Review Stevie Nicks Live in Grand Rapids, MI November 23, 2016

Stevie Nicks, The Pretenders mint golden performance for Grand Rapids fans
by Lorilee Craker
Localspins.com

VIEW PHOTO GALLERY

Nicks’ “24 Karat Gold Tour” trotted out some golden oldies as well as some fresh material on Wednesday, not to mention spotlighting two rock ‘n’ roll icons. (Review, photo gallery)

Stevie Nicks and Chrissie Hynde on tour together?

It seemed a little weird at the outset, but by the time Nicks sailed onto the stage at Grand Rapids’ Van Andel Arena on Wednesday night, there proved to be a certain alchemy that made a lot of sense for this “24 Karat Gold Tour.”

And any concertgoer with lingering doubts bought in when the two oddly paired tour mates performed a duet on “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,” which Nicks originally recorded with Tom Petty.

Now that was golden.

There was Nicks, with her gossamer shawls and sorceress vibe, proclaiming that the Petty song “saved her life.” Or her career, at any rate.

Then witness Pretenders frontwoman Hynde, all sinew and strut, belting the Petty parts in the song. Together, those two grand dames of rock ’n’ roll made beautiful music together on Thanksgiving eve.

At 68, Nicks sounded in top form Wednesday as she warbled some old hits and unearthed some new-to-us songs from the “dark, gothic trunk of mystical, magical things.” From that trunk, she pulled out some songs which had not received their full due over the past 40-some years of her songwriting, or at least, the stories she told to introduce them seemed to imply this.

“Crying in the Night,” for example, harkened back to 1971, when she recorded the beachy gem with Fleetwood Mac bandmate and then-love Lindsey Buckingham and no one paid any attention at the time.

“New Orleans” came out of Nicks watching the impending Hurricane Katrina on TV from “her ocean” in California. And somewhat peculiarly, “Moonlight (A Vampire’s Dream)” had its origins in Nicks falling for the “Twilight” franchise a few years ago.

ENGAGING STAGECRAFT AND STORY-TELLING

Waddy Wachtel on lead guitar and Carlos Rios on rhythm guitar elevated every song, old or new, known or unknown, with their stringed artistry.

Superb stagecraft, with mystical moonscapes, falling water and – more than once – impressions of Prince showing on massive screens behind the band enriched the experience.

A born storyteller, Nicks’ narrative about almost every song was entertaining and added value to the unknown tunes. At times, it felt like the audience was sitting in her living room, shooting the breeze, learning about her artistic processes.

Still, folks really came to hear the hits and they were rewarded with “Gypsy,” “Stand Back” (which incited most concertgoers to stand up) and Fleetwood Mac’s “Gold Dust Woman.”

Some of that gold dust flickered around Hynde and The Pretenders as they opened with a burly 15-song set.

Taking a page from Nicks’ penchant for playing a bunch of almost unknown songs, Hynde opened with two cuts from a minty new album, October’s “Alone” – the title track and “Gotta Wait” – backed by a dazzling band that featured guitarist James Walbourne and hard-hitting drummer Martin Chambers.

“I love the Midwest,” Hynde said. “People dig guitar-based rock ’n’ roll and that’s what it’s all about!”

Wednesday’s crowd of Midwesterners definitely dug some of the classics, including “Back on the Chain Gang,” “Message of Love” and the ever-sweet “I’ll Stand By You.”

View Photo Gallery by Anthony Norkus

Review Stevie Nicks Live in Philadelphia November 20th

Stevie Nicks digs out old favorites for Philadelphia show
by Janelle Sheetz
AXS.com

Asa Fleetwood Mac singer and solo artist, Stevie Nicks has no shortage of hits and fan favorites to play live -- but it's some of her favorite lesser-known songs that she's choosing to focus on her 24 Karat Gold Tour, which stopped in Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center Sunday night.

Though Nicks probably doesn't need an opening act -- in fact, Fleetwood Mac doesn't have one for their tours--she tapped The Pretenders to get things started, who played an exciting rock set peppered with some classics of their own, such as "Back on the Chain Gang," "I'll Stand by You," "Don't Get Me Wrong," and of course "Brass in Pocket." Frontwoman Chrissie Hynde, despite joking about her age, still sounds fantastic, easily singing and playing hits that are now decades old.

Nicks and her eight-piece band opened her own set with "Gold and Braid" and continued for about two hours with songs spanning her career, from the beginning with Buckingham Nicks to Fleetwood Mac to solo. Hynde returned to the stage early in the evening to join Nicks for "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," originally performed with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, before Nicks continued on not with hits, for the most part, but with tracks pulled out of what she calls her "Gothic trunk" and featured on 24 Karat Gold: Songs From The Vault, often taking the time to tell the personal stories behind the writing and recording. Despite being in a packed arena, Nicks' personality and willingness go behind the scenes made one feel as though they could easily be in a smaller venue at a more intimate show. She shared stories of what inspired songs like "New Orleans" and "Moonlight (A Vampire's Dream)," as well as tales of interactions with other musical heavyweights like Petty, Don Henley, and Prince, whose picture was often displayed on the large screen behind Nicks.

Despite the focus on songs that are among her favorites but might not be known to a wide audience, Nicks didn't avoid guaranteed crowd pleasers--Fleetwood Mac song "Gypsy" made an early appearance, followed by "Gold Dust Woman" at the end of the set, complete with a gold shawl and Stevie's dancing. The band's music was featured a final time during the encore with "Rhiannon." As for Nicks' most famous solo songs, she ended her set with the hit "Edge of Seventeen" and ended her encore with the lovely "Leather and Lace."

Nicks' solo shows may not pack the intensity of Fleetwood Mac's, but that's also part of the charm--Nicks is still an iconic singer and songwriter in her own right, and the 24 Karat Gold Tour gives fans a chance to see a different side of her.

Stevie Nicks' songs provide an antidote to today’s often embattled pop music

THE RESURGENT APPEAL OF STEVIE NICKS
Her generous songs provide an antidote to today’s often embattled pop music.

by Amanada Petrusich
The New Yorker

The cover of “Bella Donna,” Stevie Nicks’s first solo album, shows the artist looking slender and

wide-eyed, wearing a white gown, a gold bracelet, and a pair of ruched, knee-high platform boots. One arm is bent at an improbable angle; a sizable cockatoo sits on her hand. Behind her, next to a small crystal ball, is a tambourine threaded with three long-stemmed white roses. Nicks did not invent this storefront-psychic aesthetic—it is indebted, in varying degrees, to Hans Christian Andersen’s Thumbelina, de Troyes’s Guinevere, and Cher—but, beginning in the mid-nineteen-seventies, she came to embody it. The image was girlish and delicate, yet inscrutable, as if Nicks were suggesting that the world might not know everything she’s capable of.

This intimation is newly germane: a vague but feminine mysticism is in. Lorde, Azealia Banks, FKA Twigs, chvrches, Grimes, and Beyoncé have all incorporated bits of pagan-influenced iconography into their music videos and performances. Young women are now embracing benign occult representations, reclaiming the rites and ceremonies that women were once chastised (or worse) for performing. On runways, on the streets, and in thriving Etsy shops, you can find an assortment of cloaks, crescent-moon pendants, flared chiffon skirts, and the occasional jewelled headdress.

Full article at The New Yorker

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Review Stevie Nicks with The Pretenders Philadelphia, PA November 20, 2016

Stevie Nicks and the Pretenders — odd but cozy bedfellows at WFC

by A.D. Amorosi

Philly.com

If we were to duck back to their post-punk '70s peak, the Pretenders and Stevie Nicks would not have been pals. Witchy, willowy pop-hitmaker Nicks — with Fleetwood Mac or through a long solo career — was the polar opposite of the blunt, smug Pretenders and smugger-still front woman, Chrissie Hynde.

Nicks was all leather and lace, a prettily warbling product of bright Californian pop-rock, but with a mystical edge. Hynde was beat-up leather and black-denim neo-punk, but with a rich burr and an adoration of melodic ’60s pop, along with a cynical lyricism that made her just as much an acolyte of Dusty Springfield as she was of Johnny Rotten.

Time and trend passed, people got older, and now Hynde, with an ever-shifting cast of Pretenders, is on a tour with Nicks that on Sunday packed the Wells Fargo Center. The two even got together — happily and heartily — on a blowsy cover of Nicks’ 1981 downturned romancer with Tom Petty, “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,” with Hynde and rangy guitarist Waddy Wachtel. (Longtime associate Wachtel was as much a secret weapon Sunday to Nicks’ scratchy purr as the Pretenders’ aggressive, rumbling drummer, Martin Chambers, was to Hynde’s winnowing coo.)

Aside from that aforementioned 1981 hit and F-Mac smashes such as “Gypsy,” Nicks’ set fascinatingly focused on catalog riches (“my Gothic trunk of treasures”) that had  fallen through the cracks — an idea that legacy rockers with tired set-lists should consider.

Along with an ardent take on the way-early “Crying in the Night” (a Buckingham Nicks cut), moody synth-rockers “Stand Back,” and “If Anyone Falls,” the incrementally building theatrical ballad “Moonlight (A Vampire’s Dream),” and the train-chugging-whistle-blowing “Enchanted” all allowed Nicks’ scuffed, coolly soulful murmur freest range.

Chatting up the (sometimes romantic) history of each track, Nicks became almost Judy Garlandlike — but without the tragic end.

Hynde’s Pretenders also did something bold in opening their long set with two rough, Stoogeslike ragers from the new album Alone — the explicit title track and the rumbling “Gotta Wait.” Another new track — the oddly plucky “Holy Commotion” — also was part of the live package.

Pluck and cheer are what Hynde best displayed while using her rock-salted caramel hoot of a voice, whether it was smiling/smirking through a boldly crunching “Message of Love,” growling through the reggae-punkish “Private Lives,” or slinking along in “My City Was Gone.” 

Hynde also made fun of her cutoff Elvis T-shirt during the “style” section of “Brass in Pocket,” and of her age, 65, and her crowd's. “There’s a lot of old faces here, but you guys are pushing it,” she said, laughing. “Me, too.”

Review Stevie Nicks Live in Philadelphia, PA November 20, 2016

The 5 best stories from Stevie Nicks' revealing Philly concert (PHOTOS)
by Bobby Olivier
NJ.com - Check out the photos

Photo Matt Smith - View More

PHILADELPHIA — Discretion has rarely come easy to Stevie Nicks.

Rock's venerable gypsy queen has been a subject of gossip for decades, from her role in Fleetwood Mac's romantic crossword puzzle, to her drug addictions — cocaine, then the tranquilizer Klonopin — to her publicized weight gain in the '90s, from a steroid used to fortify her patently potent, rasping voice. 

But as with any star, there are always deeper dimensions than the tabloids, from the tortured artist fans think they know, to the day-to-day, human person no one really knows at all. 

Nicks, 68, visited her most rooted level Sunday night in Philadelphia, on a tour designed not only to unearth some of her most obscure, never-before-played-live songs — swiped from her seemingly bottomless "gothic trunk," she joked — but the stories behind them. 

And through more than two hours of tales, between songs as old as her pre-Fleetwood days with the old-beau duo Buckingham Nicks and as new as those inspired by, of all things, the "Twilight" film series, the songstress was candid on her first solo tour in four years, and gracious to the Wells Fargo Center crowd for allowing her time to stray from the hits and reveal new moments from her prolific career. And with her wonderfully tight, eight-piece band — many of whom have been with her for decades — Nicks managed to shrink the arena and supply the intimacy much of her catalog has worked to provide. 

As Nicks was very chatty on this trek, deemed the 24 Karat Gold Tour, it didn't feel right to write a usual narrative review in this case, so instead, here are a few of her new stories, told (mostly) in her words.

PHOTOS Stevie Nicks Live in Bethlehem, PA

Stevie Nicks enchants Lehigh Valley crowd with songs from the vault (PHOTOS)
by Matt Smith
Lehighvalleylive.com (Check out the photos)

Singer-songwriter Stevie Nicks delighted fans with songs from deep within her catalog during a show Saturday at Sands Bethlehem Event Center in Bethlehem.

Best known for both her work with Fleetwood Mac as well as her highly-successful solo career, Nicks' 24 Karat Gold Tour included songs that either hadn't been performed in decades -- or ever. 

The Pretenders, featuring Chrissie Hynde, opened the show and thrilled the crowd with familiar songs like "Message of Love" and "I'll Stand By You."

A highlight of the show came as Stevie Nicks was joined onstage by Hynde as the duo performed the 1981 hit "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," with Hynde singing the parts originally performed by Tom Petty.

The next stop on the tour is Sunday night at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.