Review Stevie Nicks Live with The Pretenders Memphis March 8, 2017

Stevie Nicks, Chrissie Hynde in fine form on double bill

It was a fitting close to International Women’s Day as two of rock’s iconic female figures, Stevie Nicks and the Chrissie Hynde, took the stage of FedExForum on Wednesday. Appearing with her solo band, Fleetwood Mac star Nicks was the ostensible headliner, but it was Hynde and her group The Pretenders who stole the show, with both women presenting district and distinctly different visions of musical and personal empowerment.

Resuming her work with the Pretenders last summer after a four-year break, Hynde and the band — which includes founding drummer Martin Chambers and new-era additions James Walbourne on guitar, Nick Wilkinson on bass and Eric Heywood on pedal steel — sounded sharp and inspired during a 15-song set that covered the expected hits as well as material from the band’s recent album, “Alone.”

Hynde was in classically cantankerous form early on, rightfully berating a couple of audience members down front who were popping off cell phone camera flashes in her face. After apologizing — on their behalf — Hynde settled down and found both the aggression and nuance of songs like “My City Was Gone” and “Stop Your Sobbing.”

Thirty-five years after the implosion of the original Pretenders lineup — following the death of guitarist James Honeyman Scott and the firing and subsequent death of bassist Pete Farndon — Hynde and Chambers have somehow managed to keep the group a compelling force, with the new members, particularly flash guitarist Walbourne, providing a fresh spark.

One of rock’s most stylish singers, Hynde also showed a depth of emotional range on the spare ballad “I’ll Stand by You,” while one of her rare solo songs, “Down the Wrong Way,” seemed to take on new life in the Pretenders context.

Ohio native Hynde took the opportunity to rave about Memphis, having visited several local haunts — Graceland, Shangri-La Records and Imagine Vegan Café — on a day off before the concert. She noted that she skipped a return to the local jail, where she stayed during the Pretenders' first tour on disorderly conduct charges after kicking out the windows of a police car. “They didn’t want me back,” she quipped.

After a brief break, Nicks and her big band — which included longtime guitarist/musical director Waddy Wachtel on guitar — emerged, sounding strong, if somewhat measured during their 18-song performance.

Nicks presented the set as part storyteller’s session, part deep dive into her catalog. Vocally, she was in fine form, but the somewhat awkward pacing — songs broken up by Nicks’ long  narrative interludes — meant that musical momentum was hard to sustain.

Still, Nicks’ tremendous personal charm — part girl next door, part witchy woman, part mother figure — was hard to resist, and the crowd of devotees were held rapt by her, expressing their devotion vocally and visually, with many dressing in homage to her (sartorially speaking, the audience at a Nicks concert could double for a renaissance fair crowd).

The liveliest moment of Nicks' set came during an early version of the Tom Petty-penned “Stop Dragging My Heart Around” as Hynde emerged from the wings and the women, along with Wachtel, presented the song as a three-way romantic drama.

Ultimately, amid all the stories and banter, Nicks managed to cover all the expected ground, delivering strong versions of her solo hits (“Stand Back,” “Edge of Seventeen”) and closing with a flourish of Fleetwood Mac favorites (“Rhiannon,” “Gold Dust Woman,” “Landslide”) that were impossible to resist.

- Bob Mehr
The Commercial Appeal

Review: A Night of Nostalgia with Stevie Nicks
POSTED BY JOSHUA CANNON
Memphis Flyer

"We've followed her for seven cities now," a man 20-years-my-senior told me midway through Stevie Nicks' 18-song set. "Amazing, after all these years, she's still got it." 

She never lost it. Backed by a multi-piece band that included a pianist, hammond organist, two backup vocalists, a drummer, bassist, and longtime musical director and guitarist Waddy Wachtel, Nicks' brought a storied discography to life — a "gothic trunk of lost songs." Tracks she wrote over the span of 40 plus years; deep cuts from albums that seldom or never got the live treatment. The audience didn't mind, an eclectic bunch: mothers and daughters, married couples and young couples, a man in a top hat hopelessly waving a bouquet of white roses in Nicks' direction, a pack of gypsies who led me to my seat. 

The energy was palpable, though, when Nicks and co. rolled through Fleetwood favorites like Gypsy, a moment when anyone still sitting found their feet; Gold Dust Woman, made bigger than ever by her band; Rhiannon, the alcohol had taken hold by this one, there was lots of aisle-dancing; and Landslide, the stripped down closer, during which there was lots of hugging and audible disappointment that the show would soon end. 

Nicks, donning a black dress with flowing sleeves, a sequined shawl, black fingerless gloves, and, for "Bella Donna," the original silk chiffon scarf ($2,000 when purchased, "ah, shit, that's a lot of money, Stevie," said a concerned person behind me) draped over her in the 1981 promos, paused briefly after her first song and scanned the Fedex Forum. 

"You have to let us, for a minute, sink into your Memphis-ness," she said. "You know this is a very special city. This is on that list of cities — Los Angeles, San Francisco, Nashville, Memphis, New York — where you come into the city knowing those are the important shows. I'm extremely happy to be here in your musical city that has so much history." 

Each song came with a story, a bit of nostalgia about who she was and where she was when they were written. Stand Back was born after Nicks heard Prince's Little Red Corvette on the radio and wrote lyrics around his melody. After getting his approval, Prince visited her in the studio, where he played on the track, and the two played a game of basketball. A montage of photos of Prince would later appear on screen behind her, a source of motivation for Nicks. 

"The sad thing is now he's gone," Nicks said. "But when I sing Stand Back, he's here. When I'm nervous, I say, 'Prince, walk with me.' And he does." 

Nicks' storytelling broke up what could have been a traditional arena rock production. "I could do this until I'm 90 years old," Nicks said. "Because I have fans who are kind enough to listen." Her diving into the details brought a closeness to the audience, removing a wall. We could have been in her living room. When she went into Stop Draggin' My Heart Around, which she wrote with Tom Petty as their friendship blossomed, show opener Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders appeared from the darkness to sing. 

Earlier in the evening, The Pretenders' bare-bones band — drums, bass, guitar, pedal steel — showcased Hynde's magnetism. On "I'll Stand By You," Hynde's vocals were as powerful as they've ever been. Wearing a Shangri-La Records T-shirt, Hynde said the band had a better experience in Memphis this go around, visiting Graceland and Imagine Vegan instead of the jail where she was once held overnight for disorderly conduct. 

"Memphis is progressing in the right way," Hynde said. "But I didn't go to the jail where I was held overnight for kicking out the windows of a police car. They didn't want me back." 

Closing the show, Nicks revisited 1973, when she lived for three months in Aspen, Colorado on $250. One evening while home alone in a condominium where she was renting a room, Nicks' wrote Landslide on an acoustic guitar, finding the lyrics as they came to her. 

"I was a little girl, and I wrote this little song, and this little song took all of us to the top," Nicks said. "Did I ever dream I'd be in Memphis playing for you?" 

Review Stevie Nicks Live in Tulas, Oklahoma March 6, 2017

Stevie Nicks revisits storied career at BOK Center
By JIMMIE TRAMEL
Tulsa World

PHOTO: CORY YOUNG

Stevie Nicks has it. And she gets it.

Some folks are blessed with “it,” a difficult-to-describe quality that helps make a person remarkable.

“It” is a gift, really. You can’t teach it. You can’t buy it. You just have it, or you don’t.

Nicks has “it.” This was evident the second she arrived on stage Monday night at the BOK Center.

Between Nicks’ aura (swear you can almost see the glow) and that hypnotic voice (Homer’s sirens should take lessons from her), it was reinforced during a two-hour, 15-minute set that this person is a singular, special talent. Good luck finding another one like her.

And, as mentioned up high, Nicks “gets it” — she gets that she can make a concert experience more meaningful, more personal, by engaging a crowd in conversation rather than hurriedly plowing through a set list and saying “goodbye, Tulsa.”

Nicks performed, encore included, 17 songs. Before almost every song, she told a story related to the song. And, in rare instances when she went immediately from one song to another with no chit chat in between, she “back-splained” the tunes she had just sang.

I don’t know how the majority of attendees felt about Nicks shifting back and forth between sing gear and talk gear, but why in the heck wouldn’t you want a concert to be a one-of-a-kind experience with artist commentary? If all you want is song after song with no elaboration, maybe a greatest hits album should be your next adventure. Here’s to more artists using the Nicks concert format instead of being mute or predictable.

One of the first stories Nicks told was a recollection of her desire to take a break from Fleetwood Mac and record a solo album. While making her first solo album, she was told the album didn’t have a single. Thankfully, longtime pal Tom Petty had a song ready to go. He teamed with her for “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around.” Nicks said the song kicked her album “right up into the stratosphere,” and a solo career was successfully launched.

Because of Petty, Tulsa has a six-degrees-of-Kevin Bacon connection to Nicks. When Petty was a pup, he lurked about Tulsa during the Leon Russell/Shelter Records era. “A lot of people used to think Petty was from Tulsa,” Dwight Twilley, who was in the Shelter Records stable, told the Tulsa World in 2010.

Petty and the Heartbreakers received the Legend Award at the 2003 Radio Music Awards in Las Vegas. The presenter was Nicks, who said at that time, “(Petty) not only started out as my greatest musical influence, but today he’s still my greatest musical influence.”

Nicks’ BOK set included a song (“Starshine”) she recorded with Petty and the Heartbreakers many years ago.

“It was really such a good track that, if either one of us had been doing a record, it would have gone on one of those records,” she said. “But neither of us was doing a record, so it went into what I like to call the gothic trunk of lost songs and there it stayed until now.”

The song is a track on Nicks’ new album, “24 Karat Gold: Songs From the Vault.”

Nicks’ set was a mix of new and old, of solo works and Fleetwood Mac songs (“Rumours,” the monster Fleetwood Mac album that everybody — everybody — owned turned 40 last month). Hits revisited during the show included “If Anyone Falls,” “Gypsy,” “Stand Back,” “Gold Dust Woman,” “Edge of Seventeen,” “Rhiannon” and “Landslide.”

Nicks’ told a story about how the Prince song “Little Red Corvette” inspired her to write “Stand Back.” She said she feels like Prince is standing beside her when she performs the song now.

Early in the show, Nicks sang “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” and the crowd cheered when she was joined on stage by Chrissie Hynde, lead singer of the opening act, the Pretenders. Hynde said during the Pretenders’ gig that she used her spare time in Tulsa to visit the Woody Guthrie Museum.

Near the end of the show, Nicks, 68, expressed appreciation for the crowd and said she feels like she could do this for another 10 years. She’s got “it” on her side.

Eagles and Fleetwood Mac East, West Festivals

Eagles and Fleetwood Mac Planning New York and Los Angeles Festivals
by Dave Brooks
Billboard

Organizers hope the Classic East and Classic West concerts at Citi Field and at Dodgers Stadium will become an annual event.

Two of rock’s most venerable acts are planning a bi-coastal music festival this summer and are hoping to develop an annual franchise around the concert series.

The Eagles and Fleetwood Mac will headline the festivals being billed as Classic East and Classic West in July, Billboard has learned, with shows planned for Citi Field in New York and Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles.  

Each festival will take place over two days with additional artists to be announced in the coming months. A number of big-time music companies are involved in the blockbuster concert concept including​ Azoff MSG Entertainment, Live Nation, the Oak View Group and CAA.

Classic East and Classic West will be the first concert performance by the Eagles since the death of band founder Glenn Frey in Jan. 2016. The coast shows are the only dates Fleetwood Mac has scheduled for 2017, says a source.

The classic-rock driven festival follows the success of Goldenvoice and AEG Live’s Desert Trip festival featuring the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Roger Waters, Bob Dylan, Neil Young and The Who, which did gangbusters business in October 2016 -- to the tune of $160 million in gross receipts. AEG officials have not announced whether Desert Trip will return to the Empire Polo Club in Indio, Calif. in 2017.

Stevie Nicks, Fleetwood Mac thrive through touring, reissues, collaborations
By Ken Paulsen
silive.com

For an act that hasn't had a top 10 hit in 30 years, Fleetwood Mac remains not just relevant but popular, with solo and group tours, a new collaboration in the works, a sustained radio presence, and several well-received reissues, including a new one on the way this month. Here's the latest on one of the world's most-enduring supergroups:

Reissues

With the success of Fleetwood Mac's reissues of Rumours, Tusk and Mirage, Stevie Nicks has released deluxe reissues of her first two solo albums, "Bella Donna" and "The Wild Heart" (Rhino Records). "Bella Donna" revisits her smash solo debut, with early-80s standards "Edge of Seventeen" and the collaborations "Stop Dragging My Heart Around," with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and "Leather and Lace," with Don Henley. The second disc is packed with soundtrack contributions, demos and alternate takes -- a funkier version of "How Still My Love," and a Nicks-only "Leather and Lace" are among the highlights. Disc Three covers 14 tracks from her 1981 solo tour, including standout tracks from the album and her Fleetwood Mac hits "Dreams," "Sara" and "Rhiannon."

The "Wild Heart" reissue covers 2 CDs -- the remastered album and a disc of rare tracks and demos. The reissue shows Nicks at the top of her game vocally, with a synthesizer-heavy sound that may not be timeless, but has firm roots in 1983 pop (not a bad thing at all). Her signature song, "Stand Back," takes center stage but a favorite is "I Will Run To You" with pal Tom Petty. Their chemistry and vocal harmony -- her rasp, his twang -- is superb. It was disappointing that an under-construction version of "Stand Back" was not included on disc 2, but other tracks are solid, including "Sorcerer," originally written in 1972, and another early track, "All The Beautiful Worlds."

Next up among reissues is Fleetwood Mac's "Tango In the Night" (Rhino Records), the band's 1987 comeback album that yielded four top 10 hits. The reissue, due March 31, will include the remastered album, including "Big Love," "Little Lies" and "Everywhere," and a 13-track second disc filled with outtakes, demos and instrumentals. A more extensive version, including 180 gram vinyl, will also be available.

On the road

The complete five-member act completed a year-long worldwide tour a little over a year ago, grossing $200 million and leaving fans wanting more. (They might get their wish.) On the heels of a successful run of dates in 2016, Stevie Nicks kicked off a new leg of her 24 Karat Gold tour last week, including a well-received show in Portland. She brings her act to the region in April with dates April 2 at the Prudential Center in Newark and April 6 and the new Nassau Coliseum.

Radio

Fleetwood Mac shares something with the Eagles, another titan of harmony-based rock: After each band took a hiatus from making fresh music (Eagles, 1980, Fleetwood Mac, 1987), their sound never really disappeared from the radio -- it just endured. These days, if you're in your car for at least an hour a day and flip through Q104, WCBS-FM or Lite-FM, you're guaranteed to hear a Fleetwood Mac song several times a week. What happens is that the music stays alive, and the DJs, always looking for something fresh to say, share updates on the band, whose members have remained active. The result is that the fans stay connected, and their interest never fades.

Buckingham-McVie

The band's chemistry -- maybe explosiveness is a better word -- is legendary. But one unexpected pairing -- musical, not romantic -- is now in the works. Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie are reported to be collaborating on an album. The title at this point: Buckingham McVie, a clear nod to Buckingham-Nicks, the early 1970s pairing of that duo before they merged into Fleetwood Mac. "All these years we've had this rapport, but we'd never really thought about doing a duet album before," Buckingham told Rolling Stone about the collaboration. "There is that album [Buckingham Nicks] that I did with Stevie [Nicks] back before we joined the band, but other than that, it's all been Fleetwood Mac or solo."

Review Stevie Nicks and The Pretenders - San Diego March 2, 2017

Review Stevie Nicks and her stories at Viejas Arena
by Leslie Hackett
The San Diego Union Tribune

Photo: Leslie Hackett

There’s a fine line that separates telling stories between songs and letting the music speak for itself. Last night at Viejas Arena, Stevie Nicks was on the wrong side of that line.

Sure, it’s fun to hear that “Every time that big black limo came to pick me up (to go out on tour), that would be the end of a relationship.” Or that one of her first Bella Donna-era shawls cost her a fortune, but at least, according to her frugal mother, she bought silk chiffon, which would last forever (as was proven when Nicks put it on mid-show).

but, when you go to a Stevie Nicks concert, it’s her captivating, raspy singing voice — the one that has been reeling in fans for nearly 50 years — you want to hear most of all. And that’s not what happened Thursday night.

The highlight of the night turned out to be the opening act. The Pretenders — with Chrissie Hynde, one of the two remaining survivors of the original Pretenders, at the helm — rocked the arena. The band took the stage at 7:15 p.m. and roared through 15 songs in its hour-and-15-minute set.

As for stories in between songs? There was just one.

Hynde told the audience that she and the band took a bus from their hotel to Hillcrest (which was met with a roar of applause). “I always like to get on the bus to see if there’s someone who can recognize me,” she said.

Hynde and the band members stopped in to pick up some vinyl at Record City (“Because vinyl is final!” she shouted), and she was particularly impressed by the healthy juice bars and vegetarian restaurant offerings in the area. “But it’s still not as great as my hometown — Akron, Ohio,” she said with a laugh.

While The Pretenders were the opening act, they aren’t just any opening act. The Pretenders, like Nicks, is a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee band, and from opening song “Alone” to “I’ll Stand by You” to set-closer “Brass In Pocket,” they held true to the fact that they’re “gonna make you, make you, make you notice.”

As for Nicks’ musical performance, she stated from the beginning that it wasn’t going to be the traditional show she’s done a million times. Her 18-song set, which started at 8:45 p.m. and ended at 11 p.m., was mostly music from her solo albums, peppered with some Fleetwood Mac favorites, including the two encore songs of “Rhiannon” and “Landslide.” Many of those Nicks played came from what she called her “gothic trunk of lost songs.”

Probably the most powerful of the night was “Stand Back,” a song Nicks wrote to the melody of Prince’s “Little Red Corvette” and for which he played some of the musical track for on the 1983 “The Wild Heart” album version.

But, of course, it was an acoustic guitar and “Landslide” that pulled the whole show together. A song Nicks said she has tried over and over to walk away from the stage without playing remains a continual fan favorite, it continues to be a part of every show. Arms locking together and warm embraces could be seen among the diverse, multi-generational audience members — a sign that Nicks, even with all of her stories, can unite an audience and end on a high note.

Review Stevie Nicks with The Pretenders Live in Portland February 28, 2017

Stevie Nicks in Portland: Fleetwood Mac hits and gold dust memories
by David Greenwald
Oregonlive.com

Photo: David Greenwald - Check out the 45 photos in the gallery

"This is a journey," Stevie Nicks said on Tuesday night. "This is a trip. I'm just asking you to come with me."

From the days of "Fleetwood Mac," Nicks has had fans who would follow her anywhere. But at her Moda Center tour stop, she was looking for indulgence: an evening of storytelling and memories accompanying rare, revived tracks from across her band and solo career, some gathered on 2014's "24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault."

"This is a journey," Stevie Nicks said on Tuesday night. "This is a trip. I'm just asking you to come with me."

From the days of "Fleetwood Mac," Nicks has had fans who would follow her anywhere. But at her Moda Center tour stop, she was looking for indulgence: an evening of storytelling and memories accompanying rare, revived tracks from across her band and solo career, some gathered on 2014's "24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault."

Nicks didn't skimp on the hits, including Fleetwood Mac staples: "Gypsy," "Gold Dust Woman," "Rhiannon" and finally, "Landslide." But she was more excited to share songs such as "Crying in the Night," a soaring, harmony-bright Buckingham/Nicks track she hadn't performed ever until this tour. It would've been a No. 1 hit if she'd given it to the Eagles.

Nearly every song came with the background behind it, and the storytelling was as compelling as the music. Nicks has always deeply inhabited the characters in her songs, and along with her indelibly witchy popular image, perhaps been too convincing as a bohemian spell-caster. The minutes with Nicks, human being, were surprising and often hilarious: she lacks, say, Cher's comic timing, but she was nearly as amusing--and much more sincere.

"I used to drop by his house, only after calling, of course," she said of politely visiting Tom Petty, whose work inspired her solo debut, "Bella Donna." "I wanted to make a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers record, from a woman's perspective."

She picked up Petty duet "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" after their mutual producer, Jimmy Iovine, got serious and told her she didn't have a single. Pretenders' Chrissie Hynde, who delivered a ferociously punk opening set, took the stage with visible joy to step into Petty's shoes for the song, and the two singers barely made it through without laughing at each other's moves.

And Nicks remembered the pre-fame days she spent waitressing and waiting for her musical breakthrough: it came for her and Lindsey Buckingham with Fleetwood Mac, and she sang "Belle Fleur" about the about the black limousine that whisked her away to rock fame and fortune. Making "Bella Donna" on her own a few years later meant convincing Fleetwood Mac she wasn't going to break up the band.

"Get it through your head!" she said, remembering the conversation.

She also paid tribute to the late Prince: after his "Little Red Corvette" inspired Nicks to write "Stand Back," she called him up for his blessing and 15 minutes later, he was at the studio to help record. On Tuesday night, the result--like so much of Prince's work--was remarkably current, a pulsing synth-rock freight-train that might've graced (or just inspired) 2011's '80s-reviving "Drive" soundtrack.

"Every time I sing that song, Prince is standing right there with me," she said.

On "Edge of Seventeen," she showcased his image on the video projections behind her, the song concluding with a nod to Prince's "When Doves Cry."

Hearing the Fleetwood Mac material apart from the band's gravity let it orbit in intriguing directions: "Gold Dust Woman" went through the heaviest transformation, gaining psychedelic weight to the point of stoner-metal. As the band went into a guitar break, Nicks head-banged, and a puff of cannabis smoke floated through section 122.

Among other revelations: it took the "Twilight" movies and their inspirational (!) teen vampire romance to lead Nicks back to the music industry after almost a decade away. She sang "Moonlight (A Vampire's Dream)" with a visual of rippling water and a full moon behind her--if this music thing doesn't work out, Nicks has a future in fantasy screensavers.

But for every behind-the-scenes moment, Nicks also gave us the comforting familiar: costume changes, tambourines and spin moves, and the captivating voice whose quivering wisdom the 68-year-old Nicks has only grown into.

"You have to believe in your heart," she advised. On Tuesday, it was easy to believe in hers.