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.

Stevie Nicks Live in Sunrise, FL November 4, 2016

Stevie Nicks with The Pretenders Live in Sunrise, Florida

Embed from Getty Images

More Photos:
Rex Features
USA Today

Stevie Nicks set to perform at Tom Petty MusiCares Person Of The Year Concert

Tom Petty MusiCares Tribute Lines Up Foo Fighters, Stevie Nicks, Don Henley, Kings Of Leon,
Randy Newman, & More
Stereogum

Tom Petty is this year’s MusiCares Person Of The Year, and the initial lineup for the accompanying tribute concert has been announced: Foo Fighters, Don Henley, Norah Jones, Kings Of Leon, Randy Newman, Stevie Nicks, Lucinda Williams, Gary Clark Jr., Jeff Lynne, George Strait, Jackson Browne, Chris Hillman, Herb Pedersen, Elle King, Regina Spektor, and the Bangles will all perform Petty songs. That’s quite a list! T Bone Burnett is the show’s musical director, and Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers will close out the night with a performance of their own.

The MusicCares gala, which will be held on Feb. 10 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, will begin with a silent auction followed by a dinner, the tribute concert, and the award presentation. GRAMMY week will conclude with the 59th Annual GRAMMY Awards at Staples Center on Feb. 12.

Grammy.org

New Release - Stevie Nicks "Bella Donna" and "The Wild Heart" Deluxe Editions

Out Today!

Stevie Nicks "Bella Donna" and "The Wild Heart" Deluxe Editions. Available on Amazon and all digital retailers.

Spotify Playlist

Dallas Review - Stevie Nicks feels just as relevant today as she did when she released Bella Donna back in 1981

What did we do to deserve Stevie Nicks? 
by: KEATON BELL
Red Dirt Report

NORMAN, Okla. – For over 40 years, the Fleetwood Mac front-woman has managed to charm her way into the lives of anyone with two ears and a heart. Past the tales of cocaine binges and rock and roll excess lies an artist responsible for some of the most enduring music of the 20th century. How else do you explain the fact that in the year 2016, Stevie Nicks feels just as relevant today as she did when she released Bella Donna back in 1981?

Nicks has essentially raised her own coven of gold dust women, with acts such as Charli XCX, Haim, and Taylor Swift all openly citing her as a large influence. When she recently appeared on American Horror Story: Coven, you were just as excited as your parents were at the image of the 68-year old Nicks still kicking it, top hat and all. And would Florence + The Machine, with their mystical imagery and love-lorn lyrics, even exist today if it weren’t for the guiding influence of the original White Witch?

What it all boil’s down to is Nicks’ downright lovability. While her contemporaries focused on experimental sounds and forced musical intellectualism, Nicks has always been an unabashed softie. Her music is from the heart, often shamelessly emotional, and always sincere. You’re not just spinning a record when you put on Stevie Nicks, you’re listening to a woman bare her soul and asking you to do the same in return. That confessional style of music is universal, whether you’re young or old, male or female, a hopeless romantic or an eternal pessimist.

These attributes and more were all on display Sunday night when Nicks took the stage at the American Airlines Center as a part of her 24 Karat Gold Tour. I may have been just one of 20,000 adoring fans packed into the arena, but the intimacy and spirit Nicks performed with made you feel like it was a one-on-one experience. 

Full Review at Red Dirt Report

Review Stevie Nicks Live in Tampa - Nov 2, 2016

Review: Stevie Nicks, the Pretenders dust off 24-karat rock classics at Amalie Arena in Tampa
by Jay Cridlin
Tampabay.com + Photos

Right after playing her first Fleetwood Mac song of the night, Dreams, Stevie Nicks couldn't help but pat herself on the back.

"That is the only No. 1 single that Fleetwood Mac had since 1975," the singer told a crowd of just under 10,000 at Tampa's Amalie Arena on Wednesday, "proving that it is not easy to have a hit single in 1975 -- or 2016. However, it's my single, and it hangs in my living room."

Own that gold, sister; this is your tour. After three spins through Amalie with Fleetwood Mac since 2009, Nicks, 68, finally had the big stage all to herself. And to celebrate, she threw a show aimed squarely at her superfans.

For lifelong Stevie diehards, her so-called 24 Karat Gold Tour was worth its weight in you-know-what, as she dug deep into her catalog to play songs that have missed the cut on previous solo tours. Nearly half her setlist was culled her first two albums, 1981’s Bella Donna and 1983’s The Wild Heart, including some rarely if ever played live.

Nicks shared stories, too. She talked about writing songs with Tom Petty and Don Henley, talked about the Twilight franchise inspiring the dramatic piano number Moonlight (A Vampire’s Dream), and took the crowd back more than 40 years for the slow-rolling Buckingham Nicks rocker Crying In the Night. She even showed off her original cape from the artwork for Bella Donna, fanning it into the front row of fans.

Nicks twirled (a little slower than usual, but hey, aren't we all) through several Fleetwood Mac hits, too, like the tripadelic Gold Dust Woman and gypsy anthem Rihannon. (“That old witch, she just doesn’t go away. She wants to be in every single set that I do.”) And smash solo singles like Stand Back and Edge of Seventeen, with those huge, arena-filling choruses, had the crowd screaming along.

But what proved most enlightening were those deeper cuts, those country-tinged rumblers like Gold and Braid, Wild Heart and Enchanted, with its pianos and twangy guitars. Bella Donna’s hypnotic harmonies turned to something approaching gospel at the end. It was warm, rolling, glittering and harmonious, often all at once.

“It’s really something to be able to pretend we’re up in my room and I’m playing demos for you,” Nicks said. “It’s so much fun for me, so fulfilling for me.”

Setting the stage for Nicks’ big night was another classic rock heroine, Chrissie Hynde, and her band the Pretenders, playing their first Tampa Bay show in a decade. They made up for lost time delivering their big '80s hits: Back On The Chain Gang, Private Life, My City Was Gone, Brass In Pocket.

And while Hynde's low, aching warble brought tenderness to the sparse and lovely Hymn To Her and yearning ballad I'll Stand By You, most of the set packed surprising bite. Hynde, 65, is swimming in serious mojo these days, purring, sneering and striking angular poses while crunching out tracks from the new, Dan Auerbach-produced Alone, such as the steel-tough title track, punkish Gotta Wait and snappy Holy Commotion. Older tracks like the spunky Message of Love and driving Middle of the Road sizzled with itchy angst.

Hynde also delivered the night’s only big political moment. Several bars into Don't Get Me Wrong, she stopped the song to talk, somewhat obliquely, about Donald Trump.

"I shouldn't do this," she said to some fans down front, adding that she doesn't usually get political. "But I have three words for you tonight: Ku Klux Klan. What do you think about that?"

As with Amy Schumer last month, Amalie Arena reacted with a mix of cheers and boos.

"Oh, Tampa, you are a funny one," Hynde sighed with a laugh. After handing the mic to a fan who briefly blurted something about Trump, she added: "See, for me, that's fun. F--- it. I'm here to have a good time."

Hynde came back during Nicks' set to take over Tom Petty's vocals on Stop Draggin' My Heart Around. The two women sang to each other like the best of pals as the swampy 1981 single chugged along.

"I made it to the top!" Hynde said, beaming.

When you get there, you can pretty much do whatever you want. That's how Nicks is rolling on this tour. For both her and her fans, it's working out just fine.

Dreams
Stand Back
Gold Dust Woman
Edge of Seventeen
Rhiannon

Review Stevie Nicks Live in Dallas October 30, 2016

Stevie Nicks, Pretenders go deep in AAC show
By Robert Philpot
dfw.com + Photo Gallery (15 Photos)

DALLAS Stevie Nicks announced early during her concert Sunday at the American Airlines Center that she would be shaking things up a bit, not playing the kind of set list her fans had been used to hearing for decades. Then she and her band quickly played her 1983 hit If Anyone Falls, a reassuring sign that although she’d be playing some unfamiliar material, the show wouldn’t be all obscurities.

And it wasn’t But it was weighted heavily toward deep cuts and non-hits, including a song that dated back to 1973 and her Buckingham-Nicks days, and others that for one reason or another never made it on to an album — at least till the 2014 release of 24 Karat Gold: Songs From the Vault found a home for songs such as Starshine (which Nicks said she wrote while hanging out with Tom Petty) and Belle Fleur.

This is a risky strategy for a classic-rock artist, even if there’s advance publicity about it. On a “school night,” fans often want to hear the hits, but Nicks’ fan base is so passionate that the less-familiar songs were well-received, and in some cases — the title cut from The Wild Heart segueing into the title cut from Bella Donna — stirred a rapturous reaction.

But about a third of the show was hits, from Nicks’ solo career and from Fleetwood Mac, with some excellent twists and turns — bringing out Chrissie Hynde from the Pretenders, who opened the show, to do the Tom Petty parts on Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around; extending Gold Dust Woman with Nicks going into a possessed-looking dance (while the big-screen image of her appeared to be turning into melting gold) that ended with her hair covering her face; singing Leather & Lace with background singers Sharon Celani and Marilyn Martin doing the Don Henley parts; the expected but still climactic intensity of Rhiannon, a song Nicks somehow manages it invest her entire self (and possibly more) in every time she performs it.

There was warmth and humor in Nicks’ show, during which she told the stories behind several songs (including how she wrote Leather & Lace for Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter, then asked for it back when they split up, and how Prince’s Little Red Corvette helped inspire her hit Stand Back, which he played on). For all the intensity of her singing, the chattier portions of her show were laid-back and personal, including the long introduction of her band (longtime guitarist/musical director Waddy Wachtel, rhythm guitarist Carlos Rios, pianist Darrell Smith — who performed a lovely intro to Moonlight (A Vampire’s Dream) — organist Ricky Peterson, bassist Al Ortiz, drummer Scott Crago and the background singers), all of whom she treated like old friends.

Speaking of old friends, the Pretenders blasted through a tight first act, with Hynde in a great mood, greater voice and appealing loose form. She came onstage wearing a cowboy hat and, a few songs in, doffed her jacket to reveal a sleeveless “Everything is Bigger in Texas” T-shirt. The band leaned hard on some of its earliest stuff — Mystery Achievement, Talk of the Town, Message of Love, the Kinks cover Stop Your Sobbing — but not at the expense of later songs like Back on the Chain Gang, Don’t Get Me Wrong and I’ll Stand By You.

And the band was on fire — starting off great and really getting locked in about midset, especially showy guitarist James Walbourne and Martin Chambers, the band’s longtime, sledgehammer-force drummer, with bassist Nick Wilkinson and pedal-steel player Eric Heywood making more subtle contributions.

Back in 1984, Hynde wrote the lines, “I’m not the kind I used to be/I got a kid, I’m 33, baby.” That was more than 30 years ago, but she seemed like she was 33 again Sunday night. She also wrote Time the Avenger, which she didn’t perform Sunday night, but she sure let us know that she’s not read for time to get her just yet.

Review, Photos, Video - Stevie Nicks Live in Houston October 29, 2016

Stevie Nicks casts a spell over Houston
By Joey Guerra
Chron.com + Photo Gallery (30 photos)

Photo: Dave Rossman

It was a night of 1,000 Stevies both on and offstage.

The Fleetwood Mac singer's Saturday show at Toyota Center -- on Halloween weekend, no less -- inspired several fans to don shawls and scarves, floppy and top hats, lace and long, flowy robes.

Others honored the festivities in costumes and makeup. (A Joker here, a sexy cat there.)

Nicks' current 24 Karat Gold Tour is also showcasing a different side of the iconic singer. It included several songs she's rarely performed onstage. This was her third show of the tour, and her voice strengthened as it progressed.

She told the crowd she visited Houston to pick up Lily, a "tiny pink dog," in July. Much of the show was framed like a "Storytellers" TV special.

"Wild Heart," never before performed onstage, could be a hit for a country singer. The Edgar Allen Poe-inspired "Annabel Lee" boasted a rousing, rising chorus. "New Orleans" was originally a poem inspired by Hurricane Katrina. "Starshine" was originally a demo recorded in Tom Petty's basement.

Nicks performed "Moonlight (A Vampire's Dream)" in a long, white coat. It was no mistake that it played like some sort of gothic drama.

"That was for Bella and Edward, who live in my heart, and the stories of 'Twilight,'" she said.

There were, of course, ample moments of classic Nicks. She swirled her scarves and shook her tambourine. And the crowd roared when she took a few signature spins during "Stand Back."

Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders, who opened the show, returned for a spirited "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around." Deep cut "Outside the Rain" effectively segued into "Dreams."

The final quartet of songs were for maximum fan appeal: a still-searing "Gold Dust Woman;" "Edge of Seventeen," featuring images of Prince flashing on the screens; a swirling "Rhiannon" and "Leather and Lace."

Women danced. Men sang along. And Nicks, in all her witchy allure, proved she still reigns supreme.

Live on Periscope:
Control Illusion shared approx. 90 minutes of the show last night. Check that out HERE.

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