Philadelphia, PA Show

[ami0425]

On my way home now a it was simply magnificent, just like last night in Bethlehem. The setlist was the same as last night.

I made a recording with my I try to listen to it tomorrow at work and upload it.

[SisterNightroad]

Amazing, thank you, can't wait for your audio and your impressions!

[Danielle]

Thank you!

There are lots of great videos here: https://www.youtube.com/user/silversun1100/videos

[Tango]

This person put up The Pretenders and Stevie Nicks videos (not sure how to link them all):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8iWPiq4Fqw

[SisterNightroad]

The 5 best stories from Stevie Nicks' revealing Philly concert (PHOTOS)

PHILADELPHIA — Discretion has rarely come easy to Stevie Nicks.
Rock's venerable gypsy queen has been a subject of gossip for decades, from her role in Fleetwood Mac's romantic crossword puzzle, to her drug addictions — cocaine, then the tranquilizer Klonopin — to her publicized weight gain in the '90s, from a steroid used to fortify her patently potent, rasping voice.

But as with any star, there are always deeper dimensions than the tabloids, from the tortured artist fans think they know, to the day-to-day, human person no one really knows at all.

Nicks, 68, visited her most rooted level Sunday night in Philadelphia, on a tour designed not only to unearth some of her most obscure, never-before-played-live songs — swiped from her seemingly bottomless "gothic trunk," she joked — but the stories behind them.

And through more than two hours of tales, between songs as old as her pre-Fleetwood days with the old-beau duo Buckingham Nicks and as new as those inspired by, of all things, the "Twilight" film series, the songstress was candid on her first solo tour in four years, and gracious to the Wells Fargo Center crowd for allowing her time to stray from the hits and reveal new moments from her prolific career. And with her wonderfully tight, eight-piece band — many of whom have been with her for decades — Nicks managed to shrink the arena and supply the intimacy much of her catalog has worked to provide.

As Nicks was very chatty on this trek, deemed the 24 Karat Gold Tour, it didn't feel right to write a usual narrative review in this case, so instead, here are a few of her new stories, told (mostly) in her words.

THE STORIES
- "You can't take your boyfriend on the road. It doesn't work," a still golden-locked Nicks said bluntly, reasoning that if your squeeze doesn't have a job on the tour, people start to ask who he is and what he's doing just standing around. Such was the basis of the uncharacteristically bass-funky "Belle Fleur," a song written in 1978 but unreleased until 2014's "24 Karat Gold: Songs From The Vault," where Nicks said she imagined the "kind of sad" moment saying goodbye to your boyfriend at home, and waving as you ride away in a long, black limousine. This whole explanation danced around the fact that Nicks was, of course, on the road with her lover Lindsay Buckingham for years.

- Speaking of Buckingham, Nicks revisited the days when the couple moved to Los Angeles in 1971, and in '73 released their lone album as Buckingham Nicks, which Polydor Records barely promoted, tossing it out to the world "like a Frisbee," Nicks said. The single, which played virtually nowhere, was to be "Crying in the Night," a beautifully harmonized soft-rock track Nicks played with her band while kaleidoscopic lights swirled on stage. Afterward, Nicks laughed that she had brought the LP's scandalous vinyl cover, of her and Buckingham in the nude, home to show her parents in the '70s, but was too afraid and kept it hidden under her bed for months.

- While Nicks sang "Bella Donna" and "Wild Heart," the thoughtful title tracks from her first two solo efforts, she draped herself in a dark, blue cape — as she is wont to do — and afterward revealed it was the exact silk chiffon cape she wore on the back cover of "Bella Donna," the 1981 album. "If my mother was here, she would have said 'well Stevie, you picked the right fabric to hold up over time,' " Nicks joked, as the garment had been kept in perfect condition.

- Though it didn't appear on an album until 2011's "In Your Dreams," Nicks' "New Orleans," a fairly straightforward ballad-ode to the Big Easy, was written in 2005, just as Hurricane Katrina was approaching the city. "As a writer, you worry about how much you can say," Nicks said, meaning that she wanted to the song to stand up years later not as a dirge, but that she "hoped it would be a celebration of what New Orleans is, and we wouldn't just be left with a tragedy." Sketched pictures of the French Quarter played on the large screen behind Nicks, as she crooned about wanting to wear feathers and beads, and walk down Bourbon Street.

- The night's most dramatic moment, of Nicks-fancied mysticism, was forged in the set's newest song, 2009's "Moonlight (A Vampire's Dream)." She explained the song was wholly inspired by the young-adult vampire phenomenon "Twilight," namely the second film "New Moon." Nicks had no desire to release another album at this time, but was so taken by the movie that she wrote "Moonlight" in a frenzy and told her assistant "I'm going to have to do another record," and wrote around this piano-laden song. She performed the track Sunday in a thick, white fur coat and doled wild, crouching movements around her microphone draped in fringe. Nicks portrayed a sort of queen of beasts, as snow and a white wolf played on the screen behind her.

THE PRETENDERS OPEN

The night began with a reminder, that The Pretenders — namely the rock-radiant centerpiece Chrissie Hynde — are still an arena-worthy act. Stevie fans showed up early and packed the venue to see the rock hall of famers on their first tour in four years, and watch the eternally cool (and now 65-year-old) Hynde strum and wail. With two-toned hair ultra-teased and an Elvis t-shirt with the sleeves pushed up, the enduring front woman was every bit the new wave predecessor she was in 1980, and with nearly identical vocal control.

"Brass in Pockets" and the more delicate "Hymn for Her" were exceptionally strong, and for all its covers over the last 20 years, it was refreshing to hear "I'll Stand By You" straight from the source. Only Hynde and drummer Martin Chambers remain from the original Pretenders lineup, but the seated Philly crowd provided the new-ish group a standing ovation as they finished. Hynde later joined Nicks on stage for a rendition of "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around."

STEVIE NICKS' SET LIST
"Gold and Braid"
"If Anyone Falls"
"Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" (with Chrissie Hynde)
"Belle Fleur"
"Gypsy" (Fleetwood Mac song)
"Wild Heart"
"Bella Donna"
"Enchanted"
"New Orleans"
"Starshine"
"Moonlight (A Vampire's Dream)"
"Stand Back"
"Crying in the Night" (Buckingham Nicks song)
"If You Were My Love"
"Gold Dust Woman" (Fleetwood Mac song)
"Edge of Seventeen"
Encore:
"Rhiannon" (Fleetwood Mac song)
"Leather and Lace"
THE PRETENDERS' SET LIST
"Alone"
"Gotta Wait"
"Message of Love"
"Private Life"
"Down the Wrong Way" (Chrissie Hynde song)
"Hymn to Her"
"Back on the Chain Gang"
"I'll Stand by You"
"Don't Get Me Wrong"
"Stop Your Sobbing" (The Kinks cover)
"My City Was Gone"
"Holy Commotion"
"Mystery Achievement"
"Middle of the Road"
"Brass in Pocket"

http://www.nj.com/entertainment/musi...philly_ph.html

The site has more pretty photos, check them out.

[MaryLiz2]

I've said this before, but I'm grateful so I'll say it again...thanks to everyone who is sharing their impressions, the print reviews and the photos/videos from these shows. I'm bummed that I'm not seeing Stevie this time around (Philly was probably the closest show, about 6 hours from me...and I'm in the midst of a little snow issue so traveling probably wouldn't have been good anyway), and am enjoying vicariously enjoying the show via everything shared on the interwebs.

[Danielle]

[wheart]

I really wanted to love this show and went into it fully expecting I would. Perhaps that was part of the problem: high expectations. My seat was amazing but unfortunately I was seated next to a college age couple who got very drunk as the show progressed. I don't have a problem with drunk people as long as they keep their drunken behavior to themselves. These two did not. Perhaps they felt obligated to "be my friend" since I was there solo (by choice I might add. I prefer to watch Stevie by myself as to not be distracted by a companion. Boy did that logic backfire last night. It's unfortunate because everyone else in my section seem to be enjoying the show and not bothering anyone around them. I ended up leaving right after GDW because I just couldn't be around those two anymore.

Moonlight was by far the highlight of the concert, fugly coat and all. She was INTO it and delivered an amazing vocal performance. I was floored. Starshine was also wonderful to hear live, as were Wild Heart and Bella Donna. I'm happy she did them but it was disappointing not to hear the entire songs especially since we've never heard them live before. The way WH abruptly ended was a bit odd. There are so many great, upbeat songs on 24K that I couldn't help but think that the show would have benefited from having a few more of them in the set. If You Were My Love was pretty enough but what a snoozer. Maybe this was my interpretation but the audience's reaction seemed pretty lukewarm to many of her lesser known songs. But this could entirely have just been me.

My biggest problem with the show was her endless talking. It wasn't just a few times. It was in between every single song. And if she didn't talk about the song before she sang it she blabbed on after she sang it. I know people love her stories and I do as much as anyone but to constantly stop the music and talk for minutes at a time completely erased any trace of momentum and continuity that the show may have had. The venue was also way too large for this. I could see it more in a smaller theater but not a stadium. The whole thing felt off.

The Pretenders were amazing. Truth be told, I enjoyed their set more. I know, I should be stoned for saying that but I'm in a very honest mood tonight

[SisterNightroad]

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.



http://www.burlingtoncountytimes.com...1f4c8e2ab.html

[SisterNightroad]

Stevie Nicks and the Pretenders — odd but cozy bedfellows at WFC

If we were to duck back to their post-punk '70s peak, the Pretenders and Stevie Nicks would not have been pals. Witchy, willowy pop-hitmaker Nicks — with Fleetwood Mac or through a long solo career — was the polar opposite of the blunt, smug Pretenders and smugger-still front woman, Chrissie Hynde.

Nicks was all leather and lace, a prettily warbling product of bright Californian pop-rock, but with a mystical edge. Hynde was beat-up leather and black-denim neo-punk, but with a rich burr and an adoration of melodic ’60s pop, along with a cynical lyricism that made her just as much an acolyte of Dusty Springfield as she was of Johnny Rotten.

Time and trend passed, people got older, and now Hynde, with an ever-shifting cast of Pretenders, is on a tour with Nicks that on Sunday packed the Wells Fargo Center. The two even got together — happily and heartily — on a blowsy cover of Nicks’ 1981 downturned romancer with Tom Petty, “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,” with Hynde and rangy guitarist Waddy Wachtel. (Longtime associate Wachtel was as much a secret weapon Sunday to Nicks’ scratchy purr as the Pretenders’ aggressive, rumbling drummer, Martin Chambers, was to Hynde’s winnowing coo.)

Aside from that aforementioned 1981 hit and F-Mac smashes such as “Gypsy,” Nicks’ set fascinatingly focused on catalog riches (“my Gothic trunk of treasures”) that had fallen through the cracks — an idea that legacy rockers with tired set-lists should consider.

Along with an ardent take on the way-early “Crying in the Night” (a Buckingham Nicks cut), moody synth-rockers “Stand Back,” and “If Anyone Falls,” the incrementally building theatrical ballad “Moonlight (A Vampire’s Dream),” and the train-chugging-whistle-blowing “Enchanted” all allowed Nicks’ scuffed, coolly soulful murmur freest range.

Chatting up the (sometimes romantic) history of each track, Nicks became almost Judy Garlandlike — but without the tragic end.

Hynde’s Pretenders also did something bold in opening their long set with two rough, Stoogeslike ragers from the new album Alone — the explicit title track and the rumbling “Gotta Wait.” Another new track — the oddly plucky “Holy Commotion” — also was part of the live package.

Pluck and cheer are what Hynde best displayed while using her rock-salted caramel hoot of a voice, whether it was smiling/smirking through a boldly crunching “Message of Love,” growling through the reggae-punkish “Private Lives,” or slinking along in “My City Was Gone.”

Hynde also made fun of her cutoff Elvis T-shirt during the “style” section of “Brass in Pocket,” and of her age, 65, and her crowd's. “There’s a lot of old faces here, but you guys are pushing it,” she said, laughing. “Me, too.”


http://www.philly.com/philly/enterta...edfellows.html

[denny23220]

Hi Wheart - Sorry to hear that the show did not live up to your expectations. I personally loved it but I wanted to commiserate with you about the audience because if I had not tried really hard to focus on the show, they would have ruined the experience for me too!

So the guy behind me decided to SHOUT all the lyrics to every song The Pretenders sang. Thankfully, he shut up for the most part when Stevie came on. Although, he did have to add commentary to all of Stevie's commentary! The couple to my right seemed to be in an argument the whole time. I could feel their tension. He just sat in his seat while she tried to have fun-they left early and I heard her say that she will have to watch the show on youtube. Some girls to my left were having a great night out - they too, were a little loud and kept wanting to chit-chat AND they were passing a bowl around, yes! Smoking pot the old fashion way with a bowl and lighter. Not even one of the fancy and easy to sneak in vaporizers. In front of me... some lady was sitting sideways and out in the isle and the security guard asked her to move back into her seat...or something...she was all loud and defensive and decided to go find the security guard and "tell her off" and had to come back with a full report she thought everyone in the vicinity had to hear. Another security guard thought she could put a stop to all the cell phone/camera, videos/photos but after calling people out and shining her flashlight in peoples faces for 15 minutes, she realized that she could not stop the whole arena and gave up.

ALL of this was going on while Stevie was onstage. Pretty darn frustrating.

[lilyfee]

Originally Posted by denny23220

Another security guard thought she could put a stop to all the cell phone/camera, videos/photos but after calling people out and shining her flashlight in peoples faces for 15 minutes, she realized that she could not stop the whole arena and gave up.

Wow, good luck with that! I'm amazed someone even tried!

[wheart]

Originally Posted by denny23220

Hi Wheart - Sorry to hear that the show did not live up to your expectations. I personally loved it but I wanted to commiserate with you about the audience because if I had not tried really hard to focus on the show, they would have ruined the experience for me too!

So the guy behind me decided to SHOUT all the lyrics to every song The Pretenders sang. Thankfully, he shut up for the most part when Stevie came on. Although, he did have to add commentary to all of Stevie's commentary! The couple to my right seemed to be in an argument the whole time. I could feel their tension. He just sat in his seat while she tried to have fun-they left early and I heard her say that she will have to watch the show on youtube. Some girls to my left were having a great night out - they too, were a little loud and kept wanting to chit-chat AND they were passing a bowl around, yes! Smoking pot the old fashion way with a bowl and lighter. Not even one of the fancy and easy to sneak in vaporizers. In front of me... some lady was sitting sideways and out in the isle and the security guard asked her to move back into her seat...or something...she was all loud and defensive and decided to go find the security guard and "tell her off" and had to come back with a full report she thought everyone in the vicinity had to hear. Another security guard thought she could put a stop to all the cell phone/camera, videos/photos but after calling people out and shining her flashlight in peoples faces for 15 minutes, she realized that she could not stop the whole arena and gave up.

ALL of this was going on while Stevie was onstage. Pretty darn frustrating.

ah sorry to hear what you had to endure. You had it coming at you from all angles! I was in the lower section but I could see there seemed to be commotion on the floor for the entire show. What was up with Philly on Sunday night? Oh and we could see the huge puff of pot smoke rise from the middle of the floor. The drunk dude next to me was shouting about it. I was surprised that the majority of the crowd, at least that I saw, was young. Very few old farts like me. LOL

[blackcat]

I want to do something different in writing about the show in Philadelphia, PA. Lots of people have covered Stevie Nicks and it was really great to have a show done for STEVIE NICKS fans for a change, instead of it being toward 'an audience' that just want to hear the hits. I heard a few people complain going out of the venue. "She didn't do Landslide." To me, it felt like special friends were coming to "my city." (nope, it's not New Orleans) But for my "review" I just want to speak about Chrissie Hynde for a change.


I read Hynde's book, called Reckless a few weeks ago, as I didn't really "know" her. I was familiar with about 7 or 8 songs on the radio over the years. I bought the new album, "Alone" as well. I prepare for concerts. It's not just about what you wear to the show. There's this whole mental process for me. I want to be able to understand the lyrics. I am not just a "sound" person.

I like Chrissie Hyndes, but as I learned about her, I appreciated some of her decisions in life led to some serious drama. In my work I've been around people that have made some bad choices in life and had to pay for them (you know, people doing and/or selling drugs, getting shot and ending up paralyzed for life on ventilators, etc). I've watched them die, too. But Hynde survived some of her decisions and somehow managed to eke out a living and did exactly what she wanted to do musically. To hear her sing it, "Nobody tells me I can't, Nobody tells me I shan't." Is that a British word? Anyway, Hynde started hanging out with the right crowd, and got involved drugs deliberately. Being in a band and drugs--those were her passions.

She left her family and life in Ohio (where she had attended Kent State University--coincidentally, the same precise time that Joe Walsh was there, (they didn't know each other) and they were at the time of the Kent State shootings in 1970. You remember it, some of you, "4 dead in O-HI-O as CSN&Y sing it. That's her home turf.

She managed to get overseas to London and later to Paris and into the punk rock scene. She was a "chick." It was hard to get into the male-dominated rock scene as a female. Thus, she got a job working in a clothing store called SEX. She mingled with such characters (characters to me, but real people to her) as Johnny Rotten and Sid Vicious. Hi Mom, I'm having dinner with Sid Vicious. She was going to marry one of them to get a VISA, I believe she mentioned in the book.

This is one long ramble, and it is going somewhere. At one point Chrissie ended up under the control of a motor cycle gang (Hells Angels) while seeking to 'score drugs,' and was viciously beaten and sexually abused. Life in the fast lane? I wonder how someone that has been through such a rough life manages to write some incredibly beautiful music. Muses? I don't know. Finally as everything seemed to be coming together with The Pretenders, she lost two key members of her band in close succession to drugs, guys named Jimmy Honeyman-Scott and Pete Farndon. Having some kind of fortitude, she pushed on. But there are scars, and she writes about them in her book, and you see glimpses of it in her music.


The latest album put out is called ALONE. Parts of it are spoken. She speaks of going to the graveyard hanging out with --I don't know, the dead? "Yeah, I like that. I like being alone." Another song is "I Hate Myself." It's not as bad as it sounds, but there's a whole lotta negative self speak. A song that seems to be a transition on the album, however, is "Holy Commotion." It's worth the whole cost of the album, I think.


These are the last two stanzas:

Ah ah ah a mass of devotion
Ah ah ah and a Holy Commotion
I just want, I want, I want to see the light
I just want, I want, I want to dance all night
Oh be my baby

When the walls come tumbling down
And the love drags all around
And the dogs of war come around no more
No more rape or torture or mutilation
One love one way
One humanity
One way one love
One humanity

It's sort of Lennon-esque in my mind. Imagine.

But Chrissie Hynde can rock with the best of them. You like softer stuff? She's got that too. Listen to Chrissie's "Forever Young." NOT the Rod Stewart one, but a totally different song. Listen to "Hymn to Her." Or "I'll Stand By You." You like the hits: she's got them. "Brass In Pocket." One of MY favorites is "Don't Get Me Wrong." For us Stevie folk, it's got thunder and rain in it. I don't think I know anyone that doesn't love "Back On The Chain Gang." You like The Kinks? She does their "Stop Your Sobbing." There's a dynamic "Middle Of The Road." Her voice is powerful! She's not Linda Ronstadt, but she has pipes! She's got another song called, "Hymn to Her." I had to look that up. It was written by Meg Keene, a high school friend of Chrissie Hynde. The lyrics are a bit mystical, almost like stuff Stevie would write. The music is beautiful. So while Stevie and Chrissie are nothing alike, I can see where they might find some common ground. (I already mentioned the thunder and the rain!)

I'll wrap this up by saying if you go to this tour, do NOT miss the chance to hear Chrissie Hynde. You're getting two big names for the price of one. Don't hang in restaurant or bar, just waiting for Stevie to come in. You won't regret it.

If you want to read on a bit and don't have time to read a book about Chrissie Hynde, you might appreciate this article:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...raped-her.html

It was an AMAZING show. I didn't have any drunks around me. That helps!

[Danielle]

blackcat, thank you so much for taking the time to share this with us. I am so happy to finally "know" Chrissie Hynde.