Stevie Nicks 35 Years After Her Last European Tour - Manchester Review

Photo Kenny Brown

Stevie Nicks takes a spellbinding journey through her solo and Fleetwood Mac years during an enchanting Manchester show

by Connor Gotto

Retropopmagazine

As Stevie Nicks arrived on stage at Manchester’s Co-op Live on Tuesday (July 16) to her 1981 ‘Bella Donna’ track Outside The Rain, she cast a spell over the packed crowd as she launched into a two-hour set of solo and Fleetwood Mac classics.

A week after her planned appearance was postponed due to an injury, it didn’t hurt the turnout for the concert, which saw the 23,000-capacity venue filled with adoring fans of all ages – some who’ve been there from the start, many of whose parents weren’t even born when she joined the legendary group in 1975.

Segueing into Dreams – the only Fleetwood Mac song to top the US Billboard Hot 100, written solely by Nicks, for the classic ‘Rumours’ (1975) – it provided the first of many singalong moments in a show that, in the artist’s words, celebrated her “halcyon days” with a focus on her first two records.

Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around – her first solo single outside of the band – saw guitarist Waddy Wachtel step up for Tom Petty’s parts, after Nicks introduced the track by detailing its origins and crediting her producer and ex-boyfriend Jimmy Iovine for making it happen, during one of several anecdotes throughout the evening.

Radiating warmth and laced with humour, there’s an innate charm to her storytelling that had the crowd hanging on her every word, whether introducing her quasi-political cover of Buffalo Springfield’s For What It’s Worth, or recounting her early years with Lindsey Buckingham in San Francisco ahead of the Mac’s Gypsy.

Having pointed out her tendency to ramble and the venue’s “strict curfew”, a sizzling Stand Back brought the crowd to its feet and Nicks – adorning the original ’80s black and gold cape – barely let up, with a non-stop run of anthems: a tribute to Petty with his own Free Fallin’ led into an enigmatic Gold Dust Woman (another shawl moment) and the Don Henley duet Leather And Lace, with Steve Real.

It was the iconic opening bars of Edge Of Seventeen that garnered the biggest reaction of the night so far, with longtime backing singers Sharon Celani and Marilyn Martin (yes, the same Marilyn Martin that sang with Phil Collins on Separate Lives) showcasing the flawless blend that’s become integral to Nicks’ live shows over the years.

Returning for a two-song encore, it was Fleetwood Mac classics Rhiannon and Landslide – both lifted from the group’s 1975 self-titled album – that closed the show, the latter featuring a poignant tribute to her bandmate Christine McVie, with a images of the pair through the years flashing across the screens.

Thirty-five years since her last European tour, on the back of her 1989 album ‘The Other Side Of The Mirror’, Nicks’ return to the UK stage is long overdue, but having filled the country’s largest arena – days after drawing 60,000 fans to London’s Hyde Park – there’s plenty of demand for one of music’s all-time legends over here.

Happily, a return looks to be on the cards with Nicks sharing her love of England – “[I’m] probably going to live in Harrods… in the jewellery department!” – and teasing: “We like it here. We just might stay.”

Setlist: Stevie Nicks, Co-op Live, Manchester

1. Outside The Rain

2. Dreams

3. If Anyone Falls

4. Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around

5. Gypsy

6. For What It’s Worth

7. Free Fallin’

8. Wild Heart / Bella Donna

9. Stand Back

10. Gold Dust Woman

11. Leather And Lace

12. Edge Of Seventeen

Encore

13. Rhiannon

14. Landslide

GOLD DUST WOMAN

Review - Stevie Nicks really is here!! Hyde Park

Stevie Nicks - British Summertime, Hyde Park 2024

Review and Photos Dawn Osborne

Totalrock.com

(more photos and full day review at link above)

When Stevie Nicks postponed her Glasgow gig everyone with a ticket to see her at British Summertime held their breath, would their dreams be shattered of seeing the legend at Hyde Park. When she postponed Manchester we tried to ignore an impending sense of doom that it was not to be. She issued a press release saying London was definitely going ahead, but still, would she have recovered enough from her recent leg operation to make it? When no cancellation notice arrived by the morning of the event we began to breath easier. On arrival at the event, there are no white notices at the entrance with a stinging message that unfortunately Ms Nicks could not make it, and we could begin to dare to have confidence she was coming. But not until she actually stepped on the stage did people believe their eyes, pinching themselves that this was actually happening.

And the moment has arrived, and the crowd roars, as Stevie Nicks really is here!! She comes on looking fantastic, still beautiful at 76, elegantly dressed in a kind of Victorian mourning outfit emphasizing her still trim figure and sounding better than the Fleetwood Mac records in person. It's like suddenly cleaning a window to hear her live, compared with the dated production of many of her famous records and iconic track 'Dreams' made a very early appearance making everyone's day. She looks happy and well and although still limping a little (although I wonder if I didn't know about her leg operation would I have picked that up). She danced a little for the crowd who gave a huge roar every time she did. Encouraged by others she has brought along the genuine shawls and cloaks from the original Fleetwood Mac records such as 'Bella Donna' and 'Gold Dust Woman' adding to the sense of awe and historical importance when performing these tracks. The sight of her lifting up the black and golden shawl like a butterfly against the dots moving across the stage like the effect of a giant golden glitter ball was the most stunning visual of the day.

She was engaging and chatty telling stories between songs, for example, how she looks back on the days when she was young fondly: constantly touring and with no money, she now calls them the 'halcyon days'. Explaining that when she was young she had been too busy getting fittings, having her hair done, writing poems and doing everything necessary for her music career to ever vote. She implores the crowd not to be like her, but make sure they turn out for a general election.

Her musings turned to those she cared for who had a connection to Hyde Park where she had last seen Tom Petty before he died. She explained that she could feel his presence as she covered one of his best known tracks 'Free Fallin' to a backdrop of huge photos of him on screen. Later she reminds everyone that the actual date of this show is the dearly departed Christine McVie's birthday. She explains that her mother always said that Stevie went on stage when she was hurt to heal, and how her audiences have helped her get over the loss of people she loves.

'Rhiannon' was the first track of the encore and as if that wasn't enough, Harry Styles suddenly arrived to duet on 'Stop Dragging My Heart Around' and 'Landslide'. I didn't tell everyone screaming around me that I was much more excited by Stevie and I couldn't sing a Harry Styles song to save my life, but it added to the special feeling of the occasion to have some more celebrity stardust added. As special as I thought this would be the reality surpassed my expectations by a mile. When you see a legend in concert nothing compares to it as an experience when you are in the moment and actually there. She really came.. and played .. and sang .. and danced. and everything!! (Instant fan girl!) Along with the rest of the crowd I am still pinching myself now and will never forget today!

Review Stevie Nicks Live in Manchester July 10, 2024

Review: Stevie Nicks at Co-op Live, Wednesday 10 July

by HARLEY YOUNG 

Confidentials.com

Photo Nick Flynn

Harley Young is honoured to share a room with the coolest lady on the planet

LET’s face it. When you think of the most beautiful, enchanting, ethereal yet incredibly badass woman in music, your mind instantly goes to The Reigning Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll herself Stevie Nicks.

At 76 years young, the boho beauty is still taking to the stage to grace us all with her unmistakably iconic look and sound and, on Tuesday night at Co-op Live, she did just that to an arena full of adoring fans, blubbing (me included) as she waltzed out onto the stage in her signature garb. 

Her unruly trademark curls flowed freely as she greeted the audience to Tom Petty’s Runnin' Down a Dream before charging right on with Outside The Rain from 1981 solo album Bella Donna. 

Despite having pushed back the gig a week due to minor surgery, Stevie showed no signs of slowing down and put her all into her performance from the off, thanking the crowd for taking time out of their week to come and see her before getting everyone up on their feet with Fleetwood Mac favourite Dreams. 

Stevie then told the audience that, after the show, they could find her in Harrods. “It’s not even in this town, but you can visit me here because I’ll be in the jewellery department,” she joked, adding “Anyway, jewels allowed, I’m so glad to be here. I’m so glad you’re here. So let's get this fabulous party started.”

Party in full swing, Stevie took the packed-out arena on a journey through her discography, both with Fleetwood Mac (Gypsy) and Tom Petty (Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around) and her solo career (Stand Back). 

Between every couple of songs the Arizona-born legend shared tales of how her legacy came to be, including how she was working as a cleaning lady when she and Lindsey Buckingham were discovered by Mick Fleetwood. She’d scamper off every now and then and reappear with a different cape, each more magical than the next - most of which were originals worn by her in music videos.

“We bought and listened to all of their records. Lindsey said they sounded ‘too jazzy’ and he didn’t want to be a jazz guitarist. So, I told him I didn’t want to be a cleaning lady.” 

Both comical and endearing, Nicks has a way of telling stories that make you feel like you’re the only person in the room listening to them. The way she speaks of her past is so sincere and it makes you feel like you’re best friends sharing a secret. We’ve all read the tabloids, but hearing it straight from the lady herself is truly special. 

After covering Tom Petty’s Free Fallin’, Nicks performed a powerful rendition of Gold Dust Woman with help from musician and record producer Waddy Wachtel on guitar. She then brought out her long-time vocal coach, Steve Real, to perform a heartwarming duet of Leather & Lace, a track she originally performed with Don Henley on the Bella Donna album.

Then came the moment we’d all dreamed of; Wachtel and the band erupted into life, performing the most highly anticipated instrumental of the night. The crowd were on tenterhooks as they waited with bated breath, eyes fixed on the door waiting for Stevie to reappear. 

Seconds felt like years until finally Nicks strutted back out onto stage to a roaring applause before serenading us like a white winged dove with Edge of Seventeen.

The lights went down and the crowd begged and pleaded, chanting in unison for “one more song”. Much to our delight, Stevie and the crew came back and graced us with not one but two more Fleetwood favourites; the wonderfully entrancing Rhiannon followed by closing song Landslide, accompanied by photos of keyboardist, vocalist, and Nicks’ dear friend, the late Christine McVie. 

Stevie Nicks delivered a dazzling 15-track set to 60,000 adoring fans

Live Review: Stevie Nicks // Hyde Park, London 12.07.24

By Rosie Brennan

Indiependent.co.uk

12 July 2024 saw the legendary Stevie Nicks headline in London’s Hyde Park to deliver a dazzling 15-track set to 60,000 adoring fans. The 76-year-old Fleetwood Mac singer took to the stage following an incredible number of support artists, including Baby Queen and Paris Paloma.

Many fans were gutted to hear of Nicks cancelling her Glasgow and Manchester dates the previous week due to a leg injury, with some travelling hours to see the iconic rockstar before suddenly hearing the devastating news. Thankfully, after rescheduling these dates and taking time to recover, she came back stronger than ever to perform at Hyde Park. This is the same iconic venue she was last seen performing at with her mentor Tom Petty in 2017, just months following his tragic passing. With so much occurring behind the scenes, it was clear from the get-go that Friday would be an extremely emotional evening. 

Even initially seeing Nicks appear on stage, with the same mythical charisma she has always possessed, felt like an ethereal experience. She still managed to maintain her iconic 70s witchy style and aura decades later. Her signature low rumbling rasp allowed for some interesting key adaptions on many of her hits, but her voice was still just as astounding as always. A few incredibly healthy-sounding vocals hit the audience all the way to the back of the park. 

Many solo and, of course, Fleetwood Mac hits were included in this set, starting off with classics like ‘Dreams’, ‘Bella Donna’ and the bouncy fantastical ‘Gypsy’. An audience favourite was the live rendition of the shimmering Fleetwood track ‘Gold Dust Woman’, dressed up by the stunning gold glistening motion graphics pulsating around the screens on stage. 

One of the most wonderful parts about the gig was the amount of time Nicks spent monologuing stories between songs, almost like an eccentric aunt at the family party you never want to stop hearing anecdotes from. Most of these endearingly long speeches came before subtle yet impactful costume changes, as Nicks transformed between a variety of her iconic vintage shawls. 

Nicks’ beautiful rambles varied from jokes and digs about her long-time complex relationship with fellow Fleetwood star Lindsey Buckingham, to the importance of political awareness in modern times (“Doesn’t matter who for…just vote” she said, following the recent UK General Election). She also included heart-wrenching tales remembering her late Fleetwood Mac bandmate Christine McVie, who passed suddenly in 2022. The electric atmosphere of Nicks’ classics tugged thousands more heartstrings when she announced that it would have been Christine’s 81st birthday. 

Nicks’ vocal coach, Steve Real, appeared as a special guest, joining her on stage for ‘Leather and Lace’. The guest stars did not end here, however. The big reveal (and possibly the loudest scream I have ever let out in my entire life) came as Nicks’ friend and fellow star Harry Styles subtly appeared to perform a duet of ‘Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around’ in a beautiful tribute to Tom Petty. Styles stayed for a performance of ‘Landslide’ (a song the pair performed together back at the very start of his solo career in 2017, which ended in a flood of tears for Fleetwood Mac fan, Styles). Perhaps ‘Landslide’ is one of the most beautifully written songs of all time, but the added ode to Christine left not one single dry eye in the house. 

It would not be a Nicks review without mentioning her biggest hit ‘Edge of Seventeen’. The chart-topping classic was stretched out by the impressive live instrumental keys, as well as the amazingly iconic beginning riff lasting around two minutes. 

Stevie Nicks provided a night to remember. The tributes to her late loved ones were done in such a beautifully tasteful manner, whilst still managing to get the entire audience to twirl and frolic like it’s 1979. A bewitching, euphoric, and incredibly emotional evening was provided by one of rock’s finest. In the words of the legend herself, “You have made me better”. 

Review Stevie Nicks Live in Manchester - more than worth the wait.

Stevie Nicks' Co-op Live - icon treats Manchester to Fleetwood Mac hits

Stevie Nicks performed at Manchester's Co-op Live Tuesday July 16, 2024

By Craig Jones

Manchester Evening News

Photo Kenny Brown

Manchester enjoyed a wonderful evening when music royalty Stevie Nicks paid a visit to the city’s Co-op Live - even if it was a little later than expected.

Fleetwood Mac icon, Nicks, 76, had been due to perform in the city earlier this month before suffering an injury. Quickly rescheduled to Tuesday evening, the speedy turnaround didn’t prove to be a problem for her devotees with the venue packed out.

There was no mention of the postponement from Nicks but she did speak at length about her love of England with American Nicks joking she’d be keen to call it home. She said: “We like it here. We just might stay. You are probably asking yourselves ‘where is she going to live? She’s probably going to live in Harrods?’.

“Oh, that’s not even here in this town but you can visit me there. As I’ll probably just be in the jewellery department.”

Opening with Outside The Rain, howls followed when the easily-recognisable intro to Fleetwood Mac’s Dreams came second in the set. Nicks, dressed in her signature cape, wavy skirt and tassels, tenderly exuded those unforgettable lyrics. Having many thousand Mancunians as backing singers. After, there were numerous cries of ‘we love you, Stevie’.

The setlist consisted of Mac hits accompanied by songs from the Nicks solo back catalogue. The music pioneer also regularly engaged with her audience giving details about how some of the tracks came to be.

Touching on the unmatched if complicated (well, very complicated) dynamic between herself, Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood, et al the masses discovered how Gypsy was created. The number soon followed and proved to be one of the evening’s highlights.

The Mac anecdotes were delivered with warmth and an understanding of how important those people and that band have been in Nicks’ life. On Tuesday, there were also dedications to the star’s contemporaries as many greats flashed on the big screens with Tom Petty getting his own moment when Nicks gave a rendition of Free Fallin’. Nicks spoke with much humility when discussing her influences.

The cape changes were plentiful with Bella Donna and Stand Back originals being presented on stage. The attire of many in attendance was clearly inspired by the landmark musical artist.

A mesmeric performance of Edge of Seventeen, featuring emphatic guitar work from Waddy Wachtel, concluded the main set. Stills of Prince flashed up before the humble Nicks thanked the Co-op crowd for their support.

A two-song encore came in the shape of Fleetwood Mac classics Rhiannon and Landslide. At the weekend, in London, the latter saw Harry Styles join Nicks on stage. In Manchester, it was Nicks and her stripped back band who brought the curtain down with the deeply impassioned song - dedicated to Mac bandmate Christine McVie who sadly died in 2022.

There were some tears and much adulation as Nicks took her bow. One thing is for certain, Stevie Nicks’ appearance in Manchester was more than worth the wait.

Setlist

• Outside the Rain
• Dreams
• If Anyone Falls
• Stop Draggin' My Heart Around
• Gypsy
• For What It's Worth
• Free Fallin'
• Bella Donna
• Stand Back
• Gold Dust Woman
• Leather and Lace
• Edge of Seventeen

Encore

• Rhiannon
• Landslide

(Soldiers Angel, dropped from this show)

Outside The Rain / Dreams 

Gold Dust Woman

Stand Back (different opening)

If Anyone Falls In Love

Review Stevie Nicks London, Hyde Park "On stage, Nicks is a consummate entertainer"

Stevie Nicks at BST Hyde Park review: Harry Styles cameo jars in resonant star’s tremendous, throwback-heavy show

The charismatic Nicks is a consummate entertainer, which is why it’s a shame to see her ceding the spotlight to a 30-year-old boyband star

★★★★☆

by Louis Chilton

Independent

Photo Lorne Thomson

There’s no escaping Fleetwood Mac. The final iteration of the seminal band may have disbanded two years ago following the death of Christine McVie, but their music still reverberates around our culture, as if held by some humongous sustain pedal that nobody dares lift.

And yet, if you bought tickets to see Stevie Nicks at London’s Hyde Park expecting some kind of dewy tribute to a bygone pop group, you will have been sorely mistaken. From the moment Tom Petty’s “Runnin’ Down a Dream” pumps out over the speaker, and Nicks walks out – dressed in black, with fingerless gloves and hair that could reasonably be described as Rapunzelesque – it’s obvious you are watching a performer with tremendous resonance in her own right.

On stage, Nicks is a consummate entertainer, a woman whose charisma and husky-voiced gravitas has only ossified with the decades. As she speaks about the wonder of performing at Hyde Park, it has the slight ring of schmoozing, the sense that we are being honeyed with rote (albeit deft) flattery. When she begins talking about playing on this same stage with Petty in 2017, however, this notion dissolves immediately. “I feel his presence and I’m happy he’s here,” she says, with an earnestness that melts your heart, before launching into a vibrant cover of “Free Fallin’” that has most of the crowd crooning along, arms aloft.

The biggest bangers here are, inevitably, the smattering of hits released during Fleetwood Mac’s 13-year peak, including “Gypsy”, “Gold Dust Woman”, and, later in the set, “Rhiannon”. The decision to medley opener “Outside the Rain”, from Nicks’s 1981 solo debut Bella Donna, with Fleetwood Mac’s diamond-tight bop “Dreams”, calls regrettable attention to just how musically similar the two tracks are.

In restricting the setlist’s Fleetwood Mac covers to her own compositions (something she has always done at solo shows), Nicks omits some of the band’s best-loved tracks: there is no “The Chain”, no “Go Your Own Way”. What that does mean is more space for solo cuts, and a couple of savvy covers. Introducing a politically charged version of Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth”, Nicks urges fans to exercise their right to vote, admitting she had not done so herself until she was 70. (“Don’t be me!”)

At 76 years old, Nicks has lost some of the range and diction in her voice, though she has smartly learnt to compensate – shifting down the more quixotic high notes and making the most of the ardent middle register. She’s also girded by a first-rate backing band. For “Leather and Lace”, originally a duet with Don Henley, Nicks shares the stage with her longtime vocal coach Steve Real – the man, she says, responsible for keeping her voice in gig-ready nick well into her eighth decade.

It’s a touching moment, in a set that’s full of them. After a riffy, minutes-long instrumental intro, the band eventually cannons into “Edge of Seventeen”, Nicks’s biggest hit as a solo artist. This too is a song about grief – but the pulsing, electric melodies make it less a eulogy than a defiant celebration.

For a legacy act like this, the audience here is surprisingly young – eyeballing it, I reckon at least a decade or two younger on average than the crowd at Bruce Springsteen’s sensational 2023 Hyde Park set. On one level, it’s a testament to the 2010s Fleetwood Mac resurgence, the shift when Rumours started becoming a cool album again, after years in the “oldies” ghetto.

But more than this, it speaks to Nicks’s towering place in the industry, her role as an inspiration for younger musicians and music fans alike. Performing on stage early in the afternoon as a supporting act, country singer Brandi Carlile said that neither she, nor any of the female acts on the bill, would likely be performing music were it not for Nicks’s influence. This sentiment is palpable, through the crowd and throughout the night.

As a final showstopper, Nicks brings out Harry Styles for encore renditions of “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” and “Landslide” – the latter in tribute to McVie, on what would have been her 81st birthday. The younger members of the crowd go wild. There’s something jarring about Nicks ceding the spotlight to a 30-year-old boyband star, and he seems almost loath to steal the headlines, fanning his hands down into a performative show of worship.

But at the same time, it makes perfect sense. For all the throwbacks, the reminiscences, the sense of culmination, this doesn’t feel like an ending. Pop music will, one day, have to go on without Stevie Nicks. But for now, she gets to live in the future her music built.