Stevie Nicks gives a chatty, career-defining set during Family Arena concert
It wasn't “Stevie Nicks’ Storytellers” Wednesday night at the Family Arena in St. Charles, thought it may as well have been.
The classic rock singer brought her “24 Karat Gold Tour” to town for a night of music and conversation, nearly equal parts both, during the two-hour concert opened by Vanessa Carlton.
Dressed naturally in her flowing all-black ensemble and bearing her tambourine draped with colorful scarfs, Nicks delivered a career-spanning set of songs, mixing obvious solo hits like “Edge of Seventeen” and “Stand Back” and Fleetwood Mac songs like “Gypsy” and “Landslide” with a few lost gems from her “gothic trunk of lost songs.”
There were also a couple of full homages to her old departed friend Prince.
Nicks came in great voice, her golden instrument seemingly unravaged by years of drug use she spoke on, and judging by the audience, her appeal looked as widespread as ever (her appearing on “American Horror Story” surely opened her up to new fans).
After early songs “Gold and Braid” and “If Anyone Fall,” she told fans this particular tour was her favorite of all because of the stories about the songs she’d deliver, and that’s where the show for some may have taken a detour.
Stories behind the songs can be a riveting thing when told compellingly. Nicks, while having led a most colorful career and life, maybe isn’t the best at talking about it. While she’s personable and natural on stage, her chats were often long-winded, and at times the songs’ intros and outros were as long as the songs themselves.
She said some fans were probably wondering “Is this Music 101? Did we actually walk into a college somewhere?” Seemingly, yes.
Even the band members came with their own stories, which late in the show before the glorious encore of “Rhiannon” and “Landslide” felt like too much.
“Aren’t you glad I don’t have a bigger band,” she said in another self-aware moment.
Her longest tale came just before the crowd-pleasing “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” and “Bella Fleur” (one of her songs from the vault from her “Bella Donna” sessions). She talked about the creation of the “Bella Donna” album and detailed her taking a break from Fleetwood Mac to record it, wanting to be one of Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers, meeting and moving in with producer Jimmy Iovine and initially lacking a single on the finished album. Much of that was recently covered to great acclaim in the Iovine/Dr. Dre documentary series “The Defiant Ones” on HBO.
Introducing the song “Wild Heart” from “The Wild Heart” album, she explained how its success was validating for her, proving her previous success from the “Bella Donna” album wasn’t a fluke. Her performance of “Bella Donna” followed, and as a special treat to fans, she wore the original blue cape from that era she said cost $2,000, much to her mother’s chagrin.
She updated the meaning behind the song “New Orleans,” a song she wrote in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Now, with all the hurricanes pummeling the U.S. and beyond recently, she says the song is about hurricanes in general. “This song will stand for all hurricanes.” She added “I’m not preaching, but please just send a little bit of money. We’re here and we’re not wet. We’re not getting blown off the stage.”
“Gypsy” came with her famous twirl, a signature move that helps complete any Nicks concert, and was as welcome as ever. “Starshine was another song from the vault. She said “Moonlight (A Vampire’s Dream”) inspired by the “Twilight” vampire series, reinvigorated her spirit for recording.
Her love for Prince was clear; she spoke at length about their friendship, their hours-long telephone conversations, his telling her to slow down on her drug use, and their initial meeting when he barely spoke to her. “He’s still protecting me,” she said before performing the still-electric blast of “Stand Back.”
She donned a gold shawl for “Gold Dust Woman,” as various images of Prince flashed on the screen behind her.
The near tour-de-force Nicks and her band gave showed that just like Fleetwood Mac, there’s no stopping her anytime soon.
“A Thousand Miles” singer Carlton’s set included songs from her latest album “Liberman” including “River” and “Blue Pool.” She said she album was inspired by the painting that served as the backdrop behind her of three women in various stages of undress.
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