Review: Hard Rock Calling, Hyde Park, London Rated 3/5

Beguiling rock princess: Stevie Nicks 

Reviewed by Chris Mugan
Wednesday, 29 June 2011
The Independent

Despite Glastonbury's moves ever further mainstream, London's mud-free alternative remains distinctive. Who could imagine Somerset hosting a tent-full of fans crooning "Lifted" by Nineties soul-poppers Lighthouse Family?

Otherwise, the three-day Hard Rock Calling relies on stellar headliners with little strength in depth. On Friday evening a sizeable main-stage crowd ignore impending drizzle and James's more quixotic material to bellow "Sit Down". Kaiser Chiefs unite students and office workers with epic takes on "Ruby" and "Oh My God", while showing a more contemplative bent on their current album The Future Is Medieval. It is best served peppered with metallic heft, as on "Little Shocks" and "Long Way From Celebrating".

Elsewhere, The Kills hone their tense garage grind, before The Killers close the night. The next afternoon, Ray Davies, fresh from Meltdown, fronts a rollicking bar-room band. In good spirits, he reminds us of The Kinks' gritty edge with a little too much of the irascible choir master – "If you don't know it, learn it."

Unsurprisingly, given they boast last year's highest grossing tour, Bon Jovi are the weekend's most well-oiled machine. They are especially formidable with guitarist Richie Sambora back from a spell in rehab, though a near three-hour set reveals limits to their common man shtick: more recent tunes resemble knock-offs of earlier efforts, with "We Weren't Born To Follow" rehashing "It's My Life". Even worse is the eponymous Jon's reinvention of "Hallelujah" as a cock-rock ballad, possibly the worst version yet.

On a blazing Sunday, Adam Ant avoids controversy on his first outdoor set since Live Aid, though weak vocals and a goth-metal backing band handicap the hits. Stevie Nicks, by contrast, is still the beguiling rock princess on her first solo UK date for 20 years. Bar one number, her comeback album In Your Dreams is ditched in favour of injecting hard-won wisdom into older solo rockers and Fleetwood Mac standards.

Later, she joins headliner Rod Stewart for a tepid run through "Young Turks", leaving Ronnie Wood to cut through the supper club schmaltz on "Maggie May" and "Stay With Me". Rod has one eye on an upcoming Las Vegas residency, though such reliability pleases Hyde Park just as well.

Rock n’ Roll Queen Stevie Nicks is coming back to Australia! Gain Access To Pre-Sale Tickets

Stevie Nicks, known for both her work with legendary super group Fleetwood Mac plus her own hugely successful solo career, will be touring this November and December.

Joining Stevie for these special shows will be celebrated musician and songwriter, Dave Stewart, from Eurythmics, who co-produced Stevie's new solo album, In Your Dreams.

Stevie Nicks’ incredible solo career has given her more than forty Top 50 hits, selling more than 140 million albums worldwide. Her top hits include ‘Leather and Lace’, ‘Edge of Seventeen’, ‘Stand Back’, ‘Bella Donna’, ‘Rooms On Fire’ and ‘Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around’.

Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 Grammy Award winning Album of the Year, Rumours, stands as one of the greatest albums ever made. It has sold more than one million copies in Australia. Thanks to a recent episode of glee dedicated to this classic album, Rumours returned to the Australian charts at number two. Fleetwood Mac’s extensive back catalogue includes ‘Rhiannon’, ‘Gypsy’, ‘Tusk’, ‘ ‘Dreams’, ‘Don’t Stop’, ‘Songbird’, ‘Go Your Own Way’ and so many more.

Dave Stewart's music career spans three decades and more than 100 million album sales. His biggest hits include ‘I Only Want To Be With You (The Tourists)’ to Eurythmics hits ‘Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)’, ‘Missionary Man’, ‘Sisters Are Doin’ It For Themselves’, ‘Would I Lie To You?’ and ‘Angel’.

Stevie Nicks and Dave Stewart will be performing their greatest hits from their respective bands and also highlights from their solo careers.

Don’t miss your chance to see two extraordinary performers in what promises to be the musical highlight of the year!

McMANUS ENTERTAINMENT PRESALE - Gain access to tickets before the general public! Simply click on the relevant link below during the presale period and enter the password GYPSY.

Presale runs from Thursday June 30th, noon 
to Friday July 1st, noon

• Sat 19 Nov MELBOURNE Sidney Myer Music Bowl
• Sun 20 Nov MELBOURNE Mornington Racecourse
• Wed 23 Nov ADELAIDE Entertainment Centre
• Sat 26 Nov PERTH nib Stadium
• Tue 29 Nov SYDNEY Entertainment Centre
• Wed 30 Nov NEWCASTLE Entertainment Centre
• Sat 3 Dec BRISBANE Riverstage
• Mon 5 Dec WOLLONGONG WIN Entertainment Centre
• Wed 7 Dec CANBERRA AIS Arena

Source: McManus Entertainment | Facebook | Twitter

Stevie Nicks on THE VOICE June 29th (Nicks will pair with contestant Javier Colon)

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. – June 28, 2011 — NBC’s “The Voice” will add rock legend Stevie Nicks, Pat Monahan (lead singer of Train) and Ryan Tedder (lead singer of OneRepublic) to its star-studded live results show and season finale on Wednesday, June 29 (8-9 p.m. ET).

The recording stars will sing with the four remaining finalists for each team. Nicks will pair with contestant Javier Colon, while Monahan sings with Vicci Martinez and Tedder will form a duet with Beverly McClellan. They will join previously announced Grammy Award-winning star Miranda Lambert (who is married to Blake Shelton, one of the series’ musician coaches) who will sing with the fourth finalist, Dia Frampton.

The announcements were made by Paul Telegdy, Executive Vice President, Alternative Programming, NBC and Universal Media Studios.

Nicks is a multi-Grammy-winning member of the legendary Fleetwood Mac whose “Rumours” album (Grammy Album of the Year) was one of the biggest selling records in rock history. She is also a Grammy-winning solo artist whose “Bella Donna” debut CD sold well over five million copies. Her current solo CD, “In Your Dreams” — her first studio CD in over a decade — debuted last month at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. Nicks is also a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Grammy Hall of Fame. She has written and performed such classic hits s “Landslide,” “Rhiannon,” “Edge of l7” and “Gold Dust Woman.” She is scheduled to begin a solo tour next month.

Monahan is the lead singer and songwriter for the Grammy-winning band Train. The multi-platinum group’s albums include “Train,” “Drops of Jupiter,” “My Private Nation,” “For Me, It’s You” — and “Save Me, San Francisco” (platinum worldwide and the biggest of their 16-year career) which produced their smash single “Hey Soul Sister,” which was the #1 iTunes track of 2010. Train’s many hit singles also include “If It’s Love,” “Marry Me,” the Grammy-winning “Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me),” and the chart-topping “Calling All Angels” and “Meet Virginia.”

They Came... They Met... and She Signed...

HMV posted a photo gallery of shots of Stevie Nicks in London June 27th at HMV Oxford Street signing CD's for the masses... Stevie's new album In Your Dreams was released yesterday in the UK.  Great kick off for a great album!!

Check out the gallery on Facebook

Or see the HMV wall on Facebook

"Dream Lover" Music Icon Stevie Nicks Looks To The Future with an Album Born in Brisbane

U on Sunday - June 26, 2011 Sunday Mail - Australia

Enter To Win Tickets to see Stevie Nicks December 3rd at Riverstage in Brisbane

Australian Articles - Stevie Nicks

Twilight inspires new dream run for Stevie
The Sunday Telegraph Australia June 26, 2011

STEVIE Nicks is in a good mood. The international star of folk rock is celebrating the success of her first album for a decade and has just heard a stadium full of fans sing Happy Birthday to her.

‘‘ It was pretty amazing,’’ she says. ‘‘ Not the best singers in the world, but they put their hearts into it.’’

It’s a testament to Nicks’ popularity and that of her former band, Fleetwood Mac — resurgent in recent months after the TV show Glee dedicated an entire episode to their 1977 album, Rumours.

Back on form after a hiatus, the singer says she began writing her new album, In Your Dreams, after a show with Fleetwood Mac in Melbourne while touring in Australia.

She’d just watched New Moon — the second film in the Twilight series — and was so moved by the love affair between Bella (Kristen Stewart) and Edward (Robert Pattinson), it inspired her.

Drawing parallels with her own doomed relationship with Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac, she wrote Moonlight, a track on the new album. She says: ‘‘ It really touched me, because that kind of thing happened to me once and it was just so devastating.’’

When the band arrived in Brisbane there was a piano in her suite and In Your Dreams was born. She explains: ‘‘ It’s just that forbidden love . . . love that cannot work — no matter what. Edward is beautiful and sensitive and sweet, but he’s still a monster. That’s the main underlying story in all fairy tales.

‘‘ But sometimes it happens to you in real life and when it does, it’s devastating.’’

Nicks met Buckingham in San Francisco when she was 17. The couple joined Fleetwood Mac, which ultimately sounded the death knell for their relationship.

They split while making Rumours, and Nicks says the turmoil she went through is what makes her identify with Bella and Edward.

Later she sang with his band, Fritz, before the pair moved to Los Angeles and performed as Buckingham-Nicks, living and recording together for five years.

‘‘ That’s when we realised we had a destiny, I think,’’ Nicks says. ‘‘ In the movie when she’s sitting in the bay window and it goes October, November, December and she’s still sitting there, I went through that at one part (of) my life and it just brought it flooding back.’’

Despite their messy parting, Nicks, now 63, says she and Buckingham remain friends. He also worked on In Your Dreams.

‘‘ He came and played on Soldiers Angel and he really saved the day on that one,’’ she says.

‘‘ I think that really is a super tie between us because I think that song’s going to last forever.’’

THE TWILIGHT FILM NEW MOON HAS HAD A PROFOUND EFFECT ON STEVIE NICKS, WRITES AMANDA HORSWILL

Sunday Magazine Australia June 26, 2011

IT WAS just after she had seen the Twilight film New Moon while on tour in Australia. Stevie Nicks was so taken by the fated love story that she stole upstairs to her Melbourne hotel room and wrote a fivepage essay about iconic love affairs.

She wrote about Bella and Edward, about Beauty and the Beast and about her own love story, between herself and her musical partner in life, Lindsey Buckingham, of Fleetwood Mac.

The similarities between their story and Bella and Edward’s in New Moon were uncanny. A forbidden love. A love that cannot work, she describes it.