Stevie Nicks

[sodascouts]

Finally back! And that was one INTENSE experience, let me tell ya! More details later, but I gotta rest a bit now.

FP - just save a couple of the best ones, if you don't mind!

[Freypower]

Did Stevie sing Christine's songs, or do they just cut all of those out? I'll also, without a doubt go see them if they tour! That would be soooo awesome... Fingers crossed!

When I saw them the only Christine song they did was You Make Loving Fun which Stevie sang with Lindsey's help.

[Freypower]

Here are the pick of the WireImage photos:

[sodascouts]

Love them! Thank you!!

BTW in Fleetwood Mac shows, Stevie contributes vocals to "Don't Stop" and "World Turning" - both duets with Lindsey - now that Christine is gone. FP - I think you mean "Say You Love Me" right? That's the other Christine song that they did the times I saw them.

[WalshFan88]

GREAT pics FP!

Anxiously waiting for your review Soda!!!

[Freypower]

Love them! Thank you!!

BTW in Fleetwood Mac shows, Stevie contributes vocals to "Don't Stop" and "World Turning" - both duets with Lindsey - now that Christine is gone. FP - I think you mean "Say You Love Me" right? That's the other Christine song that they did the times I saw them.

I guess it must have been Say You Love Me. I could have sworn it was You Make Loving Fun but I guess it wasn't.

[sodascouts]

OK, here we go!

First off, I'm SO glad I went. It was a once-in-a-lifetime concert. Most of those songs Stevie will never perform live again. She did 8 out of the songs on the new album. EIGHT! I never expected so much, even though it was publicized that this was a special "record release party" concert. Wowowowow. It was a hard core fan's dream.

And hardcores we were... every one of us, with the exception of the family, friends, and industry people in the loge above. It was certainly evident in the response - even though these were new songs, we all knew every word and cheered her continually. Happy birthday indeed.

My concert experience started at 5:45 am. The floor was General Admission, and only the first 100 people would get in the pit. My two friends and I were going to make darn sure we would be in that group.

We chose a hotel a block away from the venue (The Wiltern Theater) and, at first light, walked down. While it may seem crazy to arrive 13 hours earlier, we weren't the first! There were five people ahead of us who had arrived even earlier, the first two of which had come down at 3:30 am. Sadly, one of those two invited anyone she knew up to the front of the line so that by the end of the day, there were a dozen people in front of us (there would have been more, but some people graciously declined her invitation and waited in line like everyone else.) But ugh, I can't talk about that without getting pissed off, so let's move on!

They were filming this show for a documentary, and those of us at the front of the line got interviewed. I doubt my non-photogenic self will make the cut - especially since I found myself rambling trying to answer the question "What makes Stevie Nicks special to you?" - but it was still cool.

The Wiltern was apparently unprepared for Stevie fans, because they completely bungled letting us in and there were almost physical fights (I kid you not). Instead of letting us in single file in the order we were lined up, they just threw open the doors and started taking tickets - if you were able to shove up to a ticket-taker before someone who had been in front of you in line, you were let in earlier. Because I am not a shover, I wound up being about 30th into the venue. However, I did have one thing on my side. I can run in platform boots. As a result, I still managed to get a spot right by the stage and by my friends. Catty-corner to me, two women were fighting over who got to a certain spot first, and one woman who had come up from the back of the line at was at the stage was getting railed at by several people. It was unpleasant but she deserved it. Still, I couldn't wait for Stevie to come out so we could forget all of that!

Wait we did, though, for almost an hour. As we did, we turned toward the loge and tried to spot celebrities. I saw Andy Garcia, Reese Witherspoon, Mick Fleetwood and Lindsey Buckingham. When Lindsey and Mick came in, a huge cheer went through the crowd! Perez Hilton and Michelle Branch were also there.

Finally, she came out at about 8:15, looking absolutely radiant as the photos already posted attest. She was introduced by her brother in the exact same way her father introduced her for her first ever solo concert in 1981, which was also performed at the Wiltern. How appropriate!

She did "Stand Back" right off the bat without preamble, which always gets the crowd moving. After we rocked out to that, she started talking. She told us it was a special night for her and that she was really nervous about doing all these new songs, but hoped we would bear with her. She said that The Wiltern was very special because it was not only where she performed her first solo show, but it was also where she and Lindsey first rehearsed with Fleetwood Mac in 1975, right after they joined the band. She said it hadn't changed much. I had no idea this venue was that historical, and it made the night even more special for me as well!

She next performed the song "Annabel Lee" off of her new album. It was a song that had been circulating as a demo amongst fans for a decade, so many of us would have known it even if it hadn't been on In Your Dreams. As she watched us all sing along with every word, she looked delighted. After she finished the song and we were all cheering, she said something to the effect of "It's pretty wild to play a brand new song like that and see this... I've been working on this album for a year and I've been singing it a million times but to come out here..." I doubt she has ever played to a more fervently appreciative audience. We had flown in from all over the country for this show and we all had the new album memorized.

Next was "Dreams." It was a lovely version. Stevie introduced it by saying that throughout all her songs, both with Fleetwood Mac and solo, there was a common thread - which was one of the reason she had decided to name her new album In Your Dreams.

Her next song, "Sorcerer," was written in 1974 for the Buckingham Nicks album that was shelved when she and Lindsey joined Fleetwood Mac in 1975. It was redone and released in 2001 as a duet with Sheryl Crow. Sheryl was not there, but it still sounded great, and with its lyric "Who Found the Lady from the Mountain" led perfectly into her next "new" song, also begun around that time but not completed until last year.

That song was "Moonlight." She said the melody and two of the verses were written in 1974 about herself and Lindsey, and one of the verses was written after she saw the movie Moonlight from the Twilight series. She said Bella and Edward reminded her of herself and Lindsey. While I've never read the Twilight books or been that interested by the movies, it still seemed to fit pretty well and she performed the song very dramatically. Whenever she's into it, I am!

After that, she did "Gold Dust Woman," which was very hot. I was a little disappointed by the flat howl but that was the only musical moment I found lacking the whole night. Otherwise, she was terrific!

Next was "Ghosts Are Gone," another new song. I wasn't that impressed with it on the album but seeing it live, done with such verve, has given me a new appreciation for it. Stevie rocked it! This was also the first appearance of Dave Stewart, the former Eurythmic who had produced her album and played/sung on it as well. He played guitar here.

She brought out her next "special guest" for "Soldier's Angel" - Lindsey Buckingham - after giving a moving introduction about being inspired by her visit to see wounded soldiers and how she had been changed by the experience. She also said that she was unable to record it until she called Lindsey to help her - that he was the only one who could. After hearing this, Lindsey looked so moved he couldn't speak, but simply nodded toward her and embraced her, choking back tears. While the song itself is again not a favorite and the vocals weren't perfect, it was impossible not to be moved. Amazing!

From that, she went into the title track "In Your Dreams," with Dave Stewart back on guitar as well as Peter Stroud. While the audience had been responding to all the new material, this one had us all literally dancing around. It is so catchy! Love it!

Stevie's signature song "Rhiannon" was next, and she came out in her beautiful Rhiannon gear after an extended piano intro and gave it her all.

She went from that into "For What's It Worth," which she said was inspired by a relationship she had after she was getting off Klonopin in 1994 that enabled her to gather the strength to move on with her life and keep performing. She never named the person, but speculation is that she's talking about the ex-drummer from Crosby, Stills, and Nash named Dallas Taylor who ran the rehab she attended. "Forbidden" but likely. She sang it with such feeling that it made me love the song even more. Mike Campell from The Heartbreakers came out and played on this. (Stevie said Tom Petty had made her an "official Heartbreaker" and even given her a badge to prove it lol).

The next song, "Secret Love," has been performed before as the new single. Stevie still insists she can't remember who it's about but hey, it's a good song and I like it!

"Fall from Grace" is a song off of Trouble In Shangri-La and was her next number. On the album it's not a standout but it's fierce live. She called it the "angriest song" she'd ever written but I'd give that honor to some other songs. lol She really threw herself into it - she was on fire!

"Cheaper Than Free," the next song she did, is a duet with Dave Stewart. I loathe this song, but I pretended to be into it for Stevie's sake. Their vocals were great, at least. Besides, even though I didn't like the song, it's always cool to hear something that's never been done live before.

Then, all too soon, the intro to "Edge of Seventeen" began. By now the crowd was absolutely frenzied. Security guards came in and told us to move back from the stage for some reason - didn't anyone tell them that's when Stevie comes to take our hands? Well, they found out the hard way as they were completely overwhelmed when Stevie approached the end of the stage, her hand extended. Yes, I did get to grasp it for a second as she came by me; I met her eyes and said "Thank you." She smiled. All along, people were handing her bouquets - it was fabulous.

As I looked around me and saw the completely enraptured look on every single face, I wondered how Stevie must feel to be the focus of such intense adoration. I've never seen anything like it because I've never been to a show before that was so chock full of hardcores. The vibe was incredible.

She came back out for her encore song, "Love Is." I've always thought this song was a bit of a downer to end with, but nothing could bring me down at that point. She sang it beautifully.

Stevie closed by saying that she would always remember this night - that it was it was one of the most special shows she'd ever done and we were the most special audience she'd ever performed for. The cheers were deafening.

I'll never forget that night either. I LOVE STEVIE NICKS

[EaglesFanatic]

Wow, your write-up of the concert made me feel like I was actually there! Thanks for telling us about it, sounds like you had a great time. And congrats on getting in the front row

[sodascouts]

Some videos:

Stand Back
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfREnxc6dts[/ame]

Annabel Lee
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrN9VuFO5m8[/ame]

Dreams
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y20uBK_nO9A[/ame]

Sorcerer
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFmOCClLUfo[/ame]

Moonlight
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVPuqGXqx-Q[/ame]

Gold Dust Woman
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ID1-wNDOXsg[/ame]

Ghosts Are Gone
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dM5JVgBLBlw[/ame]

Soldier's Angel
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHJkFT5il8U[/ame]

In Your Dreams
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv3T74GyJlw[/ame]

Rhiannon
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfNNxQdydqM[/ame]

For What It's Worth[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyBjaOYF5Os"][/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKduO4gQPW0&feature=channel_video_title[/ame]

Secret Love
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80mXMkhYkI0[/ame]

Fall from Grace
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETeLTDk9yyc[/ame]

Cheaper Than Free
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gedCCDJAnIs&feature=channel_video_title[/ame]

Edge of Seventeen
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T46bIFjdzI[/ame]

Love Is
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=On77Q7SCIjo&feature=channel_video_title[/ame]

[WalshFan88]

VERY, very cool! Wish I could have been there - it sounds like it was an amazing show! Great review!

ETA: I just watched the videos - AMAZING! What a great voice AND stage presence I love her outfits and the way she moves onstage. I really would have loved to been at that show!

On a completely unrelated note, Peter Stroud is a really good guitarist. He's played with Henley before (you can see it on the Inside Job Live DVD which sadly I broke and don't have anymore and can't find!). He's started his own amplifier company, 65amps, which Steuart Smith uses in the Eagles now.