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Old 03-22-2017, 02:47 PM
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Stevie Nicks Works Her Magic On Amway Center Crowd


Stevie Nicks is no stranger to the Amway Center. Her appearance last night at Orlando’s premiere concert arena was her third in the past five years (she was here as a solo artist with Rod Stewart on their Heart & Soul tour in 2012 and back again as a member of Fleetwood Mac in 2015). And it’s safe to say, third time is a charm for Stevie. With her 24 Karat Gold tour, and at 68-years-old (an age she readily offers up from the stage), Nicks is performing at the top of her game.

Nicks equated her show to sitting around with friends in a very, very large living room, singing some of her favorite songs and providing the backstory for many of them. And that is exactly how the show, which opened with the lesser known “Gold and Braid,” feels.

Next up was her hit “If Anyone Falls.” Accompanied by scenes from the song’s original video, it looked (the multimedia effects used in the show were gorgeous) and sounded amazing. Nicks, who may have had some vocals rearranged these days to cut down on the use of the upper range (although that was never really her forte to begin with) has never sounded better.

The show was replete with fun trivia, probably already known to the most rabid of fans, but new to the casual Nicks admirer. For instance, she was once romantically involved with record producer Jimmy Iovine, who happened to be her gateway to one of the musicians who play prominently in her evenings’ stories, Tom Petty.

Having readied her first solo album, Bella Donna, she was still without a certified hit single for the album. An eventual meeting with Petty produced their smash duet, “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,” and sent the debut album on its way. While much of the Petty part was performed by legendary guitarist Waddy Wachtel, Nicks brought Chrissy Hynde (who had opened the night with The Pretenders) on stage to sing along with her.

Those waiting for her signature twirl didn’t have long to wait. It first appeared at the end of the Nicks penned Fleetwood Mac tune “Gypsy,” but only as a teaser of sorts. The big twirls would be coming later.

One of the stories, the story of how the cape worn on the Bella Donna album cover was acquired, was accompanied by the real deal cape, an item that she purchased for $2000 in 1981. And to this day, much like Nicks herself, the cape shows little signs of age.

Of all the stories told during the evening, one of the most moving was how her song “New Orleans,” from In Your Dreams, was inspired by news footage of a hurricane bearing down on the titular city in 2005. “Time passes and people forget,” she said when introducing the song. “If you write it down, they don’t.” The song, she said, was a picture of how she always wanted to see the city, no matter what the destruction of Hurricane Katrina may have brought to the city.

Decked out in a fur coat reminiscent of a Cruella de Vil wrap, Nicks performed “Moonlight (A Vampire’s Dream),” revealing that the song itself was the impetus for the In Your Dreams album. She also shared that the song was solely influenced by the Twilight saga. “I don’t usually write songs about romantic, dumb movies, but this story really inspired me,” she told the audience after the song’s conclusion.

Those who had been waiting for full-on twirl got it big during the performance of her smash hit “Stand Back,” but the true treat was the revelation of that song’s beginnings. Seems it was a song she came up with as a companion of sorts to the Prince hit “Little Red Corvette.” Not wanting to do anything with it without gaining the purple one’s permission, Nicks tracked him down, received his blessing, and even had him help out on the recording of the song that she claims can be played right along with the Prince tune and it will fit like a glove (still yet to try it).

Perhaps the most vivid story of the night was told before her final encore number. When her first musical partnership with Lindsey Buckingham, Buckingham Nicks, was dropped from Polydor Records, money became tight and beau Buckingham took up a gig filling in for one of the Everly Brothers. They relocated to Aspen, where Nicks and a girlfriend stayed while Buckingham was on the road. An invitation to dinner one night with some wealthy Aspen residents found Nicks in their gorgeous mountain home before heading out to eat. Stunned by the view, Nicks, who had brought her guitar along, begged off dinner and asked to stay in the house with the incredible view for a couple of hours to write a song. That song would not only question the future of her relationship with Buckingham but also reflect on the beauty of her Rocky Mountain surroundings. And the song? The amazing “Landslide,” which Nicks slayed as the concert’s closer.

Whether we will see Nicks returning to the Amway Center anytime soon is hard to tell, but if this does happen to be her last appearance at the venue, it was one amazing night, worthy of the 24 Karat Gold monogram



http://1059sunnyfm.cbslocal.com/2017...-center-crowd/
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