NAPA — After dropping from the BottleRock Napa Valley lineup in 2021 due to continued Covid concerns, Stevie Nicks was due to return. That finally came to pass on a breezy day at the Napa Valley Expo on Friday, the opening day of this year’s music, food and wine festival.
Nicks took to the JaM Cellars stage to Tom Petty’s “Runnin’ Down a Dream” in the waning daylight. Wearing all black, including fingerless gloves and sparkly black boots, she and her band got right to it with a cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll.” The rollicking song allowed the entire band to loosen up and go full tilt.
She kept mostly to the same songs she performed at her last Bay Area appearance, at Chase Center last December, though in a different order. Those songs were primarily from her Fleetwood Mac days and her 1981 solo album, Bella Donna.
“I hope it’s getting dark quick! Bring on the dark!” she shouted. However, it was quite light out until about a third of the way into her set.
The good vibe continued with warm-sounding mid tempo tune “If Anyone Falls,” before turning to more aggressive material with “Outside the Rain,” which melded right into the ever-popular “Dreams.” Stevie Nicks introduced “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” as a “gift from Tom Petty,” where her silver-haired guitarist, Waddy Wachtel, sang Petty’s parts.
Likewise, she dedicated “Gypsy” to “all the nomads and travelers in the world,” and provided context with short stories about the creation of other songs, such as Stephen Stills’ 1966 tune “For What It’s Worth,” which got a sensual, slinky and slightly psychedelic rendition.
During the hard-driving and synth-pop-tinged “Stand Back,” Nicks twirled around, with her dress in her hands. That was followed by a one-two punch of the poppy “Wild Heart” and the slower, more meditative “Bella Donna.” During this performance, she wore a royal blue cloak she said was the original from the back cover of the Bella Donna album, released in 1982. It was a sweet moment; probably sweeter for those who didn’t see her prior Bay Area concert, where it also made an appearance.
Stevie Nicks’ voice was not as powerful as in past years, which wasn’t unexpected, but she and her band found another gear for the performance’s highlight: a nearly 10-minute version of “Gold Dust Woman,” which began a loud singalong that “Dreams” somehow did not. The simmering 1977 song had an extended intro and outro, beautiful harmonization between Nicks and two backing vocalists, and a rocking release.
Not even the show’s second biggest highlight, “Edge of Seventeen,” matched its level of intensity. The band rounded out its set with the folky “Leather and Lace,” on which Nicks dueted with her vocal coach, Steve Real, before concluding with “Rhiannon” and “Landslide.”
Decades after they stopped producing new music, Fleetwood Mac still has no problem scoring chart wins. They rarely, if ever, disappear from the Billboard rankings, as Americans have never stopped listening to and buying their art.
This week, Fleetwood Mac is succeeding with two albums. Both titles are climbing–impressively, on every chart they appear on. That shows sustained interest in the projects, and in at least one case, increased consumption.
Unsurprisingly, Rumours is the top performer from Fleetwood Mac. That’s the case this week...and pretty much every week. While it may appear highest on the Billboard charts, the blockbuster release is down a little more than 1% in terms of consumption. According to Luminate, the album moved 18,202 equivalent units last week.
Rumours is up one rung on the Billboard 200, settling at No. 39. On the Top Album Sales chart, it improves from No. 28 to No. 19, even though pure purchases of the project fall by more than 8%. The set also grows on the Vinyl Albums (No. 17), Top Rock & Alternative Albums (No. 7), and Top Rock Albums rankings (No. 6).
As Rumours continues to overperform (for a decades-old title), Fleetwood Mac’s Greatest Hits is also on the rise. That set, which shares some songs with the more traditional album, grows in stature on three tallies this time around. Unlike Rumours, however, total consumption of Greatest Hits is up several percentage points to 8,235 equivalent units.
The band’s Greatest Hits compilation steps up on the Billboard 200 more than 10 spaces. This week, it jumps from No. 191 to No. 180. On the Top Rock & Alternative Albums list, it surges seven rungs to No. 42, nearly entering the top 40 again. On the more-specific Top Rock Albums tally, the title pushes forward from No. 22 to No. 18, returning to the top 20 tier.
Fleetwood Mac Separates Themselves From Other Legacy Acts With Streaming Success
There are many beloved bands from decades past that regularly earn spots on the Billboard charts. They typically do so thanks to continuing sales, with streaming typically being less popular among legacy acts than newer ones. Older audiences tend to continue to listen to the CDs and vinyl LPs they’ve purchased in the past—and to keep buying them—but some groups that have been adored for many years have found a way to remain relevant via platforms like Spotify.
Fleetwood Mac is one such name, as the pop-rockers are not only incredibly popular, but they’ve managed to continue to succeed on streaming sites. The group’s biggest and most successful title, Rumours, proves that millions are listening to them on streaming outlets this week as it returns to one specific Billboard chart.
Rumours is back on the Top Streaming Albums ranking this week. The set reappears at No. 49 on Billboard’s list of the albums and EPs that manage to rack up the most plays on the top streaming platforms in the country, which was established last year.
No. 49 isn’t very high on the Top Streaming Albums chart, as the tally only features 50 spaces. That said, it’s also not very far from the title’s high point, as it once climbed to No. 46 and stalled there.
The Top Streaming Albums ranking is typically filled with newer bands, singers, and rappers. More modern names are the ones that usually dominate all things related to streaming, but Fleetwood Mac’s music remains popular enough that they are able to find a space on this list for only the seventh frame.
As it returns to the Top Streaming Albums chart, Rumours is climbing on several other lists. The title lifts just one space on the Billboard 200, making a home at No. 38. It’s also up two rungs on the Vinyl Albums chart, where it appears at No. 15.
Not everything is looking up for Rumours this week on the Billboard charts, though. The set, which has been out for decades now, isn’t on the rise everywhere. It’s a non-mover at No. 19 on the Top Album Sales ranking this frame. It’s also, surprisingly, down on both the Top Rock & Alternative Albums and Top Rock Albums rosters as well.
Consumption of Rumours is growing, no matter where it lands on the charts. In the past tracking period, Luminate reports that the album moved 18,796 equivalent units. That’s up 3.3% from last time around. Looking only at pure sales, the title sold 3,654 copies–up 3.7%.
That could be the name of the one-woman show embedded in Stevie Nicks’ concert Saturday night at the Frost Bank Center.
For an hour and a half, Nicks wove solo hits, Fleetwood Mac classics and stories — autobiography, music history and a little fashion — into an enchanting evening.
Some of the stories were as long, and entertaining, as the songs they introduced.
She described “Gypsy,” for example, as a recollection of the happy if impoverished days before she and Lindsey Buckingham joined Fleetwood Mac, a band neither were that familiar with. Fortune and fame quickly followed.
Nicks said sometimes she would drag the mattress off her bed and sleep on the floor, with a coverlet and some flowers, to remind herself that “I am still Stevie.”
The audience on Saturday night ranged from baby boomers to millennials, a much bigger age range than at, say, the recent Heart concert. The most popular fashion choices, though, lived in a gauzy stretch of the '70s: flowing dresses, lace, fringe-lined shawls and bell-bottom slacks.
Nicks said fans actually had complained that she had stopped wearing capes and shawls onstage, so she brought some along on this tour, including the original cape from the back cover of “Bella Donna” and the cape she wore in the music video for “Stand Back.”
Her band didn’t try to replicate the sound of Fleetwood Mac. It was a sleek and strong rock band led by Nicks’ longtime friend and collaborator Waddy Wachtel on lead guitar. The difference was never starker than on “Gold Dust Woman,” which Wachtel and guitarist Carlos Rios cracked open and tore apart as Nicks appeared to be invoking ancient spirits. It was the highlight of the night.
Solo hits came closer to the mark: Wachtel played on the originals, and there’s a keyboard sound on them that’s like a Wayback Machine to the '80s.
Fleetwood Mac was a group project. Nicks' band, as good as it is, is designed to cede her the spotlight — literally, at the end of some songs, when the band members, all dressed in black, faded into the dark, leaving Nicks to take a theatrical bow.
She told story after story in that spotlight.
About how she lived in El Paso for five years and almost learned to speak perfect Spanish before her family moved to Salt Lake, Utah, where there wasn’t so much Spanish spoken.
About how Jimmy Iovine, her producer and boyfriend, brought her a song by another artist he was working with because “Bella Donna” didn’t have a sure winner yet. “Stop Dragging My Heart Around” was the hit her first solo album needed, and she and Tom Petty became lifelong friends.
About how she wrote “Leather and Lace” for Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter but grabbed it back when she learned they were getting divorced. And how she still sings so well at almost 76 (she does) because she’s been working with the same vocal coach, Steve Real, since 1995. She brought him onstage to sing “Leather and Lace” with her. It was like swapping Don Henley for Raul Malo and absolutely none the worse for it.
A song that wasn’t preceded by a story was the one that ended the concert, “Landslide.” The story was in the montage of photos of Christine McVie, the Fleetwood Mac member who died in 2022, that played on the Cinerama-style screen over the stage.
Nicks said she never looks back at the photos when she sings the song because the loss of her friend is still so painful.
She said her mother once remarked, “When you’re hurt, you run to the stage, Stevie.”
“You are the people who are making me good,” she told her fans.
McVie’s song “Got a Hold on Me” played as they filed out of the arena. Perfect.
Fleetwood Mac Detail BEST OF FLEETWOOD MAC (1969-1974) Compilation
In the late 1960s, Mick Fleetwood, Peter Green, John McVie, and Jeremy Spencer laid the foundation for what would become one of the most storied and successful bands in rock history, Fleetwood Mac. Now, Rhino is celebrating the band’s transformative early days with a compilation that features 19 essential tracks.
BEST OF FLEETWOOD MAC (1969-1974) will be available on July 26 from Rhino on CD, 2-LP 180-gram black vinyl, & 2-LP brick & mortar exclusive on sea-blue vinyl. Pre-Order HERE.
The new collection spans a prolific five-year period that began in 1969 after the band signed with Reprise Records. It includes songs selected from seven studio albums: Then Play On (1969), Kiln House (1970), Future Games (1971), Bare Trees (1972), Penguin (1973), Mystery To Me (1973), and Heroes Are Hard To Find (1974).
Those albums fueled Fleetwood Mac’s early popularity in the U.K. and catapulted them into the Top Ten with singles like “Oh Well – Pt. 1” and “The Green Manalishi (With The Two Prong Crown).” Both tracks are included in the collection along with fan favorites like “Rattlesnake Shake,” “Station Man,” “Sentimental Lady,” “Spare Me A Little Of Your Love,” and “Remember Me.”
Between 1969 and 1974, Fleetwood Mac experienced near-constant changes in membership. The new compilation provides a showcase for each lineup, with songs featuring nearly every member from this era, including founders Fleetwood, Green, McVie, and Spencer, plus Christine McVie, Danny Kirwan, Bob Welch, and Bob Weston.
James McNair’s new liner notes accompany the compilation and expertly navigate the band’s twisting timeline during this period. He writes: “By the time of Fleetwood Mac’s winter 1971 U.S. tour, Christine McVie was a fully-fledged member. Her keyboard-playing and co-lead vocals alongside those of Kirwan and Spencer were integral in the wake of Green’s departure…Alas, any calm seas were short-lived; Fleetwood Mac was still a volatile ship. Spencer, too, was about to go missing in action.”
Stevie Nicks returned to St. Louis Tuesday evening at Enterprise Center with nearly 90 minutes of fan favorite hits, spanning her career in both Fleetwood Mac as well as her wildly successful solo years. But with a sea of fans adorned in head to toe black, scarves, bell sleeves, and shawls, nostalgia was the true headliner.
The evening began with, well, traffic. Lots of it. Unfortunately causing myself and many to miss a chunk of the wildly talented Nicole Atkins’ opening set. Gracing the stage with strong vibes that leaned from classic Loretta Lynn to more contemporary Kacey Musgraves, Atkins set flowed nicely performing as a skillful, musical power trio. Atkins acclaims local pioneers Uncle Tupelo as one of her many inspirations. And she stirred the crowd to it’s feet with an incredible rendition of “Cryin’” by Roy Orbison.
After Atkins’ well received set, the stage changeover was brief, and at 8:18PM, the house lights went dark. The PA loudly warmed up the crowd with Tom Petty’s “Runnin’ Down A Dream”. Then, Enterprise Center quickly erupted into a sea of sentimentality and loud cheers for one of rock music’s most beloved queens. The Gypsy herself, Stevie Nicks.
The night was off and running with her hit “Outside The Rain” and lost zero momentum launching directly into Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams”. The set list for the night flowed well and had a noticeable balance weaving her Fleetwood Mac hits, solo career, her cover of Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth”, and a fun story about what came to be her duet with Tom Petty on fan favorite, “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around”.
And therein lies a giant part of the evening’s magic. The stories that came not just from Stevie’s past but from her heart. When you hear a legend talk about the meanings behind the songs, you’re getting rock music history. But you quickly also realize she is talking about her friends. The emotion in Stevie’s voice was apparent telling tales from her years in the business. One such story came from her years on The Sunset Strip, and her good friend Stephen Stills explanation of the meaning behind “For What It’s Worth”, surprisingly not being about politics at all.
Emotions ran even more high during the encore. The audience was treated to a collage of classic photos of Stevie and Tom Petty as the band returned to play a heartfelt rendition of “Free Fallin'”. The crowd swayed for the entire song, pining for a legendary songwriter gone too soon, and we sang every word to the top of our lungs. Stevie then belted out the classic hit “Rhiannon” immediately after. Finally, as expected, emotions hit their peak during a very stirring performance of the final number of the night, “Landslide”. Christine McVie was memorialized on the screen behind Nicks and her band, seemingly demonstrating how small she is when compared to Christine and the gifts she gave to the world.
Nicks closed the evening by telling the crowd that when she could find a song to end the night with that could surpass how full her heart felt by ending with “Landslide”, she would. But it hasn’t happened yet. Fans exited Enterprise beyond satisfied with the show, and hearts were full from the legend and her performance. (Set List Below)
Stevie Nicks Setlist:
Outside The Rain
Dreams (Fleetwood Mac)
If Anyone Falls
Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around
For What It’s Worth (Buffalo Springfield cover)
Gypsy (Fleetwood Mac)
Wild Heart
Bella Donna
Stand Back
Soldier’s Angel
Gold Dust Woman (Fleetwood Mac)
Leather And Lace
Edge Of Seventeen
Encore:
Free Fallin’ (Tom Petty cover)
Rhiannon (Fleetwood Mac)
Landslide (Fleetwood Mac)
Stevie Nicks Grasps St. Louis’ Enterprise Center With Enchanting Performance (SHOW REVIEW)
“I have my own life, and I am stronger than you know.”
Those are lyrics from “Leather and Lace,” a song from Stevie Nicks’ solo debut in 1981, which she performed near the end of her show at Enterprise Center in St. Louis on May 7th.
There was no Don Henley to sing with Nicks, but in his place was her vocal coach Steve Real, who, let’s face it, sounded equally impressive. The touching ballad will never get old, no matter who is singing the lines “sometimes I’m a strong man, sometimes cold and scared, and sometimes I cry.” We’re all just here along for the ride.
And Stevie Nicks can still navigate a rollercoaster.
Her entire catalog was on display — solo, and her work with Fleetwood Mac — including a beautiful performance of “Bella Donna,” complete with Nicks’ twirling in her blue shawl, which she remarked after the song was still in “perfect condition.” Later, during “Stand Back,” a more ragged black shawl appeared, to which Nicks explained was fine, too.
Her reasoning made perfect sense throughout the night, that struggles and success go hand in hand.
Before breaking into “Gypsy,” Nicks explained that at some point she questioned if the riches she had found with Fleetwood Mac’s stardom had eclipsed her true gypsy heart. But, no, she learned — it remained.
“When I got rich, I started to miss the old days,” she explained. “And so I wrote this song to try to remember what it was like to be poor.”
To the gypsy that remains
Faces freedom with a little fear
I have no fear and have only love
No fear, only love.
And there’s still a lot of love left for Nicks to give.
Her performance of “Soldier’s Angel” was dedicated to the people of Ukraine, and ended with the screen behind her flashing the bright and beautiful colors of the Ukraine flag. Earlier in the show, Nicks performed “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,” with guitarist Waddy Wachtel, who was amazing all evening on songs like “Rhiannon” and “Edge of Seventeen,” taking on Tom Petty’s vocals. You got the feeling that the late Petty was on Nicks’ mind throughout the evening, giving him an additional nod in the encore with a surprise “Free Fallin’.”
And then there was Christine McVie.
I just got goose bumps typing her name.
The last time I saw Nicks perform in this building with Fleetwood Mac nine years ago, McVie was by her side, as vibrant as ever. And while we lost McVie in late 2022, her spirit remains close, especially with Nicks.
“My mom once told me, when you get hurt, run to the stage,” Nicks explained before the show-closing “Landslide,” dedicated to McVie.”And I’ve been running to the stage my whole life. Every day it gets a little better.”
“Landslide” is a song about the seasons of life, how they change, and how we all must deal with living with those changes as we grow old. Unlike “Gypsy,” fear and love live together in this song, but its message is similar: time makes you bolder, wiser, and you must live with the decisions only you can make.
And as we headed toward the exits and into the great wide open, we were met with McVie’s “Got a Hold On Me” blasting throughout the arena, leaving many singing and smiling after the heavy weight of “Landslide.” And that decision, like Christine, was ultimately perfect.
Rock royalty Stevie Nicks turned a sold-out Bridgestone Arena into The Bluebird Café Tuesday night as she filled the two-hour set with her massive catalog of hit songs — and shared the stories behind them.
Clad in a black skirt and black velvet jacket, topped with her signature long, blonde curls, Nicks, who told the crowd she turns 76 this month, still sounded vocally at the top of her game. She kept the show simple with minimal video effects and no flashy stage shows. After all, with a voice like that and the breadth of songs in her repertoire, there's no need for pomp and circumstance.
Nicks kicked off the night with a cover of Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll" before telling the packed arena how excited she was to be back in Nashville because it holds a special place in her story.
"I'm very glad to be here because I always tell you this, but my granddad was a kind of a bittersweet, bitter country singer and writer that traveled across the United States on trains. He rode the rails, did the whole thing, left his family. And I never really met him. However, he brought me a whole truckload full of 45s which were pretty much solid country with a little bit of Everly Brothers and a little bit of Buddy Holly. I was in the fourth grade and that sent me off to this whole thing. Whenever I'm here, I always think of my sweet little grandfather."
Nicks rolled through songs from her solo records dating back to her 1981 solo debut "Bella Donna" which spawned hits such as "Edge of Seventeen," "Leather and Lace" and "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," the latter of which came with the story of the night.
Nicks told the crowd how the Tom Petty duet ended up being her first single off the record, thanks to producer and then boyfriend Jimmy Iovine.
"After we had finished the record, Jimmy says to me, 'the problem is, we don't have a single,'" Nicks said. "Now you being a bunch of Nashville people will understand this better than maybe anybody across the country. That's the worst possible thing somebody could say to you."
Iovine, who was also recording Tom Petty at the time, said Petty offered to give the song to Nicks if she wanted it and he added, "I'll sing it with her if she wants."
"So I went in the next day. I think it really was the next day. I'd never heard this song, so we sat in the studio and listened to it a couple times. And we go out there to record it and it was so easy. It was like he and I had been singing together forever and the saddest thing was that we did it like three times and then it was done, and then I had to leave and didn't get to spend the rest of the evening hanging out with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers."
Other great storytelling moments from the show included a call for everyone to vote in the 2024 election, her passion and support for the war in Ukraine, her meeting the members of Fleetwood Mac for the first time, her shoutout to Lady A's Hillary Scott and her time volunteering for Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where the singer spent 12-hour days over a span of several years sitting with patients, giving them music.
"The reason I'm telling you about it is my finest hour," she said from the stage. "A lot of people had no idea who I was because I was so much older than them. But I, I had a, a ploy. I took my entire music collection and put it on iPods. 937 songs. Some people would say 'who are you?' and I'd say 'it doesn't matter who I am but I have an iPod with 937 songs on it and it's going to help you with your rehabilitation. And you're going to love it and you're going to remember me because of this."
She sang "Soldier's Angels," a song she wrote during the early 2000s as a tribute to those she met during those years of hospital visits, but noted the song is also a fitting tribute to the war in Ukraine.
She shared the story of how "Leather and Lace," which she recorded as a duet with Don Henley, she originally wrote for Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter. But the song is about couples staying together, so when she learned Jennings and Colter were divorcing, took the song back and recorded it herself. Nicks brought her vocal coach, Steve Real, who she credits for keeping her signature vocal tone in such good shape, to the stage to sing Henley's part in the duet.
But the sweetest moment of the night came during the very last song of the night when she and long-time guitar player Waddy Wachtel performed an acoustic version of "Landslide" while the video screens flashed through photos of Nicks' former bandmate and lifelong friend Christine McVie, who died in 2022.
After the two slayed a beautifully simple version of the song, Nicks told the crowd life without her friend has been empty and weird.
"As my mom used to say, 'Stevie, when you're hurt, you will always run to the stage.' And so I have been running since then to the stage almost every night, it seems. And you, just you, make me better every single night. And nobody else has been able to really help me. So I thank you so much for being that spirit for me. Thank you so much."
THE SETLIST:
"Rock and Roll" (Led Zeppelin)
"Outside the Rain"
"Dreams" (Fleetwood Mac)
"If Anyone Falls"
"Stop Draggin' My Heart Around"
"For What It's Worth" (Buffalo Springfield/written by Stephen Stills)
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