies in the US last week vs 2,029 the previous week. Total US sales since November, 1991 = 2,980,327

On the Top 200 Catalogue Albums Chart, Fleetwood Mac have a total of 4 titles within the top 200 - 3 of which posting sales increases week over week.  Rumours is at #37 up from #72 the previous week. Greatest Hits moves up to #107 from #174 the previous week on a 52% sales increase selling 1,878 copies vs 1,238 the previous week. Total US sales since November, 1991 = 4,575,629. The Very Best Of Fleetwood Mac moves down to #110 from #77 last week selling 1,856 copies vs 1,991 copies the previous week.  Total US album sales since it's release in 2002 = 1,503,583.

On the Top 200 Catalogue Physical Albums Chart Fleetwood Mac's The Very Best Of moves down to #26 from #20 last week.  Fleetwood Mac (the white album) moves up to #84 from #108 on a sales increase of 12% selling 1,353 copies vs 1,204 the previous week.  Total US sales since November, 1991 = 818,098.  Bella Donna from Stevie Nicks moves up to #163 from #185 the previous week on an 11% sales increase selling 999 copies vs 896 copies the previous week.  Total US albums sales for Bella Donna since November, 1991 = 871,107.

On the Top 200 Catalogue Digital Albums Chart Fleetwood Mac's Rumours posted 1,966 digital sales vs 1,200 the previous week increasing in sales by 64% and moving from #41 to #24.  Fleetwood Mac's Greatest Hits shifted 1,225 digital copies vs 635 the previous week moving from #140 to #55. That's a 93% sales increase.  

USA - August 18, 2012 

BILLBOARD TOP 200
# 171 (R/E) Fleetwood Mac - Rumours

TOP 200 CATALOGUE ALBUMS CHART
# 37 (72)     Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
# 107 (174) Fleetwood Mac - Greatest Hits
# 110 (77)   Fleetwood Mac  - The Very Best Of
# 132 (191)  Fleetwood Mac  -Fleetwood Mac

TOP 200 CATALOGUE PHYSICAL ALBUMS CHART
# 26 (20)     Fleetwood Mac  - The Very Best Of
# 84 (108)   Fleetwood Mac  - Fleetwood Mac
# 163 (185) Stevie Nicks - Bella Donna

TOP 200 CATALOGUE DIGITAL ALBUMS CHART
# 24 (41)   Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
# 55 (140) Fleetwood Mac - Greatest Hits

AUSTRALIA - Week of August 6, 2012

TOP 100 ALBUMS CHART
# 79 (55)  Fleetwood Mac  -  The Very Best Of

TOP 50 CATALOGUE ALBUMS CHART
# 9 (7)      Fleetwood Mac  - The Very Best Of
# 11 (13) Fleetwood Mac - Greatest Hits

TOP 40 DVD CHART
# 6 (7)   Fleetwood Mac  - THE DANCE

IRELAND - Week ending August 2, 2012

TOP 100 ALBUMS CHART
# 61 (89)  Fleetwood Mac - Greatest Hits
# 76 (87)   Fleetwood Mac - The Very Best Of

UK - Week of August 11, 2012

TOP 100 ALBUMS CHART
# 72 (57)   Fleetwood Mac  - 25 Years The Chain

Review: Lindsey Buckingham - Kernersville 8/3 by Ryan Snyder

BUCKINGHAM LIVE, ALONE AND ESSENTIAL
by Ryan Snyder
YesWeekly

It was supposed to be a week in music storyboarded around rock’s most sordid romance saga: solo tours by Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham were to cross wakes only 48 hours apart in an unlikely place. As Buckingham’s small machine rolled along with uncompromised efficiency, it was Nicks’ big machine that faltered — co-headliner Rod Stewart fell ill and their Greensboro show was canceled, a decision perhaps aided by slow ticket sales. That wasn’t an issue for Buckingham, who’s packed show on Friday at Bucked Up Super Saloon in Kernersville provided for all the intimacy of a coffee house open mic night.

The nature of those machines was one of Buckingham’s favorite topics of conversation on Friday. He noted how shows like this one — in a small town at a country bar unaccustomed to hosting performers of his caliber — were only made possible by the big machine that is Fleetwood Mac. Rather than an an oversized, idling tour bus, it was Buckingham’s silver Mercedes L Class that sat immediately outside the door from where he took the stage to the unconventional, yet stunning venue for his purposes. The club’s dancefloor was transformed into a makeshift theater with foldout chairs, but the ambiance created by the sparse lighting and hardwood construction possessed all the warmth of a more traditional venue.

Awesome review!... Read the rest at the original site.

Review: Lindsey Buckingham North Charleston Aug 4th + Clearwater Video Aug 6th

The Buckingham stops here 
Lindesy Buckingham review
by T. Ballard Lesemann

Lindsey Buckingham 
North Charleston Performing Arts Center
Aug. 4

Lindsey Buckingham may be best known for his work with Fleetwood Mac, but he also has six solo albums and two live albums under his belt. Not surprisingly, during his Saturday night gig at the North Charleston Performing Arts Center, he touched on both sides of his career.

With three amp stacks and a large battery of acoustic and semi-acoustic guitars at stage left, the 62-year-old Buckingham opened with a beautiful number titled "Cast Away Dreams" (from his 2006 album Under the Skin). Within moments, it was clear that neither his guitar playing nor his singing had diminished over the years. Buckingham followed the opener with "Bleed to Love Her," a deep cut that ended up on Fleetwood Mac's 1997 album The Dance. He earned standing ovations after both songs, a gesture that fans in the less-than-packed PAC repeated after every song.

After the first four songs, Buckingham started to loosen up a bit, interacting with the more enthusiastic members of the crowd. After one particularly vocal ticket holder hollered, "Lindsey, I love this kind of shit," Buckingham laughed and replied, "Well put, sir. So do I."



LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM 
Live in Clearwater, Florida - August 6th


Tuesday, August 07, 2012

Review: Lindsey Buckingham at Plaza Live Orlando by Jim Abbott + 14 Photos

"The solo tour might be the small side of Buckingham’s career, 
but it still makes a mighty big sound."
By Jim Abbott
Orlando Sentinel

It was a one-man show by Lindsey Buckingham on Tuesday at Plaza Live:

No opening act. Buckingham didn’t even bring a band.

Yet it would be understandable if members of the sold-out crowd might have needed an occasional reminder that the Fleetwood Mac star was working alone. It seemed incredible that one person could deliver such an array of sounds.

Buckingham and his arsenal of a dozen or so guitars, with subtle help from a few effects pedals, offered an impressive overview of his long career with Fleetwood Mac and as a solo performer.

Continue to the full review on the original site

PLUS....

Check out the 14 fabulous Black and White shots of Lindsey from his show in Franklin, TN just outside of Nashville on July 27th. 

Photos By Butch Worrell