Sydney 1986
 

I've been downloading these tracks from http://www.angelfire.com/mac2/nickslive/TradeSite.htm

and she doesn't sound that f***ed up to me. Didn't Mick say in his book that her drinking worsened when she went to Australia and legend has it that she fell off the stage? She actually sounds pretty normal to me. Maybe it changes later in the show.

???

I saw a bunch of RAL shows in California, & have been listening to dozens of others on tape for almost 20 years. I never saw or heard of any instance of a fall off the stage. Despite my having heard from people who claim they saw such a thing, I'm still inclined to think it's an urban myth.

I don't remember what Mick's book says about her drinking, but I have always maintained that, owing to her bloated, haggard appearance & her general mien, Stevie's "problem" on the '86 tour was alcohol, not coke. But whatever the case may have been, there were many high points on the tour. In fact, I would say that Stevie herself was a lot more tuned in to the music & the presentation than some of the people in her band were, namely Marotta the drummer.

It's all in the chronology: If you encounter tapes of Stevie singing in 1986 after having been introduced to her in later years (especially 1997 to the present), she is liable to strike you as being haggard & even pathetic. But if you had been along for the ride since the beginning of her solo career or even before, the RAL personality & look probably seem a very natural evolution to you. At least that's true in my case.

yeah, me too.

"haggard' :laugh: i'm sure that's the general consensus. But i think this was Stevie at her "coolest". She got funkified and daring. The evolution is interesting. You watch the "white wing dove" concert and she is pretty tame and innocent looking. Then, she slowly came out of her shell and let loose as she gained more confidence as a solo artist.

The sound quality on these tracks is great... Was this concert recorded professionally for a possible commercial release?

I don't know about that. To my knowledge, these three songs are the only ones that have surfaced that are soundboard recording.....I think. :confused:

-Curt

Yup. That's all she wrote.

Stevie tells the crowd that she's taping this show -- the band's final '86 show -- for the band. Probably to give them the way she filmed her '89 & '91 shows in California as presents for her bandmates.

So I bet the rest of the show is out there on some reel-to-reel somewhere. Hasn't surfaced yet -- unless the Hill Group (investment firm) has it.

:laugh:

From what I know, those songs come from a master reel but those were the only songs on it.

Huh, what's the Jill group?

Tynan

There's actually one more track from this show that I know of out there... Well 1.5 tracks actually. It's Stand Back and a bit of I Can't Wait.

The show is in circulation, just not the soundboard of it.


-Curt

Typo. I meant The Hill Group, an investment banking firm that made Stevie a lot of money in porkbellies & foreign stocks in the early 1980s.

There is a fourth song from that show floating around out there. Stand Back.

This show most likely took place at the Sydney Entertainment Centre back in 86 (seating cap of approx 12000). I only wish i knew BACK THEN that i was a Stevie Nicks fan, as a Sydney resident i would have loved to have seen her solo...although i was only 8 years old then!! (RAL was her only Australian solo tour!)

Brett

copy RAL
 

I would love to have a copy of the 86' RAL tour!I have been looking for it all my life...

wow, i just found this thread, but i actually own a newspaper clipping regarding the April 30th, 1986 RAL show. This was Knoxville, TN. The article says:


so while she didn't quite fall off stage, she did have some mechanics issues.:shrug:

I was going to tell you off for 'forgetting' her Gold Dust tour, but then saw that the thread started in 2004 :eek: :shocked:

Hope you enjoyed her Gold Dust shows Brett :lol:

Why does every thing happen in Australia?

Hi Joe, I have just checked out this website, whats the go with it? like buying some these awesome Dvd's & CD's??? I am hoping you or someone could give me the heads up on this.. Thanks

I have really mixed emotions about the RAL tour. On one hand I think it was the most she emotionally ever gave to her audience. The true essence of a rock n' roll star be it pretty or not. It's kind of sick in a way that I like her all f*ucked up but I can't deny it - it makes her human to me and not some robot with no flaws. On the other hand I don't like to think she was doing harm to her body which she was and probably suffering pretty badly on an emotional level which hurts me but sometimes the best art comes from a place of pain. I'm just glad she's alive and well (at least I think).

Stevie was 'The Rose' during the RAL tour. She was very Janis-like.
What I wouldn't do to hear her bellow/croak/scream "I know what it sounds like!!! I know what it SOUNDS LIKE!!!!" on stage.

Well, of all of the RAL-isms that have come and gone, the "I know what it sounds like..." wail is still alive and well today (or as of 2008, at least).

My favorite RAL-ism is during the breakdown of "How Still My Love" where she croaks "...in the still of the still of the still of the still of the still of the still of the still, one more TIME, babe!" It's just so loose and wild.

I agree with David, as a fan since 1975, i have watched Stevie and the band evolve over the years and by Rock a Little I only noticed the weight change. It never occured to me that she was drinking too much or on drugs. I was probably just young and naive. As I look back now, I can see it plain as day. But I've always loved the Rock a Little shows. She was definately rocking it!

I always feel the need to defend my girl when you speak, David! :mad: (and I say this out of love). Do you do this just so you can get a reaction? If so it's working.
Now that that's out of the way, I don't think she was bloated and haggard and if she was, that's the life of a rock n' roll star baby, drugs, alcohol, whatever. And how do you know she wasn't doing a ton of coke? I of course was oblivious to any of this given the fact that I was only 9 years old. I just thought she was super cool.
Not for me. I became a hard-core fan in the late 90's and she never struck me as haggard and/or pathetic during the RAL period. I always thought she was the craziest and most expressive which I love. And next time you use Stevie and pathetic in the same sentence I'm going to spank you!:nod:

Yeah but she doesn't croak/bleat/bellow the "I know what it sounds like!" in the same manner, it's tame now. Like she's reading it from a prompter.
I def agree, that HSML part is awesome. But then, I love all RALisms.

I've always admitted to trolling this board.

I camp-followed Stevie Nicks on that tour throughout much of California. I have nothing against that tour (except the bombast of the drummer & the poor live mixing). Aesthetically speaking, I happen to prefer the 1983 tour, true. "Haggard" & "bloated" are terms of praise & even endearment, coming from me. "Swaying like a cobra" or "undulating like Axl Rose on Xanax" are not, & they describe the 1990, 1991, & later tours.

The RAL Tour produced the BEST HSML performances. "Go On! Get OUT!" Love it.

I think that's the key. She was very 'loose' and uninhibited. Just about anything could fly out of her throat into her mic, and often did!

Weight change during RAL?

You mean weight gain? But she was still on coke then. How can anyone gain weight while on coke?

I sat in the second row for two RAL shows, and she looked about the same as when I saw her on the WH tour from the third row. It wasn't until the OSOTM tour that there was an obvious difference.

She was more boozy than cokey, that's what David said and I agree. Cokey people I have encountered were pretty thin and strung out looking. Boozy people I have enountered were bloaty.

That reminds me of something Howard Stern's sidekick Artie Lange would say. He said even the drug dealers would look at him in amazement and exclaim, "You're the fattest heroin addict I've ever seen!"

Michele

The audience noticed weight gain in September 1985 at the Mulholland Tomorrow show in El-Lay. That was half a year before the solo tour.

It all depends on the persons metabolism, how much blow they are consuming, what/how much they are consuming in terms of beverage while partying. I did blow for about 12 years very regularly and gained lots of weight (around 60 lbs) and would also drink beer while partying. I would also eat like a horse the next day. It is possible to be an over weight coke head. Lost the coke and the weight and life is much better, but it was fun cant deny that.:shrug:

This is what I've been trying to say since this thread started! Finally someone who can attest from personal experience. Let's face it people, she did tons of coke and still gained weight on this tour. Thanks, Angel.

No problem. Coke is such a weird drug. Because for years it was fun. Then one day you realize this is some serious **** here and Im losing my mind. Its 12 noon Im up from the night before, Im still drinking and still snorting it and smoking it....not crack mind you.... smoking the coke because my big Italian honker was in such bad shape after a couple of hours it wouldnt go through my nose. And Im also FAT!! :shocked: How did that happen? The myth of the coke head being skeletal is just that, a myth. Not saying it does not happen, but everyone is different. I went from just doing it on Friday night to everyday, at work, anywhere, it didnt matter. This all went on from 1981 till November 1993 when it became apparent to me and others that this was an addiction. :eek: It was very hard to stop but I did.....cold turkey. Always finding comfort in the voice of Stevie Nicks.

Some of it might depend on the person I guess, but it stands to reason that a stimulant will be weight-reducing. The diet pills people took in the 50's through the 80's (amphetamines) and the herbal ones in the 80's and 90's (ephedra) were effective because they were speed.
My own sister went skeletal. Like 92 lbs.
Ha, and want to hear something very Nicks-ish? Her MD put her Klonopin in addition to Zyprexa (which is an anti-psychotic)- now she's around 175 lbs on a 5'4" frame.

Since this thread is about Sydney 1986, was anyone there by chance? About two years ago I met a Sydney woman who was at that concert and said she was devastated at Stevie's poor performance due to her health issues (debated here) and apparantly she was booed off stage.

I have no reason to doubt this person (close friend of a friend), but I was shocked to hear it. I think it was the same trip to Australia where an interview was recorded with Ian "Molly" Meldrum that I have on tape and she was definately not in a good place at that time. This has been mentioned in recent times by some media person here in Melbourne who met her at Molly's house.

Anyway, the happy, upside to all of this is that Stevie eventually overcame her health issues and has gone on to provide us with many years of great concerts and new material and she is not done yet! I said to someone recently, in relation to Whitney Houston's bad press, that Stevie came back from this, so she can be an inspiration to others!

I thought she was great chatting with Molly Meldrum. What charisma! What witchy look! What allure! What charm! I wanted her to bust into RHIANNON right then & there, shrieking & howling like a banshee.

Does anyone care to hear this interview? I'm not sure if it's this one but I do have a Molly Meldrum interview with Stevie I can upload.

It's definitely her best interview.