Stevie Nicks mints golden performance at Royal Farms Arena
Stevie Nicks told the audience at Royal Farms Arena exactly what she was going to do on Sunday night.
“I hope your ready,” she said. “We’re going on a trip and a journey. Let’s go for a ride together.”
And for the next two-and-a-half-hours, Nicks turned back the clock and took the crowd on a voyage where she unveiled her music, which has transcended generations. Nicks looked refreshed as she performed during the final leg of her 24 Karat Gold Tour, which combines recently recorded, previously unreleased songs with the array of hits that have made the former Fleetwood Mac singer one of rock’s most iconic women.
She also mixed in songs from her first two solo albums – 1981’s Bella Donna and 1983’s The Wild Heart – that were reissued last month into the 18-song show, which proved that the 68-year-old rocker is still very much young at heart.
Her unmistakable voice and mainly black attire complete with her 36-year-old black cape were on full display at Royal Farms Arena, a venue she hadn’t played since 1986. But while the building’s name has chanced numerous times, Nicks has remained very much the same as she belted out all her hits, including Gypsy, Gold Dust Woman and Edge of Seventeen, which like Nicks have withstood the test of time.
Nicks has come full-circle since she last played in Maryland, as she performed at Merriweather Post Pavilion in 2001, 1994, 1991 and 1989. Through her energetic performance on Sunday night, Nicks showed she’s emerged stronger having overcome substance abuse, unhealthy and failed relationships and an industry that seemingly gets younger every year.
Nicks has remained a trailblazing role model who has shined as a solo artist when not touring with Fleetwood Mac.
“It’s all about chasing your dream and never giving up,” she told the audience. “There will be people out there who will tell you that you can’t do something, but they are all jaded in some way. Believe in yourself and chase your dream.”
Nicks really jumpstarted the crowd when she belted out Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around. Her guitarist took the place of Tom Petty, who teamed with Nicks on the original version in 1981 that headlined her Bella Donna album.
“Fleetwood Mac isn’t my favorite band because I was in Fleetwood Mac,” she said. “Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers is my favorite band.”
As she has all tour, Nicks was expected to sing the song with Chrissie Hynde, the lead singer of The Pretenders, who had to cancel as the opening act because Hynde was sick.
While on stage, Nicks spoke of the history of several of her songs. She wrote Starshine, which was released in 2014 on the 24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault album, in Petty’s basement, and that her 1983 hit Stand Back was heavily influenced by the late Prince, who helped her record it since it was influenced by his hit, Little Red Corvette.
“There are times when I’m nervous before the start of a concert. It doesn’t happen a lot, but when it does, I look up to the sky and ask Prince to walk with me,” she said of her longtime friend who always remained in touch with Nicks – even while she was in rehab in 1994 – before he died in April 2016. “And he always walks with me.”
Nicks encored with two of Fleetwood Mac’s biggest hits – Rhiannon and Landslide – the latter of which has been covered at least a dozen times, including by The Smashing Pumpkins, Dixie Chicks, Tori Amos, Miley Cyrus and Bush.
“There are some songs that I have played at every show,” she said before closing the shows with the two songs that everyone wanted to hear.
Nicks wrote Landslide in 1973 in Aspen, Colo., shortly before her split with former Fleetwood Mac guitarist and boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham, forcing Nicks to reflect on the changes in her life.
“When I wrote this song, I was at a point in my life where I didn’t know what I was going to do next,” she said. “But this was the song that got me to the mountaintop.”
Setlist
Gold and Braid, If Anyone Falls Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around, Belle Fleur, Gypsy, Wild Heart, Bella Donna, Enchanted, New Orleans, Starshine, Moonlight (A Vampire’s Dream), Stand Back, Crying in the Night, If You Were My Love, Gold Dust Woman, Edge of Seventeen Encore: Rhiannon, Landslide
Even at 68, Stevie Nicks still knows how to impress a crowd, as she rocked Royal Farms Arena on Sunday. (All photos by Chris Swanson)
Stevie Nicks played 18 songs over two-and-a-half-hours on Sunday night, closing with Rhiannon and Landslide.
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