Stevie Nicks bewitching in solo appearance at Wells Fargo
Stevie Nicks is on the edge of 70 but she still has it. Fleetwood Mac’s frontwoman is still bewitching and beguiling.
Nicks, 68, is on an overdue solo tour, which stopped Sunday at the Wells Fargo Center. During a 2-hour, 18-song set, Nicks amused the audience with a number of anecdotes and seduced the crowd of primarily baby boomers with her husky, warm voice that still retains a velvety feel after all of these years.
After kicking off with the obscure tune “Gold and Braid,” Nicks hit with the familiar. “Stop Dragging My Heart Around,” her 1981 smash recorded with Tom Petty, featured Chrissie Hynde, who opened the show with her Pretenders.
“Stand Back” was delivered in an edgier, heavier manner. “Edge of Seventeen” also hit hard. Images of the late Prince, who inspired the track, were displayed as Nicks belted it out.
“After offering the title cut from her 1981 solo album, “Bella Donna,” Nicks revealed that she was wearing the 1982 cape that the iconoclast sported on the album’s back cover. “If my mother was here, she would have said, ‘
well Stevie, you picked the right fabric to hold up over time.' ”
Three Fleetwood Mac songs were rendered — “Gold Dust Woman” “Gypsy” and “Rhiannon.” “Dreams,” one of her signature Fleetwood Mac songs, which has been played in other cities on this tour, and her solo hit “Talk To Me” were off the setlist.
But Nicks can’t play every hit. It would take an extra hour to cover that ground and that’s how much time the Pretenders were allotted. Hynde hasn’t changed a bit since her band broke 36 years ago with one of rock’s all time great debut albums. Hynde still has her sneer, energy and a vast canon of songs to draw from.
The Pretenders released three exceptional albums out of the gate. Much of that terrain was covered. “The Message of Love,” "Mystery Achievement” and “Brass In Pocket” were well received. An incendiary “Middle of the Road” was the hardest rocking tune of the night from either act.
Hynde, 65, has always been a tough and gritty character. She survived the tragic death of guitarist James Honeyman Scott and bassist Pete Farndon (Hynde’s first public appearance after the loss of the former was at JFK Stadium in 1982 when she was introduced by her former boyfriend Ray Davies, then of the Kinks.)
Hynde and drummer Martin Chambers are the lone original members. Much like Nicks, Hynde has plenty left in the tank.
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