Reviews Stevie Nicks with The Pretenders Live in Detroit Nov 27, 2016

Stevie Nicks and the Pretenders rock fans for three hours at The Palace
By Edward Pevos
Mlive.com - includes Photos

 Photos by Tanya Moutzalias - View Gallery

AUBURN HILLS, MI - They have two of the most distinctive voices in music history, Stevie Nicks and Chrissie Hynde. Question is: How do they sound today?

The music icons were in concert at The Palace of Auburn Hills on Nicks' "24 Karat Gold Tour" on Sunday, November 27, 2016.

The Pretenders:

Chrissie Hynde put a little more umph when singing the "Brass in Pocket" line: "been driving Detroit leaning." She and the Pretenders are fresh off the release of their 10th studio album, "Alone," in 2016.

Hynde and the band performed some new stuff, some old stuff and the band's biggest hits including "I'll Stand By You," "Back On The Chain Gang", "Don't Get Me Wrong," and the aforementioned "Brass in Pocket."

To put it short and sweet, Hynde performed nearly every lyric and every note of each song the way it was meant to be performed. The 65 year old's voice is as powerful and flawless as ever. Hearing her live, along with a solid band was a real treat before the main course.

Stevie Nicks:

That main course was the living legend herself, Stevie Nicks. When you see her without her Fleetwood Mac band mates, you are treated to not only some of her big Mac hits, but many of her solo classics and duets.

No, that wasn't Tom Petty singing with Nicks on their classic "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around." Nicks brought out the Pretenders lead singer Chrissie Hynde for a fun rendition of the 1981 hit which originally featured Petty.

Nicks nearly 20 song setlist also included a few songs from her newest and 8th studio album, 2014's "24 Karat Gold." The album is actually filled with new versions of demos that Nicks recorded from 1969 to 1987 with a couple from the 90s. Each song has a story, and Nicks made sure to take a minute to tell the crowd about how her songs came to life.

In her two hour set, Nicks mixed in three Fleetwood Mac hits with "Gypsy," "Gold Dust Woman" and "Rhiannon." Her solo hits included "Stand Back" and "Edge of Seventeen." She also threw in some deeper tracks with "If Anyone Falls," "Wild Heart," "Bella Donna" and "Enchanted."

The 68 year old Nicks still has that amazing voice which is both hypnotizing and mesmerizing. I think fans would have liked to have heard a couple more Fleetwood Mac songs, and I'm not sure what happened to "Leather and Lace," the show closer for most of the tour so far, but if you get a chance to see Nicks in concert, it's well worth your time and money. You never know how many times she'll be back again, with or without Mac.

Review: Stevie Nicks spreads 24 karat gold dust at The Palace
By Gary Graff
The Oakland Press

AUBURN HILLS -- At the start of her concert Sunday night, Nov. 27, Stevie Nicks told the crowd at The Place that, “This show is not what you are going to think it will be.”

In other words, it was time for something other than a pro forma parade of hits -- which Nicks certainly has the catalog to do -- over its two hours and 17 songs.

Those hits were there, of course, from a pounding “Stop Draggin’ My Heart” around with Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders, who opened the show, guesting to Fleetwood Mac favorites such as “Gypsy,” “Gold Dust Woman” and “Rihannon” and Nicks solo successes like “Stand Back” and “Edge Of Seventeen.” But the show -- ostensibly promoting Nicks’ 2014 rarities album “24 Karat Gold: Songs From The Vault” -- was also designed as a dive into what she called “the gothic trunk of magical, mysterious things, something different for me after all these years.” And that troll unearthed some of the night’s best moments.

Nicks and her eight-member band started the night digging deep, in fact, with the country-flavored “Gold And Braid” from her 1988 box set “The Enchanted Works of Stevie Nicks” and a slightly twanged-up arrangement of “If Anyone Falls” from her 1983 sophomore solo album, “Wild Heart.” Nicks was in robust if not always accurate voice -- shuffling around the stage in formidable high heels and sporting eight different shawls during the course of the show plus, for one song, a full-length white fur coat -- as she pulled out “24 Karat Gold” rockers such as “Belle Fleur” and “Starshine” (a collaboration with Tom Petty that sat in the vaults for two decades) and the moody epic “Moonlight (A Vampire’s Dream).”

She neatly pared the title tracks of her first two albums, “Bella Donna” and “Wild Heart,” draped in the original shawl she wore on the album cover for the former, while a muscular performance of the 1973 Buckingham Nicks track “Crying In The Night” added a bit of pre-Fleetwood Mac fame perspective to the show.

Nicks had plenty of stories to tell as well, some specifically about the songs, others about the circumstances surrounding them. She spoke about the struggle, especially during the early 80s, of balancing her solo work with Fleetwood Mac -- “They’re not understanding. Very nice people, but not very understanding,” Nicks noted -- and she paid tribute to Prince with video screen images during “Stand Back” and “Edge Of Seventeen.” “Prince and I were friends,” Nicks acknowledged. “There’s a story. I’m not ready to tell it yet. It was a long, crazy friendship, a lot of phone calls, a lot of philosophy...”

Nicks’ show accented the songs with plenty of eye candy, too, including animations, prepared videos and vintage photos on the rear-stage LED screen, while orb-shaped chandeliers and light bulbs floated overhead in shifting formations. The effect may have indeed been a different kind of show for Nicks, but also proof that different can be good.

The Pretenders’ generous, hour-long opening set, meanwhile, was its own revelation. With Hynde’s punky swagger still evident -- and her voice as potent now as it was when the group emerged during the late 70s -- the quintet touched on its new album, “Alone” and Hynde’s 2014 solo album “Stockholm,” but mostly tore through 80s touchstones such as “Message Of Love,” “Back On The chain Gang,” “Don’t Get Me Wrong,” My City Was Gone,” “Mystery Achievement” and a ferocious “Middle Of The Road.” Hynde and company, including original drummer Martin Chambers, effectively dialed it down for torchy, soulful performances of “Hymn To her” and “I’ll Stand By You,” and by the time it wrapped with “Brass In Pocket” the group had done considerably more than just warm the Palace crowd up for Nicks.

Review Stevie Nicks Live at Mohegan Sun Casino Nov 25, 2016

Stevie Nicks, Pretenders thrill Mohegan Sun Casino crowd (review)
By Chris Dondoros
Masslive.com

UNCASVILLE, Conn. – More than four decades into her musical career, Stevie Nicks has a lot of stories to tell.

Fleetwood Mac's most recognizable voice stopped by the Mohegan Sun Arena on Friday night, treating concert-goers to a career-spanning set – and career-spanning anecdotes – as part of the "24 Karat Gold" tour.

Known as the "Reigning Queen of Rock 'n' Roll" to fans, Nicks lived up to that title early on in her set, with a humble demeanor juxtaposed against a voice that – despite decades of touring – sounded nearly identical to recorded versions of songs such as openers "Gold and Braid" and "If Anyone Falls."

Nicks also wasn't afraid to hit some of Fleetwood Mac's most memorable tunes early on in her 19-song set, including a memorable performance of "Gypsy," complete with Lindsey Buckingham's memorable guitar melodies performed courtesy of longtime guitarist "Waddy Wachtel," who Nicks said she has known since 1971 and whose discography as a session guitarist spans from James Taylor to Iggy Pop.

Unfortunately, however, fans hoping for a performance of "The Chain" or by-the-book "greatest hits" concert would be disappointed.

Instead, Nicks and her backing band took a fresh look at "deep cuts" from her first two solo efforts – 1981's, "Bella Donna" and 1983's "Wild Heart" for much of her set, alongside tracks off Nicks' 2014 effort, "24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault," which were accompanied with stories from Nicks about how each song was written and subsequently "lost" over the years.

Notably, according to Nicks, "Starshine" started off as a 1979 demo written and originally performed by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers between album cycles, which left the song unreleased until 2014.

In one of the night's most notable moments, Nicks invited Chrissie Hynde – who opened the show with seminal New Wave band the Pretenders – on stage for a performance of another Petty tune, "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," with Hynde and Wachtel providing Nicks support during the song's choruses, originally sung by Petty.

With much of her set moving along at a slow pace, Nicks would save some of the night's best performances for last, starting with a brooding rendition of 2011's "Moonlight (A Vampire's Dream)," which Nicks said was inspired by the film "Twilight: New Moon" and inspired her to release her first solo album in nearly a decade. She also offered the one-two punch of Fleetwood Mac's "Gold Dust Woman" and an extended rendition of solo effort "Edge of Seventeen."

Nicks rounded out the show with a pair of encores that aptly paid respect to the two distinctive eras of her career: concert favorite "Rhiannon" by Fleetwood Mac, which Nicks said she has performed at every concert since 1975, and "Leather and Lace" from 1981's "Bella Donna."

Hynde and the Pretenders opened the show with a lengthy set to an already-full arena that included back-to-back performances of hit songs "I'll Stand By You" and "Back on the Chain Gang" along with "Brass In Pocket."

Happy 71st Birthday to John McVie

Happy Birthday Johnny! Have an amazing day! Wishing all the health and happiness in the world.

Review Stevie Nicks Live in Grand Rapids, MI November 23, 2016

Stevie Nicks, The Pretenders mint golden performance for Grand Rapids fans
by Lorilee Craker
Localspins.com

VIEW PHOTO GALLERY

Nicks’ “24 Karat Gold Tour” trotted out some golden oldies as well as some fresh material on Wednesday, not to mention spotlighting two rock ‘n’ roll icons. (Review, photo gallery)

Stevie Nicks and Chrissie Hynde on tour together?

It seemed a little weird at the outset, but by the time Nicks sailed onto the stage at Grand Rapids’ Van Andel Arena on Wednesday night, there proved to be a certain alchemy that made a lot of sense for this “24 Karat Gold Tour.”

And any concertgoer with lingering doubts bought in when the two oddly paired tour mates performed a duet on “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,” which Nicks originally recorded with Tom Petty.

Now that was golden.

There was Nicks, with her gossamer shawls and sorceress vibe, proclaiming that the Petty song “saved her life.” Or her career, at any rate.

Then witness Pretenders frontwoman Hynde, all sinew and strut, belting the Petty parts in the song. Together, those two grand dames of rock ’n’ roll made beautiful music together on Thanksgiving eve.

At 68, Nicks sounded in top form Wednesday as she warbled some old hits and unearthed some new-to-us songs from the “dark, gothic trunk of mystical, magical things.” From that trunk, she pulled out some songs which had not received their full due over the past 40-some years of her songwriting, or at least, the stories she told to introduce them seemed to imply this.

“Crying in the Night,” for example, harkened back to 1971, when she recorded the beachy gem with Fleetwood Mac bandmate and then-love Lindsey Buckingham and no one paid any attention at the time.

“New Orleans” came out of Nicks watching the impending Hurricane Katrina on TV from “her ocean” in California. And somewhat peculiarly, “Moonlight (A Vampire’s Dream)” had its origins in Nicks falling for the “Twilight” franchise a few years ago.

ENGAGING STAGECRAFT AND STORY-TELLING

Waddy Wachtel on lead guitar and Carlos Rios on rhythm guitar elevated every song, old or new, known or unknown, with their stringed artistry.

Superb stagecraft, with mystical moonscapes, falling water and – more than once – impressions of Prince showing on massive screens behind the band enriched the experience.

A born storyteller, Nicks’ narrative about almost every song was entertaining and added value to the unknown tunes. At times, it felt like the audience was sitting in her living room, shooting the breeze, learning about her artistic processes.

Still, folks really came to hear the hits and they were rewarded with “Gypsy,” “Stand Back” (which incited most concertgoers to stand up) and Fleetwood Mac’s “Gold Dust Woman.”

Some of that gold dust flickered around Hynde and The Pretenders as they opened with a burly 15-song set.

Taking a page from Nicks’ penchant for playing a bunch of almost unknown songs, Hynde opened with two cuts from a minty new album, October’s “Alone” – the title track and “Gotta Wait” – backed by a dazzling band that featured guitarist James Walbourne and hard-hitting drummer Martin Chambers.

“I love the Midwest,” Hynde said. “People dig guitar-based rock ’n’ roll and that’s what it’s all about!”

Wednesday’s crowd of Midwesterners definitely dug some of the classics, including “Back on the Chain Gang,” “Message of Love” and the ever-sweet “I’ll Stand By You.”

View Photo Gallery by Anthony Norkus

Review Stevie Nicks Live in Philadelphia November 20th

Stevie Nicks digs out old favorites for Philadelphia show
by Janelle Sheetz
AXS.com

Asa Fleetwood Mac singer and solo artist, Stevie Nicks has no shortage of hits and fan favorites to play live -- but it's some of her favorite lesser-known songs that she's choosing to focus on her 24 Karat Gold Tour, which stopped in Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center Sunday night.

Though Nicks probably doesn't need an opening act -- in fact, Fleetwood Mac doesn't have one for their tours--she tapped The Pretenders to get things started, who played an exciting rock set peppered with some classics of their own, such as "Back on the Chain Gang," "I'll Stand by You," "Don't Get Me Wrong," and of course "Brass in Pocket." Frontwoman Chrissie Hynde, despite joking about her age, still sounds fantastic, easily singing and playing hits that are now decades old.

Nicks and her eight-piece band opened her own set with "Gold and Braid" and continued for about two hours with songs spanning her career, from the beginning with Buckingham Nicks to Fleetwood Mac to solo. Hynde returned to the stage early in the evening to join Nicks for "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," originally performed with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, before Nicks continued on not with hits, for the most part, but with tracks pulled out of what she calls her "Gothic trunk" and featured on 24 Karat Gold: Songs From The Vault, often taking the time to tell the personal stories behind the writing and recording. Despite being in a packed arena, Nicks' personality and willingness go behind the scenes made one feel as though they could easily be in a smaller venue at a more intimate show. She shared stories of what inspired songs like "New Orleans" and "Moonlight (A Vampire's Dream)," as well as tales of interactions with other musical heavyweights like Petty, Don Henley, and Prince, whose picture was often displayed on the large screen behind Nicks.

Despite the focus on songs that are among her favorites but might not be known to a wide audience, Nicks didn't avoid guaranteed crowd pleasers--Fleetwood Mac song "Gypsy" made an early appearance, followed by "Gold Dust Woman" at the end of the set, complete with a gold shawl and Stevie's dancing. The band's music was featured a final time during the encore with "Rhiannon." As for Nicks' most famous solo songs, she ended her set with the hit "Edge of Seventeen" and ended her encore with the lovely "Leather and Lace."

Nicks' solo shows may not pack the intensity of Fleetwood Mac's, but that's also part of the charm--Nicks is still an iconic singer and songwriter in her own right, and the 24 Karat Gold Tour gives fans a chance to see a different side of her.

Stevie Nicks' songs provide an antidote to today’s often embattled pop music

THE RESURGENT APPEAL OF STEVIE NICKS
Her generous songs provide an antidote to today’s often embattled pop music.

by Amanada Petrusich
The New Yorker

The cover of “Bella Donna,” Stevie Nicks’s first solo album, shows the artist looking slender and

wide-eyed, wearing a white gown, a gold bracelet, and a pair of ruched, knee-high platform boots. One arm is bent at an improbable angle; a sizable cockatoo sits on her hand. Behind her, next to a small crystal ball, is a tambourine threaded with three long-stemmed white roses. Nicks did not invent this storefront-psychic aesthetic—it is indebted, in varying degrees, to Hans Christian Andersen’s Thumbelina, de Troyes’s Guinevere, and Cher—but, beginning in the mid-nineteen-seventies, she came to embody it. The image was girlish and delicate, yet inscrutable, as if Nicks were suggesting that the world might not know everything she’s capable of.

This intimation is newly germane: a vague but feminine mysticism is in. Lorde, Azealia Banks, FKA Twigs, chvrches, Grimes, and Beyoncé have all incorporated bits of pagan-influenced iconography into their music videos and performances. Young women are now embracing benign occult representations, reclaiming the rites and ceremonies that women were once chastised (or worse) for performing. On runways, on the streets, and in thriving Etsy shops, you can find an assortment of cloaks, crescent-moon pendants, flared chiffon skirts, and the occasional jewelled headdress.

Full article at The New Yorker

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Review Stevie Nicks with The Pretenders Philadelphia, PA November 20, 2016

Stevie Nicks and the Pretenders — odd but cozy bedfellows at WFC

by A.D. Amorosi

Philly.com

If we were to duck back to their post-punk '70s peak, the Pretenders and Stevie Nicks would not have been pals. Witchy, willowy pop-hitmaker Nicks — with Fleetwood Mac or through a long solo career — was the polar opposite of the blunt, smug Pretenders and smugger-still front woman, Chrissie Hynde.

Nicks was all leather and lace, a prettily warbling product of bright Californian pop-rock, but with a mystical edge. Hynde was beat-up leather and black-denim neo-punk, but with a rich burr and an adoration of melodic ’60s pop, along with a cynical lyricism that made her just as much an acolyte of Dusty Springfield as she was of Johnny Rotten.

Time and trend passed, people got older, and now Hynde, with an ever-shifting cast of Pretenders, is on a tour with Nicks that on Sunday packed the Wells Fargo Center. The two even got together — happily and heartily — on a blowsy cover of Nicks’ 1981 downturned romancer with Tom Petty, “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,” with Hynde and rangy guitarist Waddy Wachtel. (Longtime associate Wachtel was as much a secret weapon Sunday to Nicks’ scratchy purr as the Pretenders’ aggressive, rumbling drummer, Martin Chambers, was to Hynde’s winnowing coo.)

Aside from that aforementioned 1981 hit and F-Mac smashes such as “Gypsy,” Nicks’ set fascinatingly focused on catalog riches (“my Gothic trunk of treasures”) that had  fallen through the cracks — an idea that legacy rockers with tired set-lists should consider.

Along with an ardent take on the way-early “Crying in the Night” (a Buckingham Nicks cut), moody synth-rockers “Stand Back,” and “If Anyone Falls,” the incrementally building theatrical ballad “Moonlight (A Vampire’s Dream),” and the train-chugging-whistle-blowing “Enchanted” all allowed Nicks’ scuffed, coolly soulful murmur freest range.

Chatting up the (sometimes romantic) history of each track, Nicks became almost Judy Garlandlike — but without the tragic end.

Hynde’s Pretenders also did something bold in opening their long set with two rough, Stoogeslike ragers from the new album Alone — the explicit title track and the rumbling “Gotta Wait.” Another new track — the oddly plucky “Holy Commotion” — also was part of the live package.

Pluck and cheer are what Hynde best displayed while using her rock-salted caramel hoot of a voice, whether it was smiling/smirking through a boldly crunching “Message of Love,” growling through the reggae-punkish “Private Lives,” or slinking along in “My City Was Gone.” 

Hynde also made fun of her cutoff Elvis T-shirt during the “style” section of “Brass in Pocket,” and of her age, 65, and her crowd's. “There’s a lot of old faces here, but you guys are pushing it,” she said, laughing. “Me, too.”

Review Stevie Nicks Live in Philadelphia, PA November 20, 2016

The 5 best stories from Stevie Nicks' revealing Philly concert (PHOTOS)
by Bobby Olivier
NJ.com - Check out the photos

Photo Matt Smith - View More

PHILADELPHIA — Discretion has rarely come easy to Stevie Nicks.

Rock's venerable gypsy queen has been a subject of gossip for decades, from her role in Fleetwood Mac's romantic crossword puzzle, to her drug addictions — cocaine, then the tranquilizer Klonopin — to her publicized weight gain in the '90s, from a steroid used to fortify her patently potent, rasping voice. 

But as with any star, there are always deeper dimensions than the tabloids, from the tortured artist fans think they know, to the day-to-day, human person no one really knows at all. 

Nicks, 68, visited her most rooted level Sunday night in Philadelphia, on a tour designed not only to unearth some of her most obscure, never-before-played-live songs — swiped from her seemingly bottomless "gothic trunk," she joked — but the stories behind them. 

And through more than two hours of tales, between songs as old as her pre-Fleetwood days with the old-beau duo Buckingham Nicks and as new as those inspired by, of all things, the "Twilight" film series, the songstress was candid on her first solo tour in four years, and gracious to the Wells Fargo Center crowd for allowing her time to stray from the hits and reveal new moments from her prolific career. And with her wonderfully tight, eight-piece band — many of whom have been with her for decades — Nicks managed to shrink the arena and supply the intimacy much of her catalog has worked to provide. 

As Nicks was very chatty on this trek, deemed the 24 Karat Gold Tour, it didn't feel right to write a usual narrative review in this case, so instead, here are a few of her new stories, told (mostly) in her words.

PHOTOS Stevie Nicks Live in Bethlehem, PA

Stevie Nicks enchants Lehigh Valley crowd with songs from the vault (PHOTOS)
by Matt Smith
Lehighvalleylive.com (Check out the photos)

Singer-songwriter Stevie Nicks delighted fans with songs from deep within her catalog during a show Saturday at Sands Bethlehem Event Center in Bethlehem.

Best known for both her work with Fleetwood Mac as well as her highly-successful solo career, Nicks' 24 Karat Gold Tour included songs that either hadn't been performed in decades -- or ever. 

The Pretenders, featuring Chrissie Hynde, opened the show and thrilled the crowd with familiar songs like "Message of Love" and "I'll Stand By You."

A highlight of the show came as Stevie Nicks was joined onstage by Hynde as the duo performed the 1981 hit "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," with Hynde singing the parts originally performed by Tom Petty.

The next stop on the tour is Sunday night at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

Out with the old. In with the new(er). Setlist change at Stevie Nicks Bethlehem show.

In a shocking move, Stevie dropped "Dreams/Outside The Rain" from the set and added in "Gypsy". Interesting that it took almost half the tour to change things up a little - although she did warn that this may happen in pre-tour press. Also interesting that it was "Dreams"!  Usually its the lessor known songs that get the boot first before a staple. But it's cool... shakes things up a bit, keeps it interesting for everyone.

REVIEW: Stevie Nicks at Sands Bethlehem Event Center is older, but still bewitching
by John J. Moser
Mcall.com

PHOTO: Chris Shipley / The Morning Call

Stevie Nicks has always seemed to know more than the rest of us — more about affairs of the heart, more about the meaning of life, more about the future.

You could tell it in the way she told us in the 1982 Fleetwood Mac song “Gypsy” that “Lightning strikes/maybe once/maybe twice,” or in 1975’s “Landslide” that “time makes you bolder/Even children get older/And I'm getting older, too.”

Now Nicks really is getting older — she turned 68 this year — and all those things she sang about 40 years ago (!) seem to have been realized, both by her and her audience.

Full review with 35 photos in the gallery at Mcall.com

Stevie Nicks 'Bella Donna' (Deluxe Edition) Enters Billboard Top 200 Chart

Stevie Nicks, Bella Donna (Deluxe Edition) - No. 128: A new expanded version of Stevie Nicks’ 1981 solo debut album, Bella Donna, arrives on the chart with 5,000 units earned. The original album reached No. 1, and remains Nicks’ only solo chart-topper.

The revamped deluxe title -- which features 25 additional tracks -- charts separately from the original album, and its sales history is also tracked independently of the original release.

The original Bella Donna album climbed to No. 1 on the list dated Sept. 5, 1981 and also marked the icon’s first of so-far nine top 40-charting efforts. She most recently visited the top 40 with her 2014 album 24 Karat Gold: Songs From the Vault, which debuted and peaked at No. 7.

Bella Donna also sports the most top 40-charting singles on the Billboard Hot 100 of any Nicks album, as it launched four hits into the region. Its lead-off single, “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,” with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, peaked at No. 3 (for six weeks!). It was followed by “Leather and Lace,” with Don Henley (which reached No. 6), “Edge of Seventeen” (No. 11) and “After the Glitter Fades” (No. 32).

Source

Bella Donna along with The Wild Heart chart on the Top Catalog Albums Chart coming in at #7 and #15.  On the Top 100 Album Sales Chart for the week Bella Donna enters at #59 with The Wild Heart entering at #85 with sales of 4,302 and 3,175 units.

Top Catalog Albums Chart
7 - Bella Donna (Deluxe Edition)
15 - Wild Heart (Deluxe Edition)


Top 100 Album Sales Chart
59 - Bella Donna (Deluxe Edition) - 4,302
85 - Wild Heart (Deluxe Edition) - 3,175

Review Stevie Nicks Live in Washington with The Pretenders November 14, 2016

Stevie Nicks and Chrissie Hynde inspire fans at Verizon Center
By Joseph Szadkowski
The Washington Times

WASHINGTON, DC — Stevie Nicks and Chrissie Hynde, two grande dames of rock and roll, delivered their distinct musical styles to a near-capacity crowd on Monday night at the Verizon Center.

Both female forces reminded fans of their combined, nearly 90 years of expertise in crafting hit songs, with an over 3-hour-long performance.

First up, Miss Hynde, dressed in red Colonial regiment coat, Elvis T-shirt and skin-tight jeans, led her Pretenders through a 16-song, hourlong set featuring tunes from the band’s latest album “Alone,” along with a radio friendly mix of her more iconic hits.

She apparently tailored the milder set to the throngs of Stevie Nicks admirers, most of which were probably unaware of her more punkish, bad girl roots.

That meant a kindler romp through her charting years with “Message of Love,” “Back on the Chain Gang,” “I’ll Stand by You,” “Don’t Get Me Wrong,” “Stop Your Sobbing,” “My City Was Gone” and “Brass in Pocket” leading the way.

Review Stevie Nicks with The Pretenders Live in Boston November 15, 2016

This is the kind of package that never could have happened in 1981. But in 2016 this bill makes sense.
By Jim Sullivan
Capecodtimes

BOSTON – Stevie Nicks and the Pretenders, together on tour. This is the kind of package that never could have happened, say, in 1981. The Pretenders were the hard-edged, snarling voice of Anglo-American new wave, having released two A-level albums, “Pretenders” and “Pretenders II.” Nicks was the ethereal, ever-twirling enchantress from the multi-platinum Fleetwood Mac, who with the “Bella Donna” album had started her soft-rock solo career.

But in 2016 this bill makes sense. There’s nothing divisive about the camps of fans anymore (if there ever was), and the prospective demo is almost the same, the 50+ pop/rock market. (Nicks also guested on “American Horror Story” playing a version of herself, probably earning some young fans.) The Pretenders’ lead singer-guitarist-songwriter Chrissie Hynde is 65; Nicks, 68; and they both wear it well. The two hooked up and had fun during Nicks’ set for a rendition of the duet hit Nicks scored with Tom Petty, “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,” with Hynde taking Petty’s vocal.

Review Stevie Nicks Live in Columbia, SC November 12, 2016

Stevie Nicks, Pretenders Lived Up to Their Legacies at Colonial Life Arena
By Erika Ryan
Free-Times.com

Stevie Nicks, Pretenders; Colonial Life Arena, Columbia; Nov. 12, 2016

Over the screams of hundreds of middle-aged women, many in black shawls, a familiar voice told the crowd, “This is not the same Stevie Nicks set you’ve seen a hundred times.” And it wasn’t. After performing Fleetwood Mac’s greatest hits for 40 years, it was clear Stevie Nicks wanted us to know she’s also a solo artist, and has been for a while.

While Saturday night’s show spotlighted her September 2014 release 24 Karat Gold, she still touched on a few classics — Nicks’ renditions of “Gold Dust Woman” and “Dreams” sounded as timeless as ever. But for someone with a career as monumental as hers, sheer star power can often overpower the fact that some of the songs are unfamiliar.

“It’s a brave new world when you get to be my age — you get to do whatever you want,” she told the crowd.

24 Karat Gold is Nicks’ Songs From the Vault, so the majority of her set comprised older, lesser known songs and solo tracks she wrote years ago. She was a personable performer — throughout the show she told stories about her career and the background behind many of her songs; she even brought out one of the original shawls she wore in photos for her 1981 solo debut, Bella Donna.

Nicks took breaks between songs to talk about musical peers that influenced her, specifically Tom Petty and Prince, which later led to a Prince tribute during “Edge of Seventeen” — “I’m so sad that he’s not here with us,” she said, “but he is here with us.”

Although the Pretenders were technically Nicks’ opener, they still put on an impressive show. Frontwoman Chrissie Hynde came out with a jam-packed set, featuring plenty of songs off the band’s new album, Alone, released in October, as well as some familiar favorites.

“We’re going to play a song off our new album, you probably haven’t heard it,” Hynde joked at one point.

Alone still feels like the Pretenders, containing a modern update to their New Wave roots. The catchiness of the album translated seamlessly to the stage, as the band displayed the same infectious energy they always have — especially Hynde, whose intensity hasn’t waned.

Unlike many opening acts, the Pretenders held the crowd’s attention and enthusiasm just as well as Nicks. After only being on the stage for two songs, Nicks brought Hynde back to duet on the crowd favorite “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,” sung on record with help from Tom Petty.

Both Stevie Nicks and the Pretenders delivered performances that were a tribute to long, successful careers, which was exactly what the crowd wanted. After years of touring, not every rock legend retains a fire for playing live. But Hynde and Nicks left no doubt that they still have it.

Reviews Stevie Nicks Live in Boston November 15, 2016

Stevie Nicks wows with ‘24 Karat Gold’ show
by Jed Gottlieb
Boston Herald

PHOTOS

Stevie Nicks doesn’t need Fleetwood Mac.

I’m so happy she has the Mac, because they’re amazing. But Nicks’ solo catalog does fine filling two hours — as she proved last night at a packed TD Garden.

The golden goddess in gossamer has huge, instantly-recognizable hits. In the ’80s she had ten Top 40 singles (not including her Mac smashes). But last night proved her “forgotten” works have equal force and beauty.

For this run of shows, she dug up brilliant pop nuggets “Bella Donna” and “If Anyone Falls,” gone from her live set since 1981 and 1983 respectively. She debuted “Wild Heart” — how had she never played that on a jaunt she dubbed “The Wild Heart Tour?” Even “Crying in the Night,” from the long-deleted, 1973 “Buckingham Nicks,” got the love it always deserved.

But Nicks went deeper. The singer devoted much of the evening to tracks from “24 Karat Gold: Songs From the Vault,” made up of recently re-recorded demos. A little too polished on record, the material got nicely roughed up by the eight-piece band. The best of the bunch, “Starshine” dated back to 1979, when she stopped by Tom Petty’s house to have the Heartbreakers cut it with her.

“I showed up with Hershey’s powder in case I wanted to make chocolate milk,” she said. “And my guitar.”

Nicks also told stories: making records with Petty and Lindsey Buckingham, writing songs for Waylon Jennings that turned out to be duets with Don Henley, the value of high quality silk for your capes

The songs and stories made the night unique. The hits made it perfect. As she said herself, “‘Rhiannon’ has been with me at every show since 1975.” And last night “Rhiannon” was joined by “Edge of Seventeen,” “Stand Back” and — as a duet with opener Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders — “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around”

Hynde and her band kicked things off with a tough, tight set true to their raw, rock ‘n’ roll legacy. But after a few ragged numbers, Hynde slipped in the most tender tune in her catalog: “Hymn to Her.” After the mystic moment, she quietly added, “That was for Hillary.” A few minutes later, she followed it up with new song “Holy Commotion” saying, “It’s about how white surprises aren’t Christians. So do what you want with that.” Lovely to see Hynde remains equal parts punk and pop.

A trunk of treasures from Stevie Nicks and the Pretenders at TD Garden
By Maura Johnston
Boston Globe

PHOTOS

Stevie Nicks’s current tour is called the 24 Karat Gold Tour, a reference to the vault of songs that the Los Angeles-based artist has amassed over her career as a singer, songwriter, and muse. The vault’s full name? “The Gothic Trunk of 24 Karat Gold Songs” — an appellation that sums up her legacy’s many riches, among them the mega-selling albums she recorded with her band Fleetwood Mac, her indelible solo hits, her collaborations with the likes of Tom Petty and Don Henley, and her penchant for flowy outfits.

Nicks’s first two solo albums, 1981’s “Bella Donna” and 1983’s “The Wild Heart,” were reissued earlier this month. To look back on them now is to remember how blockbuster they were, spawning sinewy, catchy singles that ruled the then-nascent MTV and allowing Nicks’s singular take on American gothic — a swirl of black lace, sweeping capes, and blonde hair — to captivate a broadcast audience. Tuesday night’s exuberant show focused on those two albums while also looking backward and forward at her decades-spanning body of work.

The band, led by her longtime music director Waddy Wachtel, muscled through the set, adding heft to Fleetwood Mac chestnuts like “Gold Dust Woman” and “Rhiannon” and fleshing out the taut “Stand Back” with a guitar solo worthy of its inspiration, Prince. (A photo of the late polymath performing with Nicks appeared on the video backdrop at the song’s conclusion, and images of him also floated onscreen during “Edge of Seventeen.”) Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders, the proto-Britpop outfit who powered through an hourlong set before Nicks took the stage, helped fill in for Tom Petty on a particularly boisterous version of “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around.”

Between songs, Nicks offered up a slew of origin stories — workshopping “Leather and Lace” with her then-boyfriend Henley, who would later duet with her on the recorded version; the tour-occasioned breakups that inspired the recently unearthed “Belle Fleur.” (”That’s kind of the story of how relationships end when you’re with me,” she said.) A stirring version of 2005’s “Moonlight (A Vampire’s Dream),” which ended with a fur-swaddled Nicks thrashing as the music churned around her, was followed by her confession that it was probably her favorite song of the past quarter-century, and that it was inspired by “Twilight,” the brooding vampire romance that definitely has a bit of Nicks in its DNA.

But perhaps the biggest treat of the night, aside from Nicks strutting through 19 pieces of her catalog, was the way Nicks related to the audience as a clutch of potential peers, creative fireworks waiting to be lit. “If you are a creative person — which you all are — you can always go out and follow your dream,” said Nicks after performing the 1973 Buckingham/Nicks track “Crying in the Night.” “And 43 years later, you can stand on a stage, or in your house, and do something you wanted to do since you were 21 years old when you’re 68 years old.” The message was only made stronger by its messenger, a woman who honors the power of words with every song she writes, and who remains one of rock ’n’ roll’s brightest lights.

Photos Videos and the "F" Bomb... Stevie Nicks Live in Washington, DC November 14, 2016

Stevie Nicks brings Fleetwood Mac classics and solo material to Washington DC
by Rob Wallace
RespectYourYoungers

Photos from the show

Stevie dropped the "F" bomb when during the intro to the song... She's funny!! Total accident, but still funny.

Watch Previously Unreleased Video of Fleetwood Mac at the 1982 US Festival

By Matt Wardlaw
Ultimate Classic Rock


Here are two exclusive previews from The US Festival 1982, a new feature-length documentary that has been in the works for the past four years. Watch a clip featuring Fleetwood Mac above, and another with the Police below – then find out how you can help complete this important project.
Set for release in 2017, the film will tell the story behind the US Festival, one of the most legendary and innovative music events. The US Festival 1982 promises extensive video of the crowd experience and interviews captured that weekend, combined with new comments from artists and event organizers. The original audio and video has been remastered, and all of the new interviews were shot in high definition.
However, there is still work to do. Director Glenn Aveni recently launched a Kickstarter fundraising campaign to help generate the necessary funds to finish things up – and according to Aveni, they’re in the home stretch. “In our case with this film, we have been working on it for a while, and so we are pretty far along,” he says. “The B-roll footage – music, crowds, etc. – is all in place. The interviews are done. Some of the music is cleared, and the rest (that we want to use) is all negotiated and priced – both with the artists and with the relevant labels.”
Since access to a time machine seems unlikely at the moment, we can all be grateful that the US Festival sprang to life thanks to music fan Steve Wozniak, who also had a huge interest (and highly influential hand) in technology. That meant the festival was well-documented on audio and video.
As a co-founder of Apple Computers with Steve Jobs, Wozniak (“Woz” to those who knew him beyond a handshake) had made enough money to have a lot of fun. He decided to use his good financial fortune to throw a big party that would bring people together, using music as one of the common threads and bonds. A company, UNOSON (an abbreviation for “Unite Us In Song”), was created to produce the giant three-day outdoor concert that he envisioned.
Woz knew that what he was planning would take an army – he eventually would employ over 4,000 people, most of them hired locally – and together they built what is to this day the largest outdoor music venue – from scratch. He was no concert promoter, so he brought in the concert promoter, Bill Graham, to produce the event. Working with Graham was, of course, an experience that left Woz and all involved with a lot of colorful stories.
“The Kinks had a contractual obligation to go on at a specified time, but decided they wanted to take the stage at dusk to benefit from the stage lighting,” Aveni recalls. “Bill Graham was notorious for running shows like a military operation. He cajoled, pleaded, even threatened the Kinks to take the stage at the prearranged time, only to be rebuffed.”
Then Graham remembered seeing Kinks manager Elliott Abbott pull up backstage in a new Mercedes coupe, so Graham instructed one of his crew to lift Abbott’s car on a forklift and drive it over to the edge of the man-made lake just behind the stage. Graham now commanded the Kinks to perform as scheduled, “or the Mercedes goes into the lake!” The Kinks took the stage. In retaliation, however, Abbott would not allow the Kinks to be filmed, therefore there is no footage of the Kinks in this film – or anywhere else. In hindsight, Dave and Ray Davies have said they regret that this performance was not filmed.
A sea of more than 400,000 music fans came to San Bernardino, Calif., to camp out and have a good time with an incredible lineup of performers spread across three days. The Police, Fleetwood Mac, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, the Grateful Dead and Talking Heads were among the heavy hitters on the bill.
With the temperatures leaping past the 100 degree mark, fans were grateful for the advance planning that the organizers had put in. The event featured water cannons, misting stations (now common, they made their debut here) and 150,000 US Festival-branded water bottles that went a long way toward keeping festival goers hydrated.
The stage was as innovative as it was massive. It sprawled to the size of a football field, with 400,000 watts of power. Giant video screens were installed – the first of their kind, they were visible during the day – and organizers also employed digital delay in another pioneering move that improved sound in the back. A satellite uplink sent the musical experience all the way to Russia, something that few believed that Wozniak could pull off.
Appropriately, five air-conditioned tents housed a technology expo with the latest software, video games and computers. There were showers, shade tents and plenty of portable toilets. In short, Woz made sure that everything that anybody might possibly need to have fun and not have to worry about anything, was present and accounted for.
“We heard that there were all kinds of new techniques – hydration systems for the audience, all of these new techniques – so that it would be the opposite of Woodstock,” drummer Stewart Copeland of the Police recalls in this exclusive clip from the film. “Instead of it being a disaster, it would be a noble enterprise where everybody came out feeling better than they went in.”
And Wozniak, for all of the money he sank into the festival in 1982 (and the subsequent sequel in 1983), called it a bargain. “I paid to see a million smiles,” he said.
Find out more information and how to contribute to the Kickstarter via this link. There is also an official Facebook page for The US Festival 1982, where you’ll find news updates and additional items related to the film.
According to the Kickstarter description, the film will run over 100 minutes with 40 percent of the running time devoted to live performances. There are no shortage of incentives available for fans who want to help support the film. They can purchase a copy of The US Festival 1982 on DVD and Blu-ray and also as a digital download. There are replica event t-shirts available (just in case your own original has seen better days) and for the high rollers, if you want to contribute $10,000, they’ll let you suggest your own list of incentive demands.

Review Stevie Nicks Live in Charlotte - November 10, 2016

Review: Stevie Nicks reminds me: We’re strong
by Courtney Devores
Charlotte Observer
Photo: Benjamin Robson - View More

I can never remember a time that I didn’t consider myself a feminist. Even as a little girl, I never considered myself “less than.” I never doubted that I could do what I wanted to do. So this week I wonder: Why is that?

Part of it was probably that my mother was often the main breadwinner in our house, devoted to a job she didn’t always like but that kept us insured while my dad floated from psychology and social work to construction jobs.

The other part, I think, was growing up watching women such as Stevie Nicks, Debbie Harry, Chrissie Hynde and Madonna – women who wrote their own songs, headlined their own shows, and worked with men but didn’t rely on them for their success. This was normal to me.

Watching Nicks and Pretenders frontwoman Hynde on Thursday at Spectrum Centre, I was reminded of that early female power. The endurance of Nicks’ friendship with backup singer Sharon Celani, who has been with her since the start of her solo career, plus her obvious generosity as a boss whose band members have been with her for decades, and her witchy-earth-mother persona, were reminders of her strength and ours.

I’d been worried by reports of the 24 Karat Gold Tour’s “VH1 Storytellers”-style vibe that the show would be a low-key one, heavy on ballads and adult-contemporary songs.

But the format was what made it so special.

Nicks seemed stiff her last time through town, with Fleetwood Mac. This night, freed of having to squeeze in Mac’s plethora of hits, she was physically looser, vocally stronger, and spoke at length and off the cuff.

She and her eight-piece band – coming on after a Pretenders’ set where Hynde sported an Elvis tee and a smoky voice that’s still perfection – reveled in lesser-known tracks. Those included “New Orleans,” which she wrote as Hurricane Katrina loomed, and “Starshine,” which she cut from an album because she didn’t like the label-approved version.

“Because I can do that,” she said. “Girl Power.”

Her stories about writing the encore “Leather and Lace” for Waylon Jennings and Jessie Colter, and its evolution – on the advice of then-boyfriend Don Henley (who would tell her, as she was writing it, when the song wasn’t working) – were precious and funny.

She performed “Bella Donna” and “Wild Heart” – title tracks to her first solo albums – in the same silk chiffon shawl she donned on the back cover of “Bella Donna.” The garment is intact after 35 years, she said: a testament to the fabric.

The most emotional performance was “Moonlight (A Vampire’s Dream),” a song inspired by the second “Twilight” film that launched Nicks back into recording after a self-imposed, nine-year break. And “Crying in the Night” was a treat for fans of the pre-Mac “Buckingham/Nicks” album: It stood up, 45 years after being written.

Nicks performed expected hits, from “If Anyone Falls” and “Dreams” to “Stand Back,” “Rhiannon” (“that brat, she joked) and the set’s pre-encore capper, “Edge of Seventeen.” That featured photos of Prince – “the white-winged dove” – projected above the band. Nicks ended the song with a line from “When Doves Cry.”

“Gold Dust Woman” served as a showstopper, with Nicks dancing and shaking her hair, then challenging the audience – many of whom were in her age bracket – to do the same when they got home.

Stevie Nicks & The Pretenders The Spectrum Center November 10, 2016 Charlotte, North Carolina

by: jpdeuce73

immusicmag.com

Stevie Nicks rolled into Charlotte, North Carolina on November 10 and she brought the Pretenders along with her on her 24 Karat Gold Tour. Now, just stop for a moment and process something. Those two acts have almost 100 years of musical experience between them. Just take a few minutes to think about how amazing that is and of all the amazing music that they have given to us. With that in mind, we knew that we were in for a treat at this show because we were about to witness musical royalty up on that stage.

Full review with a ton of pics at immusicmag.com

Review Stevie Nicks Live in Nashville with The Pretenders Nov 7, 2016

Stevie Nicks good as gold at Bridgestone
by: Juli Thanki
The Tennesean

Photo: LiveNation

In 2014, Stevie Nicks released "24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault," featuring new versions of demos she made over the last 40-plus years. That album was recorded in Nashville, and on Monday night, Nicks' 24 Karat Gold Tour came to Bridgestone Arena.

For two hours, Nicks enchanted the crowd with her solo material and a few Fleetwood Mac favorites including "Dreams" and "Gold Dust Woman," both from 1977 masterpiece "Rumours." Some of the night's biggest cheers came when, during "Stand Back," she broke into her trademark twirling, which, though perhaps slower than it was 35 years ago, was no less enthusiastic. Nicks accompanied her songs with stories from her career in rock music as well as the occasional prop: At one point, she came onstage in the cape she wore for her 1981 solo debut album "Bella Donna." Showing it to the crowd, she announced, "My mom was very frugal. She would say, if she was standing here right now, 'That was a very good choice in fabric...look at how long it's lasted.' "

The Pretenders kicked off the night with an hour-long opening set that interspersed classic hits like “Back on the Chain Gang,” “Don’t Get Me Wrong” and “I’ll Stand By You” with songs from new album, “Alone.” which lead singer Chrissie Hynde recorded in Nashville; the record was produced by Dan Auerbach and features, among other local musicians, guitar great Duane Eddy. Hynde returned to the stage later for one of the night's highlights: she and Nicks sang “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,” a track that Nicks originally recorded with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

After ending the show with “Edge of Seventeen,” Nicks returned for a two-song encore: “Rhiannon” and “Leather and Lace." The latter, she said, was a song Waylon Jennings originally asked her to write for him and Jessi Colter. The country music couple didn't record it, but Nicks and Don Henley had a hit with the song 35 years ago.

Earlier in the show, when reflecting on her lengthy career, Nicks gave Nashville's struggling musicians a pep talk: “Any of you out there who have come to this city of dreams… don’t give up… you just have to reach out there and get that star."

Review - Stevie Nicks Live in Atlanta with The Pretenders Nov 6, 2016

Concert review:
Stevie Nicks enchants faithful fans at Atlanta show
Melissa Ruggieri
AJC.com

As women rock stars go, there aren’t many cooler than Stevie Nicks and Chrissie Hynde.

At 68 and 65, respectively, they look refreshed, focused and as if they want to keep making music for several more decades. They also sound robust, with any previously ragged edges to their voices smoothed by care.

This “24 Karat Gold” tour, which packed three-quarters of Philips Arena Sunday night, is Nicks’ solo ride, her (clearly joyful) diversion after spending three years on the road within the confines and endless compromises of Fleetwood Mac.

But by slotting Hynde and The Pretenders for an hour-long opening set, Nicks is also giving fans a whopping injection of female-fueled musical power.

The ageless Hynde, in tight jeans and lightened hair, stalked the stage while speak-singing the new “Alone,” the title track of The Pretenders’ recently-released 10th studio album.

Only drummer Martin Chambers remains with Hynde from the original lineup and he provided plenty of heft from behind his Plexiglas cage as he pumped through “Back on the Chain Gang” and the joyful rockabilly bounce of “Don’t Get Me Wrong.”

But Hynde appeared to enjoy playing off younger players James Walbourne on guitar and Nick Wilkinson on bass – all the while looking as if she could eat them alive.

She strapped on a guitar to toss out the dirty chords that signal “Message of Love” and stripped to a black Elvis T-shirt to unveil the sumptuous opening riff of “Chain Gang.” Her powerful voice rang clearly on the lighters-up power ballad “I’ll Stand By You” and she nimbly snatched a harmonica from her back pocket for the signature break in “Middle of the Road.”

With a pack of solid new tunes to sell – the new melodic rocker “Holy Commotion!” is making noise on the international charts – Hynde re-affirmed that she will never, ever go quietly.

About 30 minutes after The Pretenders’ rollicking set, an amber hue bathed the stage and the goddess Stevie arrived, clad in her uniform of black – jagged-edged dress, vest, boots – and ready to shake her fringe-adorned tambourine to “Gold and Braid.”

She immediately set the tone for what would be a two-hour-plus romp through her lengthy solo catalog – even digging out the Buckingham/Nicks classic “Crying in the Night” for the hardcore fans – by telling the fawning crowd that she realized after the Fleetwood Mac tour, “I have to do something different this time…If I can’t do what I want to do for a change, then why am I doing it?”

Plenty of hits salted the set – from the sublime “If Anyone Falls” with its romantic synthesizers to Nicks-penned Mac favorite “Dreams” (which, she reminded, was the band’s only No. 1 hit) to a disco-lighted “Stand Back.”

Hynde, who barely had time to towel off, returned for a fantastic duet with Nicks on “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around.” The pair gave the song a twist, leaving guitarist – and longtime Nicks accomplice — Waddy Wachtel to handle most of Tom Petty’s verses in a he said/she said face off.

But this show was indeed a love letter to the faithful, to those who thrilled more to the opening notes of “Outside the Rain” than any classic rock nugget and who never thought they would hear the little-played title tracks of her beloved early-‘80s solo efforts, “Bella Donna” and “The Wild Heart” performed live.

Nicks, who was relentlessly warm, gracious and funny (“This is Music 101 and I’M the teacher!” she giggled), also proved an eager historian, sharing stories with fans about the origins of many of her deepest cuts, such as the rootsy poem-turned-hopeful-anthem “New Orleans,” which Nicks wrote for the city in the throes of Hurricane Katrina.

She and her six-piece band and two backup singers – forever friend Sharon Celani and ‘80s powerhouse vocalist Marilyn Martin – performed on a  stage framed by lighted panels meant to look like pieces of a photo frame, a video screen behind them showing a combination of ethereal images and vintage Nicks photos.

As she sang, her unmistakable voice galloping through “Starshine” — a song recorded with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – and soaring on the piano ballad “Moonlight (A Vampire’s Dream),” Nicks subconsciously whipped the sides of her dress or tangled her hands in the mass of ribbons wrapped around her mic stand.

She indeed twirled a bit during “Stand Back” and, as smoke curled across the screen and the telltale cowbell echoed through the arena, worked into a hair-whipping frenzy at the peak of the always-dramatic “Gold Dust Woman.”

Nicks’ well-documented history with Prince was illustrated during a charging rendition of “Edge of Seventeen,” with Wachtel adding even more razor-like riffing at the start of the song. White lights snapped and images of doves flashed across the screen with photos of Prince stamped behind them – nothing else needed to be said about his influence.

Nicks addressed fans several times with genuine warmth, and also wanted to leave them with some hope and what seemed like a bit of motherly wisdom.

“In this crazy world that we live in right now, just remember, when you get crazy, turn on the radio, play some music,” she said before her encore.

Lesson learned.

Full review with photos at ajc.com

Review - Stevie Nicks Live in Tampa with The Pretenders Nov 2, 2016

PHOTO BY: CAESAR CARBAJAL

Review:
Steve Nicks, The Pretenders connect to fans with intimate, rare songs set at Amalie Arena
11.02.16 (w/photos)

BY: GABE ECHAZABAL
Creative Loafing

Stevie Nicks has nothing to prove. The famed 68-year old free spirited chanteuse has been singing professionally for most of her life and has deservedly earned the distinction of being one of the most successful female artists of the rock n’ roll era. Whether fronting the enormously popular band Fleetwood Mac or as a prolific solo artist, Nicks has garnered one of the most faithful and passionate fan bases of all time. She sounds like no one else in the biz and her unique look, style, fashion sense and mystical, magical aura are all part of what sets her apart from everyone else.

So, with that type of dedicated audience hanging on her every move, it’d be so easy for Nicks to hit the road between gargantuan Mac tours and wheel out a trite greatest hits package tour without much thought or effort. But this is where Nicks differs from the rest of the pack: for her current jaunt around the globe, the newly launched “24 Karat Gold Tour” (named after a recent release consisting of many previously unreleased songs and recordings), Nicks has instead opted to delve deep into the vaults to offer her most loyal an opportunity to revel in songs that even the most ardent fan has no doubt ever heard played in concert.