September 1, 1989 Stevie Live in Pittsburgh

[Macfan4life]

26 years later.....
I love learning history from personal stories. I love to read personal stories from fans. So I hope you enjoy this trip down memory lane. Who would have thought 26 years later there would be something called the internet and this site to share my thoughts and review of the concert.
I was 19 when The Other Side of the Mirror came out. I still can remember listening to the tape in the car that I just bought at the mall. Rooms on Fire...the current single....Long way to go.....WOW Stevie can rock! I was thrilled that Pittsburgh was going to be the opening night of the tour. The tour date was announced it would be sometime in August but the tickets were not on sale. Something happened and Pittsburgh was not to be the opening night but got changed to September 1, 1989. That summer I was on vacation in Daytona Beach. I separated from my friends and was walking the beach at night with my walkman (millennials will have to look that one up) and had my OSOTM tape in it. Talk about a magic album. Just watching the waves crash on the beach in the dark sky with stars listening to TOSOTM :) I was SO excited about the concert. I was working at a grocery store and going to community college during the day. The concert was on a Friday night and I remember when I requested the night off. I had a tough and crazy boss and she denied my request. I told her if I could not get the night off then I quit. She gave me the night off ;)
There was some sponsor like Bud Light or something and they were going to open the Civic Arena top (weather permitting). It did not rain but it was windy with a chance of rain so the top did not open that night. Very disappointed! The arena was PACKED. Not quite a sellout but definitely around 12,000 people in attendance. The Hooters opened the show and did a great job. A great show with lots of hits. The Hooters are from Philly and had quite the following in both Philly and Pittsburgh well before they made it big.
Stevie opened the show with Outside the Rain/Dreams. She sounded great but where was Waddy? Who is this band? No Bobbye Hall, No heartbreakers or Roy Britton in sight :eek:. But there was Russ Kunkel, Sharon and Lori so we were ready to rock. I love how Stevie changed to red for the third song Rooms on Fire. Stevie sounded great but something seemed off to me. Stevie hardly spoke and never moved, twirled or danced (more on this later). Her set had a similar mood for the songs. Stand Back finally got the crowd going. Still to this day the 1989 live version of this song is one of her best versions IMHO. Whole Lotta trouble tried to keep the concert buzzing but it was coming to a close when Edge of 17 started. This Stevie concert was different for me for many reasons. Her band was different. Her songs were different and did not perform huge hits for her live shows.... Stop Dragging my heart around, Leather and lace, Talk to Me, and even Rhianon. What? No Rhianon? Instead Stevie highlighted 5 songs from her new album. But sadly as much as I love the album she chose the wrong songs (for some). She performed Rooms on Fire, Juliet, Alice, Whole Lotta Trouble, and Two Kinds of Love. I like Juliet but its not the best live song. I also really like Two kinds of live but its horrible live and Alice is not the best song live either but not as bad as the others. I would love to have heard Oooh my love or Long Way to Go instead. But Stevie doing 5 new songs was really something and shows how proud of the album she was. After the first few weeks of the tour Juliet was dropped. Stevie did perform Talk to me a few times early in the tour. This show was not one of them.
She only did one song from Rock a Little.... No spoken word which is probably the best song from the album. I just thought that showed Stevie was not crazy about that album. Her version of this song is amazing on this tour. Oddly enough this song was my bathroom break :eek: Now when I watch the song live on this tour, I realize what I missed :( Carlos is a great guitarist but I like Waddy's style better and it is a better fit musically for Stevie's music. Waddy gives Stevie and edge live. Carlos is a bit traditional and conservative.
The Pittsburgh Press (newspaper) had a review the next day. It suggested that Stevie's solo career was running out of steam with not producing the big hits anymore and by her cryptic writing. But it did press and ask her reps..."Why did Stevie move so little last night? Her band says she recently broke her foot and is favoring it"
A few years later I was waiting in line for Stevie's Whole Lotta Trouble tour tickets and I was talking about this show with a fan. She stated she saw a cast on Stevie's foot that was spray painted black. I had heard a rumor once that Stevie broke her foot in a swimming pool. Not sure if this is true or not or whether this was purely Klonopin or a broken foot. At the end of Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You, a fan ran on stage and hugged Stevie at the waist before he was rushed off by security. Stevie did break her silence and say "I'm not afraid." She dedicated the song to the performers at Woodstock.
I enjoyed the show but was let down a bit by Stevie's aloofness and her lack of powerful songs live. Even the newspaper commented on how the list of songs seemed to have the same beat or mood. Only a few times during the show was anyone's blood pressure raised. I have to agree with that criticism. Dreams, Alice, Beauty and the beast, How Still My love, Two Kinds of Love..... are good songs but not blockbuster live songs. The funky version of Gold Dust Woman was the low the low point for me. Gold Dust Woman is the only Mac song I think Stevie's band has done better live than the Mac on her 1981 and 1983 tour. The funky 89 version with her constant "Oh yeahs" just drives me nuts. This tour so desperately needed a Stop Dragging My Heart Around, I Cant Wait, Rhianon, or even a peppy Talk To me.
I liked the tour shirt with the side profile of Stevie holding the tambourine.
Long live the 80's
I don't have any recordings of this show but have enclosed a rare song from the tour in London
Enjoy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOgiRTXLcNc

[Andyleo]

Wow! Loved reading this review. Thankyou for sharing your memories.

[SpyNote]

It's crazy how many times she's broken her foot.

[olive]

t with my walkman (millennials will have to look that one up)


this http://www.techtimes.com/articles/81461/20150902/ears-on-with-sonys-new-walkman-and-hear-on-headphones.htm

[sleepless child]

wow! I was there and don't remember as much as you do. LOL. I was 28 and went with some friends to the show. I remember the fan jumping onstage and her saying she wasn't afraid. I also remember during Edge of Seventeen the band and the girls dancing and running around the stage. It seemed too disco and not the rock n roll chick I was used to seeing. I taped the show with my cassette Walkman. I still have it. I would love to convert my taped concerts, but I don't know how. I'll have to pull that one out and give it a listen.

[Macfan4life]

wow! I was there and don't remember as much as you do. LOL. I was 28 and went with some friends to the show. I remember the fan jumping onstage and her saying she wasn't afraid. I also remember during Edge of Seventeen the band and the girls dancing and running around the stage. It seemed too disco and not the rock n roll chick I was used to seeing. I taped the show with my cassette Walkman. I still have it. I would love to convert my taped concerts, but I don't know how. I'll have to pull that one out and give it a listen.
Ha! I taped the Tango tour in Pittsburgh in October 1987. That was a great show. I loved the way Stevie yelled HELLO PITTSBURGH at the beginning.
I kept that tape for years but ended up throwing it away. I don't think they even sell tape decks anymore and if you don't have anything to play it on...its useless :eek:

Funny story about taping concerts. In 1984 me and a friend snuck a tape recorder into a Bon Jovi/Scorpions concert. We were so obvious and put the recorder in the inside pocket of a jean jacket. But my friend carried the jean jacket instead of wearing it. It just looked suspicious :eek: We were stopped by security who took the jacket and was like " wow this jacket is heavy....what do we have here? A tape recorder?" We were terrified but they let us in anyway WITH the tape recorder. We wanted to record the entire concert with both bands but my friend left the extra tapes in the car so we only ended up getting 60 minutes and a little of both bands.

I loved the Civic Arena. I know you cant let it sit empty but the rich history of that arena made me so sad when they tour it down. Everyone played there.

[Aussie W/Heart]

That was fun reading, thanks for sharing Macfan :D

[PenguinHead]

The first time I attended a Stevie solo was on her Rock a Little tour. Her performance a was frustrating and disappointing mess for me, but I knew she was better than what I was hearing and seeing at that moment in time.

My experience when I saw her on her tour for The Other Side of Mirror was completely different. On the positive side, her vocals were much better; she sang the songs in a concise and controlled manner. I was particularly impressed that she sang a nice respectable chunk of new songs:
Alice
Rooms on Fire
Whole Lot of Trouble
Juliet
Two Kinds of Love

I was actually happily impressed she, probably for the first time ever, didn't perform well-worn staples like Rhiannon. For me that represented a form of artist growth and confidence -- a break from relying on road-weary staples. Not every high profile song has to be a requisite number in every single set list.

But I think, in hindsight, it was an ill-conceived decision not to include Long Way to Go and Ooh My Love in the set. Doing the Best That I Can could have been interesting, if not on this tour, but subsequent tours.

What was missing from the show was Stevie's persona. She rarely moved or spoke to the audience, and seemed like she was in a cloud, somewhat removed from her audience. I recall she was most animated when performing Juliet! Then she dropped the song.:confused:

On a side note: while Landslide deserves the mass recognition it has gained over the years, it has become a detriment to the live performance. On Fleetwood Mac's current tour, it's so disappointing to see the song reduced to an audience karaoke performance where Stevie's voice is drowned out by a group sing-along , in a sea of out-of tune voices. Compare that to her performance on the Live album, or any others where you could hear a pin drop, in a time when audiences just listened.

[Macfan4life]

TOSOTM tour was the first solo tour of Stevie under the control and influence of heavy klonopin use. Stevie was chatty cathy on her solo tours with cocaine. She would babble so much sometimes you had no idea what she was talking about.
Vocally she was definitely back in top shape for this tour. But this tour was when the lights went out and according to Stevie large chunks of this time in her life and especially this tour are blacked out.
Her stage persona had completely flipped from her prior solo tour. No more out of control spins, head bobbing or outburst lyrics or falling off the stage. She now was almost zombie like. She was like this the following year in 1990 with the Mac. However when I saw here on the Timespace/Whole Lotta Trouble tour in 1991 she was vibrant and having fun on stage. But the close ups on the videos of this tour show the emptiness in her eyes and was just before she hit the wall.

I was hoping to read more about this era in Mick's new book when he noticed this or had any concerns but he never mentions it. He had no problems telling the world Stevie dropping acid and falling off the stage in his previous book though :eek:

[UndoingTheLaces]

I saw every Pittsburgh tour of Stevie and the Mac from Tango to The Dance (then I moved to LA). I remember this show but as it was my first Stevie show I didn't have anything to compare it to. In fact, she was pretty quiet during most of the shows I'd seen until the Street Angel show at the Starlake Amphitheater. She started out with Outside the Rain/Dreams and while she was singing these dark storm clouds surrounded the perimeter of the outdoor theater and bolts of lighting created a wild light show all around us. After the song was over she said something like "Did you guys see all that lightnight, that was like totally cool" And I thought "did Stevie Nicks really just say 'totally cool' like a valley girl? I always through of her as this ethereal goddess and she was so down to earth. It shocked me but I really liked that. It made her more human to me.