The Soundtrack to My Life

A Charmed Hour and a Haunted Song: Stevie Nicks in Concert

Rock-Goddess Stevie Nicks enthralled a nearly sold-out crowd in Reading last week, on a short tour to promote an up-coming Soundstage DVD-CD set. Nicks brought the crowd on their feet upon entering from center stage to sing her synthesizer-driven smash “Stand Back.” She graced the stage in her signature black chiffon dress, black suede boots, and silky long blonde hair. Her powerful presence on stage, coupled with her ten-piece band, quickly brought the energy level high throughout the arena. Nicks topped off her elation by kicking one suede boot high in the air, which was welcomed with deafening applause from her fans.

 

Nicks was extremely chatty between songs, taking a minute or two to explain the inspiration behind many classics such as “Dreams” and her newly released, but decades penned “Sorcerer.” Her candidness shone through in her storytelling, oftentimes interacting with her band and cackling along with the audience during her humorous revelations.

 

Nicks whirled through her thirteen-song set list, singing hits from both her solo career and from her band Fleetwood Mac, captivating her audience as her voice and stories came alive with the music. “If Anyone Falls In Love,” a single from 1983, was re-worked for the stage, with impressive harmonies from Nicks’ three back-up singers, Sharon Celani, Lori Nicks, and Jana Anderson.

 

Nicks wrote the song “Landslide” in 1974; only months before Mick Fleetwood came knocking on her and then boyfriend, Lindsey Buckingham’s door. Her latest version was dedicated to her late father, a man she looked up to immensely. Although it did not carry the same sentiment as it did during Fleetwood Mac’s The Dance, it still proved to be just as powerful, with the backdrop becoming a montage of photographs of Nicks as a child, through her career, and ending with a close-up picture of her and her father, taken only weeks before he passed away.

 

Nicks voice was in top form, clearly shining through in songs such as “How Still My Love,” from her 1981 debut solo album Bella Donna.  Ricky Peterson’s soulful organ led Nicks on a romantic journey through time, teasing her listeners by only giving us a glimpse of her rich vibrato, all the while reminding us that we “won’t forget [her].” She swayed back and forth with her adorned microphone, slow-dancing with the black beads and lace, backing up, lifting her arms and finally letting her voice rip, holding on with an impressive high note, just long enough for her listeners to cheer and crave for more. Turning around, she stripped off her sparkling shawl and slowly spun it over her head, twirling and spinning, until she slowly disappeared behind the stage.

 

Drummer Jimmy Paxson and percussionist Lenny Castro gave an astounding introduction to Nicks’s most known song, “Edge of Seventeen.” Lead guitarist and musical director Waddy Wachtel strode on stage and delivered one of the most powerful guitar licks from the 1980’s, summoning Nicks, now in a white chiffon dress and black cape, to administer her best vocal of the night. The combination of Wachtel’s guitar, Nicks’s flawless yet powerful voice, and the ladies harmony, brought in the spirit of the “white winged dove.” After all, “with the words from a poet / and a voice from choir / and a melody / nothing else mattered,” and on this night, the dove of peace brought the crowd on their feet, feeding off the potent energy on stage.

 

A stand-out choice was the song “Gold Dust Woman,” from Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 album Rumours, the backdrop sprinkled pieces of gold dust upon Nicks, casting a spell, invoking a spirit, turning Nicks into the “pale shadow of a woman.” At the height of the incantation she slowly spun with her arms extended, her golden shawl sparkling in the amber light, her blonde hair sashaying, frozen in time as the “ancient queen” that she will forever remain.

 

Stay tuned next week for my “behind the scenes” backstage account on meeting Stevie Nicks.