STEVIE NICKS THE SOUNDSTAGE SESSIONS + LIVE IN CHICAGO
On July 17, 2008, Stevie Nicks' Soundstage premiered in the US. This two-hour concert was broadcast over two nights in July on the 17th and 24th.
"This is the first time since 1985 that I have had one of my live shows filmed and recorded," said Nicks. "We spent three years perfecting this show which we began in Vegas in October of 2007. I could not move on until we filmed this show. Luckily "Soundstage" producer Joe Thomas, who saw the show many times, felt the same way. I am as proud of this as anything I've ever done in my entire career."
This show was filmed in October 2007 before a live audience at Grainger Studios in Chicago for the PBS program "Soundstage". The Joe Thomas-directed show was made available to purchase on DVD online shortly after the broadcast in July 2008 exclusively through the PBS website. It would take Reprise until March 31, 2009, to release the DVD "Live in Chicago and the accompanying 10-track CD "The Soundstage Sessions" commercially worldwide.
Aside from the cover, the difference between the two DVDs is the setlist on the televised PBS version and subsequent DVD release, it didn't include "Dreams" or the bonus track "Landslide" (with orchestra). The other omission from both versions of the DVD was the last song of the night "Beauty and The Beast". The song was filmed twice that night once with the background screen showing scenes from the film La Belle et la Bête, and once without the film clips. These scenes had been used by Stevie as background during her '07 tour and rights were secured for that purpose - but for whatever reason permission wasn't granted for Stevie to use the film clips on the DVD. Even though a backup version of the song had been filmed, not including the film clips, it was decided not to use the song entirely for the DVD. But not all was lost as the audio version of the song appeared on the CD version of the show.
The "Live In Chicago" DVD includes timeless Nicks songs from her solo projects as well as songs written as a member of Fleetwood Mac. All the Stevie classics are included such as the energetic opening track "Stand Back," "Rhiannon," "Dreams," "Gold Dust Woman," "Landslide" and "Edge Of Seventeen," the DVD also features a few really great cover songs, Dave Matthews' "Crash Into Me" Led Zeppelin's "Rock And Roll" and Bonnie Raitts "Circle Dance" in which Vanessa Carlton makes her second appearance.
"We wanted everything on the DVD and CD to look and sound perfect and I think we succeeded," said Nicks.
"The Soundstage Sessions" CD included 10 songs extracted from the "Live In Chicago" DVD. Nicks brought the songs from the show to Nashville and worked once again with Joe Thomas in the studio where they added "Nashville Strings" and additional vocals. They also removed the audience from the live recording giving it a more "live in the studio" feel. The CD features a lush orchestral version of "Landslide", the bonus track audio from the DVD, and other Nicks gems including "Stand Back," "Crash Into Me," "Sara," "Fall From Grace", "If Anyone Falls In Love" and "Beauty and The Beast" a faithful restating of the song, which closed "The Wild Heart" in 1983. Lost in the rapture of her lyrics, Nicks captivates for seven minutes. Accompanied by just strings, piano, and her background vocalists. She dubs her performance “the Witherspoon vocal” after a woman who attended the recording of the song in Nashville.
Ahead of the official release date of March 31, 2009, digital downloads of "Crash Into Me" and "Landslide" (orchestral version) were made available on Amazonmp3.com on March 17th. "Enchanted", was available March 31st as a bonus on Amazonmp3.com if you purchased the digital version of the CD. "Gold Dust Woman" and "Edge Of Seventeen" were the bonus tracks available exclusively on iTunes on March 31st.
An exclusive Limited Edition CD/DVD set featuring different cover art inside and out called "The Soundstage Sessions Live in Chicago" was made available to purchase exclusively through Stevie's record label
Warner Bros. If you purchased this set, you received instant downloadable tracks "Rhiannon" and "The One" both not included on the CD. Also, anyone who purchased this Limited Edition early on also received an 8x10 never before-seen Lithograph of Stevie.
The Soundstage Sessions CD and Live in Chicago DVD are for the most part satisfying because Stevie sounds and looks fantastic.
Stevie, one of the most successful female artists in rock history and the embodiment of the transcendent power of music is a multi-platinum, multi-Grammy Award-winning Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and a member of the legendary Fleetwood Mac.
Fleetwood Mac was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998, the same year that her box set Enchanted came out. In 2001, Nicks released her last Studio album Trouble in Shangri-La, this time with friends Sheryl Crow, Sarah McLachlan, Dixie Chick Natalie Maines, and Macy Gray and in 2003 joined Fleetwood Mac for the reunion album Say You Will. In 2004 Fleetwood Mac released the DVD Live in Boston. In the spring of 2007, Reprise released the CD/DVD Crystal Visions: The Very Best of Stevie Nicks, an extraordinary collection of songs and videos spanning the legendary singer/songwriter's career.
After touring the world with Fleetwood Mac for the better part of 2009 on the Unleashed Tour, and spending pretty much this last decade celebrating her work as a solo artist and with Fleetwood Mac, Stevie's back in the Studio working with Dave Stewart and many others she's worked with over the years recording tracks for a long overdue new studio album. No official date has been given for the release, but given her past track record, it looks like it might be a spring 2001 release with touring dates likely to follow.
In the meantime, Stevie's lined up a short run of shows beginning August 4th in Santa Barbara, CA.
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