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.
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.
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.
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.
.png)
.png)
