REVIEW Stevie Nicks Live in Woodlands, TX Nov 2, 2022

Stevie Nicks tells Woodlands crowd she has ‘no idea’ what the Astros play

Nicks is forgiven for not keeping up with sports. She's spent the last several decades cementing her status as a rock goddess.

By: Joey Guerra 

Houston Chronicle

Steve Nicks had just finished a cover of Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'" when she gave the Wednesday night crowd at the Woodlands Pavilion some good news.

"The Astros won!" she said as the crowd cheered. Several people in the crowd were wearing Astros shirts.

A few minutes later, she made a confession.

"If I told you I had no idea what the Houston Astros play, would you believe me?" she asked. "But I know they must be good because they won."

Nicks is forgiven for not keeping up with sports. She's spent the last several decades cementing her status as a rock goddess. Her current tour is the first since before the COVID-19 pandemic, a time she says she survived thanks to Lily, a Chinese crested she got in Houston six years ago. Nicks dedicated "Landslide" to her "little soul mate" and brought Lily onstage to meet the crowd.

"I believe music can save the world. I believe that you can sit down with a Democrat and a Republican and have a great talk about music,"Nicks said. "Just turn up the music."

The late Petty, a longtime friend, figured heavily into Nicks' set. His songs preceded and followed her performance. She introduced "Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around," her duet with Petty, with a story about how the song came to be. Nicks' then-boyfriend Jimmy Iovine was worried that "Bella Donna," her first solo album, didn't have a hit single on it and suggested the Petty song.

Images of Prince flashed on the screens during "Edge of Seventeen," a song rumored to have inspired his own "When Doves Cry." In turn, Prince's "Little Red Corvette" inspired Nicks' "Stand Back" and featured him on synthesizer.

Nicks was in strong voice and chatted frequently about the inspiration behind songs. She dedicated "Soldier's Angel" to those suffering in the Ukraine and said she recently recorded Buffalo Springfield's "For What it's Worth," a call for peace, because of its renewed relevance. The band whipped "Gold Dust Woman" into an extended fervor that seemed to put Nicks into a trance, shaking her head vigorously and waving her hands.

There were Fleetwood Mac hits ("Dreams," "Rhiannon") and shawls. So many shawls. Black and gold and fluttering in the breeze as Nicks did her signature twirls across the stage.

"It just never ever gets old," she said. "Kinda like me."