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Stevie Nicks Twirls 24-Karats of Gold Dust on Denver
by Denby Gardiner303Magazine.com
Photo Gallery (52 Photos)
The show began promptly with the Pretenders, a solid act in their own right, front-woman Chrissie Hynde especially. Hynde sparked up the show, exposing her seasoned rocker ways while playing her rock jams like “Brass In Pocket” and slaying the hell out of the harmonica. After a little over an hour, the group waved good night and Martin Chambers, the band’s drummer, donated his shirt to the crowd. Even after all of these years, the Pretenders have kept their eccentric stage persona.
Just before nine o’clock, a figure draped in dark clothing and blonde curls pouring down the front of it could be seen walking onto the enormous stage. The microphone stand was decorated with a long, sparkling scarf. Next to the stand was a tambourine, also dressed in a long dazzling cloth. Nicks belted “All These Years” to open her set, with her full band joining on with keys, drums, piano, bass, guitar and backup vocals. With her latest release being the re-visitation to many unreleased tracks from her many decades-long career in writing music, Nicks explained to the eager crowd that this tour and this performance is not “the same Stevie Nicks that you are used to.”
“If Anyone Falls in Love,” and “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” (which brought back out Chrissie Hynde, this time decked out in a Broncos jersey) were more than enough to raise the entire Pepsi Center to their feet to celebrate through dancing. The old hits are always wonderful, however, this tour being in support of a release of forgotten tunes, you could guess she played a good amount of songs that had never been memorized, and in some cases, even heard. “Belle Fleur,” like many others of the set-list, inspired a lengthy background story from Nicks, explaining the origin and why it never made it to record. The added anecdote to each track as she went down the reasons and happenstances that can occur in the industry accrued a sense of intimacy between the crowd and the artist – it felt as though she was sharing her personal journals with us.
“Dreams,” of course, earned an excessive (yet necessary) mass phone recordings and perhaps the first real sing-a-long of the night. “My Belladonna,” “Annabel Lee” and “New Orleans” grooved the second half of the icon’s set, and with each passing track, Nicks explained more and more of the backstories of how things came to be for her.
The many whimsical outfits, obviously inspired by Nicks’ style, twirled to the music that the band rocked out, some new some old and some unreleased. After announcing her band, Nicks dropped the inevitable bomb on her audience with a banging “Edge of Seventeen.” All the way from the familiar rift at the beginning to the last of the hit, everyone in attendance sang along and were dancing out of their seats. Nicks thanked those whole-heartedly as she left the stage, mentioning that she used to live in Denver.
After a brief moment, the artist returned to play “Rhiannon” and “Leather and Lace.” Two imperative songs for the evening rocked the rowdy crowd to an ease, ensuring at least most of the needs of her fans had been met. As Nicks embarks on this large tour ahead of her, she has left a piece of herself in Denver, one that she will hopefully return for again and again for the rest of her never-ending-vampire-blood-fueled existence.
Stevie Nicks and The Pretenders Rocked Tough and Tender at the Pepsi Center Last Night
by Tom Murphy
Westword.com
Tonight it was easy to forget that Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders and Stevie Nicks are both senior citizens and that their greatest impact on popular culture happened in the first half of the 1980s when both ruled the airwaves. Go ahead, try to tell them that. Because last night, both stars rocked like the old days.
Sure, Nicks was then a member of one of the most popular rock bands of the era as a singer and songwriter in Fleetwood Mac but she also established herself as a solo artist of note beginning with her striking 1981 solo album Bella Donna. The Pretenders seemed to come from out of nowhere and were not really post-punk or New Wave despite Hynde's roots in England's punk world and the timing of the first Pretenders record, issued in 1980. Historical coincidences aside, Hynde and Nicks simply played the show like they were having fun with the music and rediscovering a newfound passion for the material.
What became obvious immediately during both sets is how Hynde and Nicks, both rightfully acknowledged for their powerful and arresting vocals, have unconventional and distinctive voices. Both are capable of a broad range of emotional expression and tonal range. Both have grit, and Hynde somehow manages to be tough and tender, while Nicks makes a virtue out of really selling the vocal lines with a forcefulness like she's amplifying and projecting her direct emotional experience. Both styles create a riveting tension and versatility of expression that is at the root of what makes their music so compelling.
Continue to the full review at Westword.com
Stevie Nicks was 24-karat girl power at the Pepsi Center
By Stephanie March
TheKnow Denver Post + Photos
It’s rare that someone takes the stage and you can actually feel the energy of the room shift, but Stevie Nicks had that force inside the Pepsi Center Thursday night.
The Phoenix-born rock goddess started her career more than 40 years ago, yet her passion for music was more commanding than ever. Nicks opened with “Gold and Braid,” a song originally intended for her “Bella Donna” album that never made the cut. The lively jam allowed Nicks to shimmy her shoulders and open up her infamous sandy vocals. Opening with the not-so-well-known song prepared her fans for a set-list of rarely-played treasures. But the whole night wasn’t just treasures. Those jonesing for the classic Nicks hits got exactly what they went for.
The Pepsi Center show was just the second night of her 24 Karat Gold Tour — the first in her hometown of Phoenix — so kinks were to be expected, but Stevie Nicks didn’t miss a beat. She jetted into “If Anyone Falls” and then with a couple twangs of the guitar, she brought the entire crowd to its feet with “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around.” Standing in for the original duet’s Tom Petty was Chrissie Hynde, whose band The Pretenders opened the show. Their raspy vocals were perfectly in sync proving, as Nicks has been doing for years, that she doesn’t need a man to do anything.
Nicks’ lyrics are not only empowering, but her powerful delivery is what creates a space of vulnerability and connection for her fans. Her latest tour embraces women and highlights Nicks’ mastery of her craft. Her live version of “Bella Fleur” gave fans a taste of her vocal range and proved she still has the vocal chops we fell in love with in the ’70s. But there’s nothing quite like when she performed Fleetwood Mac songs.
When Nicks moved into “Dreams,” it was pure magic. Although there were no famous Stevie Nicks twirls on stage during the song (only one the entire night), when she grasped the microphone and sang “When the rain washes you clean, you’ll know” it reminded fans that no matter what mistakes we make tonight, tomorrow is a brand new day.
Nicks moved through her set quickly, only breaking a couple times to tell stories. She thanked the crowd and shared her tie to Colorado with family from Cripple Creek, and that she has an insane Aunt Gertrude (who we now want to meet.) She continued on to “Wild Heart” and “Starshine” — both of which share a raw pain that fans can dance to. While Nicks has always specialized painful ballads, the hard pang of guitar and steady, solid beat of drums made it impossible to wallow for too long, giving fans that crucial space to explore pain.
She strategically saved the best of her magic for the end of the night. Proclaiming that there were spirits in the Pepsi Center, she donned a golden scarf on her shoulders and performed “Gold Dust Woman” and “Edge of Seventeen.” And with a brief break she came back onto stage in all black and went into her encore.
“Rhiannon.”
She closed the night with “Leather and Lace” from Bella Donna; the original duet was performed with Don Henley, but Nicks again, carried it just fine without him.
Far after the lights went up and daydreams were twirling through the chilly Denver streets, Nicks’ fans were left with the feeling they were stronger than they know if they just open up to it. It’s okay to not know what’s next, just be the best you while you figure it out.
Stevie Nicks setlist
- Gold and Braid
- If Anyone Falls
- Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around (w/Chrissie Hynde)
- Belle Fleur
- Outside the Rain
- Dreams
- Wild Heart
- Bella Donna
- Annabel Lee
- Enchanted
- New Orleans
- Starshine
- Moonlight (A Vampire’s Dream)
- Stand Back
- Crying in the Night
- If You Were My Love
- Gold Dust Woman
- Edge of Seventeen
- Rhiannon
- Leather and Lace
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