Friday, October 03, 2014

Stevie Nicks on The Voice "The Battles, Part 3" - October 20th

"THE VOICE"

"THE BATTLES, PART 3"

10/20/2014 (08:00PM - 10:00PM) (Monday) : THE BATTLES CONTINUE- THE COACHES ENLIST FELLOW MUSICIANS STEVIE NICKS, LITTLE BIG TOWN, ALICIA KEYS AND GAVIN ROSSDALE TO PREPARE THEIR ARTISTS FOR BATTLE - The "battle rounds" begin and the coaches enlist the help of the music industry's top recording artists to offer their knowledge and skills as advisers. Adam Levine teams up with Stevie Nicks, Blake Shelton with Little Big Town, Pharrell Williams with Alicia Keys and Gwen Stefani with husband Gavin Rossdale. In this phase, the coaches pit two of their own team members against each other in a dueling duet. After the vocal face-off, each coach must choose which artist from their team is the strongest, and has the option of stealing losing artists from an opposing coach. Each coach has two steals during the battle rounds where their artists will proceed to the new knockout rounds. Carson Daly ("Last Call with Carson Daly") hosts.


STEVIE NICKS "24 KARAT GOLD - SONGS FROM THE VAULT"

Photos | Videos: Fleetwood Mac Live in Chicago October 2, 2014

FLEETWOOD MAC LIVE
CHICAGO, IL - OCTOBER 2, 2014
THE UNITED CENTER

Photos and a few clips from last nights show in Chicago... Same set as Minneapolis... Lindsey's back in leather!

They will do it again tonight in Chicago... And it's a special night... It's Lindsey's Birthday today!  You guys up front, make sure you get the ball rolling and sing Happy Birthday!

Review: Fleetwood Mac at the United Center
Steve Johnson
CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Suddenly, Fleetwood Mac seems like it might be thinking about tomorrow again.

After touring since 1998 in various incomplete incarnations and with varying levels of comfort with each other, the onetime supergroup is now back to the full lineup of its late 1970s heyday, minus the bad habits and the romantic entanglements of that era.

And don’t think the crowd at United Center Thursday didn’t know and appreciate it. When prodigal keyboardist Christine McVie sang “sweet, wonderful you,” her first solo notes of the night, on “You Make Loving Fun,” exultant cheers came from the crowd.

“Our dream girl is back,” Stevie Nicks would say later, just after McVie had sat at a grand piano and delivered her simple, soulful “Songbird” to end the almost 2-1/2-hour show.

McVie, with the help of a therapist, has conquered a fear of flying and given up a life in the English countryside to rejoin the band, making the second stop on its reunion tour in Chicago (where it plays again Friday).

Except for a quick reference to her long-ago marriage to bassist John McVie — part of this band’s charm is its complicated past, often mythologized in song -- she mostly left the talking to her bandmates. But with her songs back in the set and her calm, angular presence back on the stage, there was an undeniable feeling of rejuvenation.

“Making all of us complete,” drummer Mick Fleetwood said of McVie, “our songbird has returned.”

We’ve heard, in the tour buildup, that Fleetwood Mac is even writing and recording new material, news that holds no small promise considering how many enduring songs they’ve already made.

And now we’ve seen, in Chicago, that they’re playing like a group with an eye on the horizon, one that’s sharing the spotlight and taking every occasion to say kind things about one another. The show ended, not with a song, but with curious little speeches about unity and togetherness from Nicks and Fleetwood. (This is not recommended for groups with a lesser track record.)

So a tour showcasing new material may not be that far off. But what Mac delivered Thursday was 24 tunes from the heart of its catalog, classic rock live.

Christine McVie’s presence took some of the focus off of the Californians, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, whose 1974 addition to an existing British blues outfit kicked the band into the album-sales stratosphere, particularly with 1977’s “Rumours."

Fleetwood and John McVie, on bass, reminded concert goers why the band is named for them. They still put a layer of muscle behind everything the band did, even the unapologetic soft rock of Christine’s “Little Lies.” Fleetwood pounded and then barked his way through a four-minute drum solo in “World Turning."

But this band is about its songwriters. Christine McVie was almost regal, taking in more than she gave out, letting her silky love songs speak for her.

Buckingham, though, snarled his lyrics, jumped with the high notes on his guitar solos and generally belied what people might think they know about him from “Saturday Night Live’s” running parody. He may look like Art Garfunkel’s younger brother stuffed into skinny jeans, but this man is a vital musical presence, the soul of the band.

Ditto for the vitality of Nicks, its cauldron-stirring spirit. She didn’t twirl as fast or as often as she used to; a few spins, executed gingerly, were enough to draw fervent applause. The tempo on “Rhiannon,” one of her signature tunes, doesn’t blister as it once did.

But her voice quickly warmed up to put power and depth, if not range, behind her trademark rasp. Her showcase songs, “Landslide,” “Gold Dust Woman” and, especially, “Silver Springs,” were the night’s highlights.

As for stagecraft, give credit to Fleetwood Mac for keeping the microphones pointed in the right direction. The crowd was happily singing along most of the night, but never — never! — as lead vocalists. That is a rare thing in 2014, especially from a band who wouldn’t need to show any of the words on screen.

Less praiseworthy was the video screen behind the stage. It started promisingly, with just color, light, some nature scenes. But the video got more and more aggressive until on one tune it showed us footage of eyes, noses and facial pores. Somebody must have dragged that director away from the controls, because the final bits backed off, simply showing the band.

A couple of musicians backed the core group on guitar and keyboards, but Buckingham was ferocious and tireless as lead guitarist. (His “Big Love” beatdown of an acoustic guitar recalled Richard Thompson.) There were two backup singers, too, also in shadow, ready to fill in on the high notes, but, really, the trio of Buckingham-Nicks-C. McVie had nothing to apologize for as lead vocalists.

That trio is now hovering around 70 years of age. But even as young pups they were writing songs that contemplated the march of time. Now, with McVie’s unexpected return and the potential for new material, those lyrics about yesterday being gone and time making you bolder seemed to hold a special resonance.

Check out these amazing photos by Erin Brown... Gallery
THE CHAIN

SEVEN WONDERS

LITTLE LIES

TUSK

GOLD DUST WOMAN
Still loving the way she's transformed her performance of this!!)

SONGBIRD 

Thursday, October 02, 2014

Commentary Video: Stevie Nicks on how quickly the album #24KaratGold was recorded

Stevie speaks about the process of putting together and recording "24 Karat Gold - Songs From The Vault" in 2 months.


STEVIE NICKS "24 KARAT GOLD - SONGS FROM THE VAULT"

Wednesday, October 01, 2014

VIDEO "These are the best 16 songs for now... 2014" - Stevie Nicks on #24KaratGold

Stevie Nicks Opens Up About Her New Album, 24 Karat Gold: Songs From the Vault
By Kate Branch

Read what Stevie has to say at Glamour.com


STEVIE NICKS "24 KARAT GOLD - SONGS FROM THE VAULT"

Reviews | Photos: Fleetwood Mac Live in Minneapolis

Set list & more thoughts on Fleetwood Mac at Target Center
by: Jon Bream
Star Tribune

Lindsey Buckingham wasn’t as manic as usual. Stevie Nicks sang better than usual (clearer, less croaky and able to reach more high notes). The rhythmic section was as terrific as usual. And Christine McVie was back to her old steady, radiant self on keyboards and vocals. All of that was explained in my review of Fleetwood Mac’s tour-opening concert Tuesday at Target Center.

Nicks didn’t do her dervish dancing much, just as couple of spins on “Rhiannon” and on seven or eight spins in sloooo-moooootion during “Gypsy.” Even if she wasn’t very witchy, she seemed in good spirits. Buckingham was wired but less physically all over the stage, though at the end of his vocal numbers he either blurted out a satisfying “arrrrrggggh” or stomped animatedly in place.

Yes, as Mick Fleetwood said: “Fer sure, the Mac is back.”


Christine McVie rejoins, re-energizes Fleetwood Mac at emotional Minneapolis show
by Jay Gabler

The Current - with some fabulous photos

Below Photos by Erin Brown... Check out the gallery


Five things we learned at the classic lineup's first gig together since 1997
BY KEITH HARRIS
Rolling Stone

Sixteen years of domestic life in the English countryside, playing with her dogs and baking cookies – that was apparently quite enough for Christine McVie. The singer and keyboardist rejoined Fleetwood Mac earlier this year, and, at 71, she's touring with her old band – singer-guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, singer Stevie Nicks, drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie – for the first time since 1997.

Fleetwood Mac have been on the road plenty in the past few years. But fans have craved a reunion of the lineup that first cohered in 1974 and went on to record that best-selling classic of tuneful romantic turmoil, Rumours. McVie's bandmates, apparently, felt the same way: Nicks in particular had lobbied for McVie's return, making onstage pleas and sending emails.

Last night, those wishes came true, as the band opened a 33-city North American tour at the Target Center in Minneapolis. Over the course of a generous two-and-a-half-hour set, the band ripped through 24 songs from the past four decades of their career. Here are five things we learned.


Commentary Video and Song Premiere: STEVIE NICKS "All The Beautiful Worlds"

In a video about All the Beautiful Worlds, Nicks says it's one of the album's few songs for which she can't recall an inspiration.


"I can tell from the words that it was written about going to the dark side," she says. "The essence of that song is that there is a dark world, and there is a dark side."

Visit USA Today to hear "All The Beautiful Worlds"


Stevie Nicks: 24 Karat Gold: Songs From The Vault (Reprise)
Peculiarly out first as a double-vinyl LP and as MP3s and then next week as a CD—you’ve got to love it—this new set by the famous Fleetwood Maccer is in fact her re-appraising and redoing older stuff, material she’d planned to unleash since those early ‘70s years of Buckingham Nicks but never did. It’s all of it quite good actually: the songs seem like genuine works of their time—heartfelt lyrics rather than effort-laden approximations of former glories—and Nicks still sings very well. The music is well-played and tastefully arranged, ironically evoking the “Americana” word among her excitable fan base, and the lyrical concerns—romance, relationships, mystical stuff, an actual “cathouse,” songs with titles like “She Loves Him Still”—are about as Nicksian as you’d ever expect, or want. Very solid stuff, and something to whet the appetites of those gearing up for the upcoming reunited Mac tour.

Rolling Stone


STEVIE NICKS "24 KARAT GOLD - SONGS FROM THE VAULT"

AUTHOR EVENT: Mick Fleetwood at Barnes & Noble #NYC Oct 28th + Los Angeles Nov 30th #FleetwoodMac

Mick has a two day break after the Oct 26th Fleetwood Mac show in Ottawa and before the show on the 29th in Philadelphia.  Perfect timing for the October 28th release of his new book "Play On: Now, Then, And Fleetwood Mac" and for a Book Signing in New York City. Barnes & Noble at 555 fifth avenue location will be hosting the event. Details below.

Also added to Mick's book tour itinerary is Los Angeles on November 30, 2014 also at Barnes & Noble.  The Grove at Farmers Market will host the event beginning at 2:pm Sunday November 30th.

Mick Fleetwood
Play On: Now, Then, and Fleetwood Mac

NEW YORK CITY
Author Event:
Date: Tuesday October 28, 2014
Time: 1:00 PM
Location: Barnes & Noble Fifth Ave
555 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10017, Ph: 212-697-3048

LOS ANGELES - CANCELLED
Author Event:
Date: Sunday November 30, 2014
Time: 2:00PM
Location: Barnes & Noble at The Grove at Farmers Market
189 The Grove Drive Suite K 30, Los Angeles, CA 90036, Ph: 323-525-0270

Go if you can!

USA - Pre-order Mick's new book for $15.00. That's 50% OFF the cover price at Barnes & Noble
CANADA - Pre-order Mick's new book from Indigo for $21.78.

Visit mickfleetwoodofficial.com for UK Offers


LISTEN: Stevie Nicks Premieres "Hard Advice" PLUS Commentary Video

Stevie Nicks Reflects on ‘Hard Advice’ From Friend Tom Petty
By Paula Mejia

Click through to Newsweek to hear the track.  This is a beautiful song...


STEVIE NICKS "24 KARAT GOLD - SONGS FROM THE VAULT"

VIDEO: Stevie Nicks Talks About "Mabel Normand" PLUS Stream The New Track

Stevie Nicks' New Track 'Mabel Normand' Is A Brutal Look At 'What Drugs Can Do To You'

Click through to Huffington Post and hear the track... This is one of the most amazing tracks on the album in my opinion.



STEVIE NICKS "24 KARAT GOLD - SONGS FROM THE VAULT"

VIDEO: STEVIE NICKS Talks About "Watch Chain" PLUS Hear the NEW Track from #24KaratGold

Hear Stevie Nicks' Mick Fleetwood Tribute 'Watch Chain'

Fleetwood Mac singer combed through nearly a half-century of unreleased or unrecorded songs for new LP

Visit Rolling Stone to listen to the track



STEVIE NICKS "24 KARAT GOLD - SONGS FROM THE VAULT"

NEW 2014 Fleetwood Mac Merchandise

2014 On With The Show Merchandise now available at Fleetwoodmac.com













REVIEWS | VIDEO: Fleetwood Mac Live in Minneapolis

Fleetwood Mac Live
Minneapolis, MN
September 30, 2014

Fleetwood Mac Kicks Off New Tour, with Christine McVie Back on Keyboards
Photo: Jerry Holt - View Gallery

Fleetwood Mac was at the Target Center in Minneapolis Tuesday night, kicking off their latest tour -- the first with longtime singer/keyboardist Christine McVie since 1998.

According to TwinCities.com, drummer Mick Fleetwood noted McVie’s return by telling the 17,000 fans in attendance, “Our songbird is back,” a reference not only to the 71-year-old singer-songwriter, but also to "Songbird," one of her contributions to Fleetwood Mac's celebrated 1977 album, Rumours. Fittingly, the band ended the night's show with the song.

The nearly two-and-a-half-hour performance opened with “The Chain,” followed by “You Make Loving Fun.”

Christine McVie celebrated her return by thanking the band and the fans, saying, “It’s a dream come true, a chance you don’t often get in life.”

Fleetwood, Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham all took time out to praise McVie. Buckingham told the crowd, “This is a band that continues to evolve through good times and adversity.  This is just, I guess, the latest chapter.”

Buckingham continued, “It’s a beautiful, profound, poetic new chapter now that this lady is back with us. And it’s a chapter that is going to go on for a while. A chapter that is going to yield much fruit. We are very, very excited.”

The band’s next concert is Thursday night at the United Center in Chicago.

Fleetwood Mac's On with the Show tour runs through a December 20 concert in Tampa, Florida.

ABC News


The full Fleetwood Mac is back with McVie
by: Jon Bream
Star Tribune



REVIEW: This heyday incarnation — reassembled after some rocky years — came across as a democratic, respectful, polite and mostly sparks-free.

You look for those little moments at a Fleetwood Mac concert.

Like when Christine McVie, back in the fold after a 16-year retirement, cracks a smile as the sellout crowd gives her a huge ovation after she sings her first line of the night. Or when Stevie Nicks and her ex, Lindsey Buckingham, exchange a glance, grasp one another’s hand and even share a hug. Or when McVie slaps her ex, John McVie, on the shoulder in a fond way.

Because Fleetwood Mac is rock’s famously fractured fivesome, you looked for those little signs Tuesday at Target Center, where the Rock Hall of Fame band launched its reunion tour with McVie.

Nicks hasn’t sounded this good since the early ’90s. Buckingham didn’t hog the spotlight as he did last year in St. Paul. McVie held her own, though her voice clearly doesn’t have arena oomph. And the band sounded terrific, as always. What a rhythm machine and what an articulate and emotional guitarist Buckingham is.

But, ultimately, this heyday incarnation — reassembled after some rocky years — came across as a democratic, respectful, polite and mostly sparks-free Fleetwood Mac. There weren’t any opening-night glitches. And the performance was never really tentative. But it was never really lived in. You’d love to see this band at least 10 shows into this 40-concert On With the Show Tour, especially because Tuesday’s opener was so encouraging.

The key thing that seemed to be missing was palpable camaraderie. Each lead singer stayed in his or her own space each time they sang. There were no sparks or even darts between Buckingham and Nicks, whose romantic tension has fueled Fleetwood Mac to superstardom since they joined the long-lived British/American band in 1975. To be sure, there were a couple of times on Tuesday when they turned toward one another — though they stood a good 20 feet apart — and sang pivotal lyrics as if they meant them. She was shooting lasers at him during “Silver Springs” as she proclaimed, “I know I could have loved you but you would not let me.”

Maybe a more telling moment about their relationship and this night came during “Landslide,” which is essentially a duet for them. Buckingham crept closer to Nicks than usual and when she hit the high note on “snow,” she rolled her eyes in disbelief that she could actually reach that note. He broke into a smile and suddenly there was an exchange of genuine emotion between them — even if their grasping of hands at the end seemed as much about showbiz as deep fondness.

The principal emotion during the nearly 2 ½-hour performance was the joy of having keyboardist McVie back in this group of graying veterans (who range in age from 65 to 71). She brought high harmonies and several songs, including “Little Lies,” “You Make Loving Fun” and the closing “Songbird,” back into the repertoire.

When drummer Mick Fleetwood introduced the band members, McVie received the night’s loudest and longest ovation. And Nicks, Buckingham and Fleetwood told the 17,000 fans how elated they were to have her back.

Nicks, who looked encouragingly at McVie all night, admitted she would have bet all her money that McVie would never return. Buckingham talked about this being the beginning of a new chapter with much new material to be written. Fleetwood declared: “Fer sure, the Mac is back.”

But only time will tell if this On with The Show Tour is a full-blown reunion, merely a victory lap or just a sense of closure for a oft-broken band before it retires.

Full review and photos

Review: Reunited Fleetwood Mac a whole lot of fun at Target Center
by Ross Raihala
Twincities.com

Fleetwood Mac's sold-out show Tuesday at the Target Center proved one thing that everyone already knew: There has been a Christine McVie-size hole in the band for the past 16 years. Not anymore, though, as Tuesday's concert kicked off the first Mac tour to feature the entire "Rumours"-era lineup since 1998. Now 71, McVie has emerged from retirement looking and sounding like she hasn't aged a day.

Drummer Mick Fleetwood said it best, with 17,000 fans cheering him on: "Our songbird is back!"

McVie's return to the fold not only allowed the group to reintroduce "You Make Loving Fun," "Everywhere" and "Little Lies" back into the set, her presence brought fresh energy and excitement to the entire proceedings. The band, sans McVie, played St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center in April 2013, but Tuesday night in Minneapolis, they felt like a different band altogether.

Early on, the set crackled with a certain nervous energy from the stage, especially during the rockers "The Chain" and "Second Hand News." It was charming to see a bunch of old pros actually sweat a little bit while missing the occasional note or chugging ahead a little too fast. Soon after, though, the band locked into a groove together, with McVie's vocals and keyboards adding an extra dimension throughout the show, which fell just short of 2 1/2 hours.

Each band member seemed to be operating at full speed, including rock-steady bassist John McVie, fresh from battling cancer last fall.

The oft-grumpy Lindsey Buckingham took the opportunity to focus on his blazing guitar work. "I'm So Afraid" ended with a solo that had middle-aged guys literally rushing up to the lip of the stage to cheer him on. Stevie Nicks turned in some of her finest Mac vocals in ages. She also took the opportunity to thank the cable drama "American Horror Story" after she wrapped "Seven Wonders." (That song, and Nicks herself, played a key role in the show's last season.)

An acoustic set midway through the set offered a trio of songs that had the audience swooning, and occasionally tearing up: "Big Love," "Landslide" and "Never Going Back Again." The vibes were so good, it was even easy to forgive Professor Buckingham for telling us he now sees "Big Love" as "a meditation on the power and importance of change."

The ageless McVie thanked the band and the crowd, cooing: "It's a dream come true, a chance you don't often get in life." Everyone on stage shared that jovial mood, with Nicks, Buckingham and Fleetwood each taking time out to praise her, with wide grins that suggested they were serious.

Fleetwood Mac has already started work on a new album, which means this probably won't be a one-off reunion.

As Buckingham himself said from the stage: "This is a band that continues to evolve through good times and adversity. This is just, I guess, the latest chapter. It's a beautiful, profound, poetic new chapter now that this lady is back with us. And it's a chapter that is going to go on for a while, a chapter that is going to yield much fruit. We are very, very excited."

Full review and photos

VIDEOS:
Love the stage... Love the backdrop graphics even more than last year... Christine looks and sounds fantastic!  Stevie and Lindsey look and sound amazing as do Mick and John. So happy John is doing better. He's trimmed down it looks like since last year... Lindsey's dropped the leather jacket look for a more refined cropped blazer type jacket.  Stevie, always in black doesn't seem to have any wardrobe changes except for her shawls or wraps. So great to hear these 5 playing together again!!

THE CHAIN / YOU MAKE LOVING FUN
The best way to open a show! John's monster bass prominent mid-way... Christine's first tune is the second song in the set... Hitting those hi notes!


RHIANNON / EVERYWHERE
Stevie does that little twirly thing mid-way through the song which I think is cool... And the shawl seems to have been toned down a bit.  So good to hear Everywhere!!  Christine sounds really strong vocally for being away from it for so many years... Wow!

SEVEN WONDERS / BIG LOVE
Hello... When was the last time you heard THIS live!  1987? 1988?  Sounds pretty good... Stevie gives a shout out the American Horror Story which sort of resurrected the song this past year with Stevie's appearance on the show.  Nothing much to say about Big Love... Great song.. Always a set staple the way Lindsey performs the song. A show stopper. He's the man!


LANDSLIDE / NEVER GOING BACK AGAIN
Nothing much to say about Landslide... perfect song in any set! Great audience sing-a-long. Never Going Back Again... Pretty much the same as in previous shows... Great song!

OVER MY HEAD / GYPSY
This is from the white Fleetwood Mac album released in 1975.  Fleetwood Mac's first top 20 hit in the U.S.  Great to hear this back in the set again...

LITTLE LIES / GOLD DUST WOMAN 
What... 1990? Is that the last tour we heard Little Lies? Sounds amazing! Stevie with her crackhead dance during Gold Dust Woman which she started last year... Great addition to the song extending it out!

I'M SO AFRAID

GO YOUR OWN WAY

WORLD TURNING

DON'T STOP / SILVER SPRINGS
SONGBIRD
With Lindsey on guitar... Beautiful!!!