Philadelphia Review Stevie Nicks’ singing was on another level and her banter was fun and bubbly

A stadium-sized singalong with Billy Joel and Stevie Nicks at The Linc

Two songwriting legends gave stellar performances in Philly on Friday, June 16, 2023.

Photo: nikkejones85 on Instagram

By Maureen Walsh and John Vettese

xpn.org

It’s easy to understand why a double-header of pop songwriting icons Billy Joel and Stevie Nicks drew a capacity crowd to Lincoln Financial Field on Friday night. Both artists have been active since the late 60s; both are behind an array of hit songs stretching into the 90s, and their popularity extends to present day, with a strong cross-generational appeal. The Philadelphia crowd was made up of life-long fans who probably first heard both artists on WIOQ 40 years ago; younger fans experiencing Nicks and Joel for the first time; and the crossover of parents in collective rapture with their children. And for the performers’ part, both artists sounded stellar, were backed by exemplary bands, played a robust mix of hits and deep cuts, and put their lively personalities on full display.

Nicks opened her set with “Outside the Rain” — appropriate given the thunderstorm forecast and tornado warnings we spent all day monitoring on our Accuweather apps — followed by its sister song “Dreams.” The crowd was pleasantly surprised by the Fleetwood Mac classic turned Tik Tok sensation appearing so early in the set, but that was not the only surprise. We soon were regaled with tourmate Billy Joel’s presence on “Stop Dragging My Heart Around;” he took the stage in a party mask, singing Tom Petty’s verse before revealing his face for the chorus. Nicks’ set continued with even more unexpected moments. There were deep cuts such as “If Anyone Falls,” and Rock A Little‘s “I Sing For the Things,” a song Nicks is playing live for the first time on this tour. She also sang a few covers, the highlight being a heartfelt and powerful cover “Free Fallin'” looking up to the sky and her old friend Petty towards the end.

Nicks couldn’t leave out the hits, of course. “Landslide,” was gorgeous, “Edge of Seventeen,” was explosive with smoking solos courtesy of longtime guitarist Waddy Wachtel.  “Stand Back,” was taken to the stratosphere thanks to backing vocals by Sharon Celani and Marilyn Martin, and an epic jam on “Gold Dust Woman” was a set centerpiece, with intentionally disorienting camerawork on the big screens adding to the song’s psychedelic feeling.

Nicks’ singing was on another level and her banter was fun and bubbly, talking issues with men and offering life lessons about staying true to yourself. She donned a different shawl for nearly every song, including the very one she wore on the back cover of her solo debut Bella Donna. It was a memorable set of music and her and her band left the crowd wanting more even after her encore.

Billy Joel pays tribute to Tina Turner, Stevie Nicks enchants at co-headlining concert

Melissa Ruggieri

USA TODAY

As with recent performances, Nicks took the stage at sunset for about an hour and 45 minutes and Joel closed the night with two hours of radio fodder and fan favorites (hi, “Captain Jack”).

Though no one expects – or wants – any drastic deviations from their adroitly crafted setlists, a couple of spotlight moments emerged.

Joel, 74, offered Tom Petty-esque vocals to counter Nicks, 75, on “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” (it wasn’t the tidiest of duets as Joel missed his cue to start singing and then his microphone blanked for several seconds). And during Joel’s percussive “River of Dreams,” he and his exemplary band swung into Tina Turner's “River Deep, Mountain High,” with the multifaceted Crystal Taliefero belting and brass masters Mark Rivera and Carl Fischer coating the tribute with spiky horns.

Stevie Nicks conjures spirits, expels emotions

Nicks, looking resplendent in layers of black, her crimped blond hair flowing halfway down her back, offered her comforting warble on both solo and Fleetwood Mac treasures.

The overlooked “If Anyone Falls” paired with “Gypsy,” allowing Nicks’ two backup singers to add plushness to the choruses.

Nicks’ songs are as layered as her chiffon skirts, their melody and meaning requiring hours of dissection. The poetry in the title tracks of her early solo releases, “Bella Donna” (1981) and “The Wild Heart” (1983), coupled with the galloping beat powering “Stand Back” and urgent guitar riffing in “Edge of Seventeen” reminded of Nicks’ unique song styling.

Her hand-fluttering bows and dramatic dips, too, are all distinctively Stevie.

Nicks is also always expelling emotion, whether playing air drums and conjuring the spirits during the ominously thumping “Gold Dust Woman” or quietly singing the pensive rumination on aging, “Landslide.” During that final song, photos of Nicks and her beloved bandmate, the late Christine McVie, scrolled one of the three screens looming above the stage, making an already wistful moment heartbreaking.

Nicks felt it, too, as she stammered at song’s end, “Can’t speak,” and blew the crowd a kiss before smiling and stating a simple, “Thank you.”

NEW RELEASE ANNOUNCED - STEVIE NICKS COMPLETE STUDIO ALBUMS & RARITIES

 STEVIE NICKS COMPLETE STUDIO ALBUMS & RARITIES 

RELEASE DATE: JULY 28, 2023

• Available as a 10CD boxed set 
• Available as a 16LP boxed set (limited and numbered to 3,000)
• Available on all digital platforms July 28, 2023

Pre-order at Rhino.com $99.98 CD | $299.98 LP (Rhino exclusive)

Pre-order at Amazon USA $99.98

Pre-order at Amazon Canada $150.70

The first promo single release "One More Big Time Rock and Roll Star" is available now on all streaming services. The second promo single released was "Thousand Days"

 

What's Inside:

 

• Bella Donna (1981)
• The Wild Heart (1983)
• Rock A Little (1985)
• The Other Side Of The Mirror (1989)
• Street Angel (1994)
• Trouble In Shangri-La (2001)
• In Your Dreams (2011)
• 24 Karat Gold: Songs From The Vault (2014)
• Stevie Nicks - Rarities (2023)

COMPLETE STUDIO ALBUMS & RARITIES combines all of Nicks’ solo studio albums in a new, career-spanning boxed set. It comes with eight albums: BELLA DONNA (1981), THE WILD HEART (1983), ROCK A LITTLE (1985), THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MIRROR (1989), STREET ANGEL (1994), TROUBLE IN SHANGRI-LA (2001), IN YOUR DREAMS (2011), and 24 KARAT GOLD: SONGS FROM THE VAULT (2014). The collection also features RARITIES, a new compilation of hard-to-find tracks only available with the set. Several albums were newly remastered from the analog masters for this release, including ROCK A LITTLE, THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MIRROR, STREET ANGEL, and TROUBLE IN SHANGRI-LA.

COMPLETE STUDIO ALBUMS & RARITIES follows Nicks’ musical journey across four decades and features her Top 10 hits, “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” (with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers), “Leather And Lace” (with Don Henley), “Stand Back,” and “Talk To Me.” Other essential hits include “Edge Of Seventeen,” “If Anyone Falls,” “I Can’t Wait,” and “Rooms On Fire.” 

The Vinyl Boxed Set

Limited and numbered to just 3,000, several albums in the collection are making their vinyl debut, including STREET ANGEL, TROUBLE IN SHANGRI-LA, and IN YOUR DREAMS. All three – plus THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MIRROR and 24 KARAT GOLD: SONGS FROM THE VAULT – will be released as double LPs housed in gatefold sleeves. The new RARITIES collection comes as a 3-LP set in a tri-fold sleeve.

RARITIES collects 23 of Nicks’ best non-album tracks, including numerous contributions to film and television soundtracks like “Blue Lamp” from Heavy Metal and “Free Fallin’” from Party of Five. Several B-sides are featured in the set, including “One More Big Time Rock And Roll Star,” the flipside to her 1985 hit, “Talk To Me.” A trio of songs originally released on Nicks’ 1991 hits collection TIMESPACE also appear, including “Love’s A Hard Game To Play.” RARITIES closes with Nicks’ most recent release, her 2022 cover of Buffalo Springfield’s classic “For What It’s Worth.”.

TRACKLISTING BELOW

13 NEW DATES ADDED TO STEVIE NICKS TOUR

General on-sale for the additional dates will begin on Friday, May 19 at 10 AM Local at livenation.com or through Stevie's website  Pre-sales start prior so check the links.

Tue Aug 08 — Milwaukee, WI — Fiserv Forum

Sat Aug 12 — Houston, TX — Toyota Center

Tue Aug 15 — Austin, TX — Moody Center

Wed Sep 27 — Pittsburgh, PA — PPG Paints Arena

Sun Oct 01 — New York, NY — Madison Square Garden

Wed Oct 04 — Buffalo, NY — KeyBank Center

Sat Oct 28 — Memphis, TN — FedExForum

Wed Nov 01 — Savannah, GA — Enmarket Arena

Sat Nov 04 — Allentown, PA — PPL Center ^

Tue Nov 07 — Detroit, MI — Little Caesars Arena

Wed Nov 29 — San Diego, CA — Viejas Arena

Sat Dec 02 — Inglewood, CA — The Kia Forum

Tue Dec 05 — Palm Desert, CA — Acrisure Arena

Review Stevie Nicks Live in Raleigh, NC May 12, 2023

Stevie Nicks brings a ‘Landslide’ of hits, and plenty of heart to Raleigh show

Martha Quillin

The News & Observer

Photo: Scott Sharpe

In the late 1970s, amid the superstardom that came with the success of two Fleetwood Mac albums, Stevie Nicks occasionally had to ground herself, which she did somewhat literally by dragging her mattress onto the floor.

There, covered in flowers and drapery fabric, she could think back on having to do housekeeping to subsidize her music career, and remind herself that even with the newfound fame, “I am still Stevie.”

The 16,000 or so people who heard her tell that story Friday night at Raleigh’s PNC Arena never doubted: She still is.

About to turn 75, recovering from a month of illness, wearing low-heeled boots to coddle an injured toe and grieving — like her fans — the loss of former Fleetwood Mac bandmate Christine McVie and friend and collaborator Tom Petty, Nicks poured it all onstage.

She reached for and hit the notes. She belted. She hauled out the capes, the drapes and the fringe. She twirled. She floated across the arena stage the way her songs have floated in and out of our lives for nearly 50 years.

I first heard Stevie Nicks in 1977, shortly after Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumours” had been released on LP and 8-track tape. My friend Donna slammed that huge cartridge into the player in her ‘72 Pontiac GTO and turned it up loud so we could hear it over that big engine.

It was so different from everything playing on the radio at the time: Commodores, Marshall Tucker Band, Queen, Heart, Foreigner, Peter Frampton, Linda Ronstadt, Andy Gibb — all equally great music to the largely undiscerning teenage ear.

But even we knew Fleetwood Mac, often led by Stevie Nicks’ vocals, was different. The blend of blues and rock in the sound, the guitar breaks and the big heartbeat of a drum through the music had us singing along and banging dents into the dashboards of our friends’ cars. And the lyrics, whether by one member of the band or collaborations by several, spoke to us in that complicated time of our lives when so much was happening in and around us we couldn’t begin to understand it all. But Stevie Nicks, Lindsay Buckingham, Christine McVie, John McVie and Mick Fleetwood understood, and set it to music.

In those days, high schools in Greensboro allowed us to leave campus for lunch, and five of us would pile into that GTO for a 37-minute escape from class, screaming along with the music, relishing our youth and our friendships and letting them both fly out the open windows without even seeing them go.

“Rumours” was so good, we went back and bought the 1975 Fleetwood Mac album that marked Nicks’ and Buckingham’s entrance into the band.

After high school, I kept that music in my collection and listened to it when I needed it, along with much of the solo work Nicks did apart from Fleetwood Mac. And yet, somehow I never managed to see Fleetwood Mac or Stevie Nicks live.

So to celebrate finally getting to see her in concert and to show solidarity with the woman whose writing about her heartbreaks helped me survive my own, I wrapped myself in black sequined rayon and a shawl. Amid some of the more hardcore fans, I was under-dressed.

But all of us were rewarded with music that honored Nicks’ long career, a theatrical 17-song set that played out over more than 90 minutes and featured stellar breaks by guitarist Waddy Wachtel, who did much more than try to recreate Buckingham’s brilliant work. The night’s renditions of Petty’s “Stop Dragging My Heart Around,” along with “Gypsy,” “Soldier’s Angel,” “Sara” and “Rhiannon” were outstanding, and when Nicks sang “Landslide” as a tribute to Christine McVie, it was hard not to weep.

Throughout the show, Nicks donned a series of different capes — she doesn’t call them shawls — including the one she used when touring after her first solo album, “Belladonna,” came out in 1981. She held out her arms to show off the navy blue fabric with the long bullion fringe and said this one had “been mended a million times.”

So had she. So have we.

Stevie Nicks concert setlist, Raleigh, NC, May 12, 2023

1. Outside the Rain/Dreams

2. If Anyone Falls

3. Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around

4. Fall From Grace

5. For What It’s Worth

6. Gypsy

7. Wild Heart/Bella Donna

8. Soldier’s Angel

9. Stand Back

10. I Sing for the Kings

11. Gold Dust Woman

12. Sara

13. Edge of Seventeen

*** Encore ***

14. Free Falling

15. Rhiannon

16. Landslide

Stevie Nicks: The Timeless Rock Goddess turns 75 (People Spec. Edition)

How Stevie Nicks Inspired a Generation of Hitmakers, From Harry Styles to Taylor Swift

Skyler Caruso

Fri, May 5, 2023

People

Since first stepping onto the scene as a vocalist in Fleetwood Mac in 1975, the mystical musical goddess has rocked a new generation of hitmakers today. Take a look at the chart-toppers who have been inspired by the legend and her nearly five-decade-long career.

The legendary rock singer and frontwoman of Fleetwood Mac turns 75 on May 26 — and her impact on the music industry can't be understated.

Look back at her incredible career and celebrate her legacy with PEOPLE's special-edition bookazine, Stevie Nicks: The Timeless Goddess of Rock Turns 75 (on sale now), and see some of the current music superstars who credit her as an influence.

Dolly Parton’s “Rockstar” album will feature both Stevie Nicks & Mick Fleetwood.

Two tracks on Dolly's November 17th release "Rockstar" will include two Mac members.

 

Track 9: “What Has Rock And Roll Ever Done For You” (feat. Stevie Nicks w/special guest Waddy Wachtel).

Track 29: "Let It Be" (feat. Paul McCartney & Ringo Starr w/special guests Peter Frampton & Mick Fleetwood)

The collab with Stevie is on one of her old demos that has been floating around for years in the fan community and can be heard on youtube. The demo was recorded sometime in the mid-80's, around Rock a Little. Can't wait to hear what they've done with the track!

Look for the album to be released this coming November. 

Stevie Nicks Cancels All April Shows

After first postponing a New Orleans concert at the Smoothie King Center, Stevie Nicks has now canceled it.  The Fleetwood Mac vocalist was initially set to headline the solo show April 2. Citing a COVID-19 infection within her band -- it has not been specified who was sick -- she postponed it to April 15. 

But on Tuesday, Nicks' publicist said that "due to ongoing illnesses within the band," the New Orleans date has been scrapped and won't be rescheduled. Another rescheduled Nicks show, in Oklahoma City, as well as an April 5 show in Birmingham, Alabama, have also been canceled.

Refunds in the works

Refunds will be automatically processed "to the original method of payment," says a message on the Ticketmaster page for the New Orleans show. The message also says, "If the tickets were transferred to you, the refund will go to the fan who originally purchased the tickets from Ticketmaster."

Additionally, Nicks' co-headlining concert with Billy Joel at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on April 8 has been postponed to March 9.

The next concert that is still on her schedule is May 12 in Raleigh, North Carolina.

The April 15 New Orleans date was one of 14 arena-headlining concerts that the 74-year-old Nicks scheduled this spring, between her stadium shows with Joel.

Her previous visits

She was in town less than a year ago, when she drew one of the largest crowds at the 2022 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Fesitval. That show marked her return to live performance following a two-year pandemic-related hiatus. Some audience members cried when she dedicated her solo hit "Landslide" to the Foo Fighters' recently deceased drummer, Taylor Hawkins.

Nola.com

CHRISTINE MCVIE DIED of a stroke and cancer according to death certificate

Christine McVie Died of a Stroke and Metastasized Cancer: Report

The Fleetwood Mac star told Rolling Stone last June that she had been suffering from a "chronic back problem that debilitates me"

BY TOMÁS MIER

APRIL 3, 2023

Rollingstone

CHRISTINE MCVIE DIED of a stroke and cancer, a death certificate obtained by The Blast revealed Monday.

McVie suffered an ischemic stroke, meaning that the blood supply to part of the brain was interrupted or reduced, preventing brain tissue from getting oxygen and nutrients, according to the Mayo Clinic. The new information about the Fleetwood Mac member’s cause of death arrives more than three months after she died at age 79 on Nov. 30.

Per the death certificate, McVie had also been diagnosed with “metastatic malignancy of unknown primary origin,” indicating that cancer cells had been found in her body, but it was unclear where they had originated from.

McVie’s family had originally said that McVie died at the hospital “following a short illness” while surrounded by her family. “We would like everyone to keep Christine in their hearts and remember the life of an incredible human being, and revered musician who was loved universally,” her family wrote.

Fleetwood Mac also confirmed her passing in a social media statement, writing “There are no words to describe our sadness at the passing of Christine McVie. She was truly one-of-a-kind, special and talented beyond measure. She was the best musician anyone could have in their band and the best friend anyone could have in their life.”

The band added, “We were so lucky to have a life with her. Individually and together, we cherished Christine deeply and are thankful for the amazing memories we have. She will be so very missed.”

In an interview with Rolling Stone back in June 2022, McVie acknowledged that she was in “quite bad health.” She said she was struggling with a “chronic back problem,” though didn’t offer any further details.

“I don’t feel physically up for it,” she said about going on tour with the band. “I’m in quite bad health. I’ve got a chronic back problem, which debilitates me. I stand up to play the piano, so I don’t know if I could actually physically do it. What’s that saying? The mind is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

The death certificate was revealed in court documents filed to settle to singer’s massive estate. Christine was not married and never had any children. So, according to the filing, the singer’s brother and his children are the sole heirs of her musical fortune. Also, several charities are going to be the recipient of some of her assets, but it’s unclear how much.

The filing indicates that McVie’s fortune was in excess of $50 Million. Most of her assets are in the United States, but a bit of her liquid money was in the UK.

It should be noted, the singer’s longtime business manager is named as the executor of her estate. The documents reveal the estate has an urgent tax bill due, and it asking a judge to intervene. “It is urgent that this matter be heard as soon as possible, on an Ex Parte basis, due to the impending tax liability in the amount of £31,000,000 which must be paid on or before May 31, 2023. As mentioned above, the UK estate is subject to interest in penalties at a rate of 6.5% if such tax liability is not timely paid,” it states.

Stevie Nicks Reschedules Northern California Dates

New dates were announced for the postponed Sacramento and San Franciso March dates that had to be postponed because someone in Stevie's band has covid.

The March 23rd San Francisco show will now take place December 15 and the March 26th Sacramento show will take place December 12th.

Tickets for the rescheduled shows available at StevieNicksOfficial.com

Stevie Nicks Live in Las Vegas March 18, 2023

Stevie Nicks honors Christine McVie in Vegas tour stop

By John Katsilometes 

Las Vegas Review-Journal

Pics: psushawn

Stevie Nicks’ crowd at T-Mobile Arena wondered when would be the tribute to Christine McVie.

Nicks held it to the end, sending thousands home with some words from the wise. Like the rest of the show, the moment and message were from the heart.

“When you look at somebody that you love, in your own family or just a friend, and you know that you don’t pay enough attention to them sometimes, remember that sometimes doesn’t come again, someday,” Nicks said, having bowed at the end of “Landslide,” the Fleetwood Mac classic from 1975. “You will always regret that. So, make up the friendship bracelets, and reach out to the people you love, because it’s really important.”

Nicks’ voice wavered as she reached the end of this sentiment, as she closed with, “I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Thank you.” She made sure those were last words the Vegas crowd heard from her, spoken not sung, a tribute to McVie, who died last November at age 79, after what reps described as “a brief illness.”

Saturday’s was the second in Nicks’ current tour, where Billy Joel will join on select dates. Nicks said she was somewhat limited, footwear-wise, by a broken foot. No high heels on this Strip appearance. “Its’ goodbye Di Fabrizio, hello Balenciaga,” she said, drawing laughs and a cheer.

This is Nicks’ first tour since McVie’s death. Clips of the collaborators and friends, who spent some some six decades (on and off) in Fleetwood Mac, played on the big screen. With an acoustic-guitar warmly accompanying, Nicks sang the aching lyric, “Well, I’ve been afraid of changin’, ‘cause I’ve built my life around you. But time makes you bolder, even children get older. And I’m getting older, too.”

Nicks reminded the crowd that she will be 75 soon, in May. She covered Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth,” written by her friend Steven Stills in 1966, “When I was in high school,” as Nicks said.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer dealt freely from the Fleetwood Mac hit catalogue and her own solo career. “Dreams, “Gypsy,” “Gold Dust Woman,” “Sara” and “Rhiannon” were recast, thrilling the crowd, many whom could have been in Nicks’ graduating class at Menlo-Atherton High in the Bay Area. “If Anyone Falls,” “Bella Donna,” “Stand Back,” and “Edge of Seventeen” were among her solo hits. The powerful “Soldier’s Angel” was a show of support for Ukraine, “Fighting for all of us,” as she said, in the war with Russia.

Nicks dropped in the wonderful“Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,” her 1981 duet with Tom Petty. “If it weren’t for this song, I wouldn’t be here up tonight. I would’t have a solo career,” she said.

Nicks also covered Petty’s “Free Fallin’,” in the three-song encore. It was another love letter to a departed friend, another reason to make up a friendship bracelet.

Stevie Nicks Live in Seattle March 15, 2023

Stevie Nicks Kicks Off 2023 Solo Tour Like a Woman Possessed: Review - Nicks' impassioned set honored Tom Petty and Christine McVie

By: Robert Ham

Consequuence Sound

By way of introduction to “Gypsy,” a song from her former band, Stevie Nicks recalled how she would center herself when, as she put it, she “got a big head about the Fleetwood Mac thing.” She would take the mattress from her bed, set it on the floor, festoon it with draperies and pillows, and then sit down in the middle, reminding herself, “I am still Stevie.” It was a humbling moment, undercut by her comment that she has beds on the floor in “all of her houses.”

But to Climate Pledge Arena crowd witnessing the opening night of Nicks’ spring concert tour (tickets are available here), the slight 74-year-old on stage was hardly just Stevie. This was the gypsy. The bella donna. The witchy woman. The blonde beauty that launched a dozen Lindsay Buckingham songs and inspired Walter Egan’s 1978 smash, “Magnet and Steel.” The iconic figure who could send the crowd reeling simply by spinning around in a circle billowing out one of the many colorful shawls she sported throughout the evening in Seattle.

Nice as it was to imagine her quietly meditating on the floor, from the audience’s worshipful cheers and thoughtfully chosen outfits (leather and lace, velvet and denim, and lots of top hats), the woman on stage will always be more than just Stevie.

Nicks did a lot of spinning on Wednesday night. She reacted to the music ecstatically, moving about the stage nimbly in spite of an apparent broken toe that forced her to forgo her usual high heels for more sensible shoes. “Goodbye Di Fabrizio, hello Balenciaga,” she quipped. At points throughout the evening, especially during the psychedelic coda of a particularly intense rendition of Fleetwood Mac’s “Gold Dust Woman,” she appeared possessed, enraptured. At the end of the song, she stood at the back of the stage lit by a spotlight, arms akimbo, and looking like she might levitate off the stage at any moment.

She remained earthbound however, grounded by humanizing moments throughout the night. She slipped off stage regularly, likely to recharge in some fashion before a particularly demanding song. And her voice has been audibly tempered by decades of use and abuse. She can no longer hit the high notes in “Dreams,” but that’s what backup singers are for.

There was a sense that Nicks was returning to the stage to deal with some unfinished emotional business. For the most part, she let the gigantic video screen on stage do most of the talking on that front. Though she referenced the war in Ukraine when introducing the raging “Soldier’s Angel,” commenting that Zelensky’s forces were “fighting for all of us,” the power of the moment came from the clips and photos of the conflict that spooled out behind her. Photos of Prince were intercut with animated images of doves throughout the performance of fan favorite, “Edge of Seventeen.”

But two of her friends and collaborators seemed foremost on her mind. The presence of the late Tom Petty loomed large over the evening. Her band took the stage to the sound of “Runnin’ Down a Dream.” Her classic duet with Petty, “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,” was placed prominently in the early moments of the 90-minute set, as legendary guitarist Waddy Wachtel, a member of Nicks’ airtight touring band, handled the other vocal part. And to kick off the encore, she leaned into a poignant rendition of “Free Fallin’,” complete with photos of Nicks and Petty sharing stages and a microphones.

The emotion finally spilled over at the end of the night when Nicks started to choke up as she commented that this concert was one of her first times on stage since the death of her Fleetwood Mac bandmate, Christine McVie.

That moment — and the nods to her fallen comrades — went from far beyond a simple tribute. The compounded losses appeared to have given Nicks a stronger urge to make even a fleeting emotional connection with the people around her, be that her backing band or the thousands of ticketholders before her.

As the band settled into a taut groove, extending out the final minutes of “Edge of Seventeen,” Nicks made her way to each member of the group, holding their hand briefly or simply locking eyes. She then moved to the lip of the stage, waving and interacting with the audience in hopes of fostering that strange but powerful artist/fan relationship. Feeding them the hits and basking in their applause wasn’t nearly enough; Nicks sought to make as many people as she could feel seen and appreciated. Further proof that no matter what she may tell herself, she will never be just Stevie.

Nicks’ 2023 headlining tour continues through June, and she’s also joining Billy Joel for the “Two Icons, One Night” co-headlining trek. Tickets to all of her shows are available here.

Setlist:

Outside the Rain

Dreams (Fleetwood Mac cover)

If Anyone Falls

Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around

Fall from Grace

For What It’s Worth (Buffalo Springfield cover)

Gypsy (Fleetwood Mac cover)

Wild Heart

Bella Donna

Soldier’s Angel

Stand Back

I Sing for the Things

Gold Dust Woman (Fleetwood Mac cover)

Sara (Fleetwood Mac cover)

Edge of Seventeen

Encore:

Free Fallin’ (Tom Petty cover)

Rhiannon (Fleetwood Mac cover)

Landslide (Fleetwood Mac cover)

Stevie Nicks and Billy Joel Inglewood, CA March 10, 2023

Review: Billy Joel and Stevie Nicks keep fantasy alive at SoFi Stadium

By: BY MIKAEL WOOD

LA Times

Stevie Nicks slumped against a microphone stand, steadying herself with both sparkly gloved hands, and bowed her head for 10 or 12 seconds as the final chords of “Landslide” rang out through Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium on Friday night.

Concluding her set on the opening date of a joint mini-tour with Billy Joel, the singer and gothic-hippie style icon had just performed her signature acoustic ballad in front of an enormous video screen showing photos of her with Fleetwood Mac bandmate Christine McVie, who died in November. We saw Stevie and Christine harmonizing; we saw them holding hands; we saw them whispering into each other’s ear, sharing some joke made only funnier by its secrecy. Now, Nicks — onstage for the first time since McVie’s death — lifted her head, her eyes seeming to glisten under the stadium lights.

“There’s really not much to say,” she told the tens of thousands in the crowd. “We just pretend that she’s just still here — that’s how I’m trying to deal with it.”

Finding new emotional purpose in well-worn material — in lines like those in “Landslide” about getting older after having built your life around someone — is probably the most you can ask of a veteran rock star on the road for the umpteenth time. It’s a way to keep the classic music alive, even (or especially) when it’s painful; it shows there’s use left in the old songs, not just for the audience but for the artist as well.

There are less noble reasons to tour, of course, some of which were in evidence Friday. Maybe you want to show off a voice, as Nicks did, that still sounds great at age 74 — low and smoky, with an imperiousness that can suddenly melt away to reveal pure need. Maybe you want to crack some dad jokes, as 73-year-old Joel did, about his lack of dance skills, just before his band struck up the Rolling Stones’ “Start Me Up” and he flailed around for a minute like an adult-aerobics Mick Jagger.

And maybe you want to make some money, as both stars certainly will on a leisurely run scheduled to touch down once a month or so through November. (Primo floor seats for the duo’s next concert, in Arlington, Texas, are available for $2,250 a pop.)

But for those watching, a moment like Nicks’ moving “Landslide” — its reminder that honesty and finesse can happen in the same place at the same time — is the reason to show up for an operation like this.

Do Joel and Nicks make for an odd combination? He’s Mr. New York, she an avatar of West Coast cool; his songs look back to the tidy structures of the Brill Building, hers the haunted romance of Welsh folklore. Yet each began racking up radio hits around the same time, in the mid-1970s: Two years after Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumours” was named album of the year at the Grammy Awards, Joel won the same prize with “52nd Street.”

More to the point, both singers outlasted the FM era to endure well into the MTV age — a testament to radio’s career-building power, sure, but also to their understanding the emergent value of a visual brand. At SoFi, Joel still scrunched up his bulldog’s face while Nicks kept twirling in her glittering shawl.

Besides, how much sense does a joint bill of boomers even need to make? (Recall that Nicks toured a decade ago with Rod Stewart, of all people.) As Joel told The Times in an interview last week, McVie was just one casualty of the war of attrition that time is waging against his generation. “Dropping Like Flies” was his joking title for the next possible tour. That would really only sharpen the catch-’em-while-you-can pitch embedded in “Two Icons — One Night,” as the current show is called.

Here they joined forces for a pair of unlikely duets: her “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,” in which Joel sang the part made famous by the late Tom Petty; and his “And So It Goes,” for which they stationed themselves at opposite ends of Joel’s grand piano. Neither performance convinced you that they had finally found their musical soulmates; both performances made you glad nonetheless to see two artists reaching toward each other.

Other than “Landslide,” highlights of Nicks’ set included a lustrous “Sara,” which online record-keepers say she hadn’t performed solo for a decade and a half, and a juicy take on “If Anyone Falls” that led you to think about how much modern pop music Nicks was groundworking between the years of 1975 and 1983. (No “The Wild Heart,” no Miley Cyrus; no “Bella Donna,” no Lana Del Rey.)

Joel did that too with “Just the Way You Are,” which sounds now like a blueprint for guys like the Weeknd and Bon Iver and their ideas about the obsessions concealed by shimmering surfaces. Mostly, though, he seemed less interested in casting new light on his music than in showcasing its durability: Before “An Innocent Man,” he said he was worried about hitting the song’s high notes, then nailed each one — wouldn’t you know it? — with precision to spare.

His hits were many and varied, from “My Life” and “Movin’ Out” and “Allentown” to “Only the Good Die Young” and “The River of Dreams” and the inevitable “Piano Man.” For his encore Joel rose from behind his piano and grabbed a mike on a stand to belt out “Uptown Girl” and “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me” as his band cranked the guitars. The songs were arguing that things never change — another fantasy to believe in even when you know better.