Orange County Register review
 

http://www.ocregister.com/ocr/2005/0...cle_609981.php

Nicks sticks to familiar territory
The Fleetwood Mac alum is still effective, but her Anaheim show could have used a wider set list.

By GEORGE A. PAUL
Special to the Register

One of the best times to catch your favorite musician on tour is when he or she has nothing new to promote. You'll often see a more spontaneous concert, get to hear some rarely heard gems and plenty of hits.

Stevie Nicks is an exception.

Recent solo tours have started with the same four songs, albeit in a different order. After extensive Fleetwood Mac road work in 2003-04, performing those tunes again is tiresome. Granted, Nicks probably feels obligated to play "Rhiannon" and such, but why not dig up some of her other contributions from the band's illustrious catalog, like "Gypsy," "Sara" or "Beautiful Child"? It's not like she has to argue with Lindsey Buckingham over set-list choices anymore.

Then there's the matter of giving short shrift to successful solo singles. Notably absent Sunday night at the Pond were Nicks faves "Talk to Me," "If Anyone Falls," "Rooms on Fire," "I Can't Wait," "Nightbird" and "After the Glitter Fades." Sure, everyone has tunes they would like to hear, but is a little variety too much to ask?

Those shortcomings aside, the blond rock vet and her nine-piece band delivered an engaging, 100-minute set that was rapturously received by die-hard fans. The sandpaper-voiced Nicks, 57, sounded better than ever and still exudes a smoldering sexuality.

And the turnout? More than half full (some upper-level sections were blocked off). That's not too shabby, considering the Mac's "Say You Will" tour had a difficult time selling out the same venue, and Nicks plays the much smaller Gibson Amphitheatre in L.A. tonight.

The 15-song show started off with a rollicking "Enchanted" from 1983's "The Wild Heart." Nicks appeared onstage clad in black glittery top and a flowing skirt as large screens flashed her old videos (captivating animation and images were projected throughout the evening). Her longtime guitarist, Waddy Wachtel, did an adequate job subbing for Tom Petty on simmering rocker "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," which seamlessly segued into the luxurious "Dreams."

Surprises came from a pair of covers: Bonnie Raitt's "Circle Dance" (sophisticated and tame) and Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll" (a delightful zinger, with Nicks belting it out in a feathered black top hat, accompanied by young opening act Vanessa Carlton).

A drum solo gave way to synths and strobe lights for a vibrant, danceable "Stand Back." Veteran backing singer Sharon Celani traded defiant vocals with Nicks, who did her trademark twirls. The same energy marked an extended, hypnotic take on "Gold Dust Woman" (Nicks was wrapped in a gold fringed shawl) and metal-tinged "Edge of Seventeen."

Elsewhere, the piano-led "Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for You" was a tear- jerker, and the stirring closer, "Beauty and the Beast" (with clips from the original Jean Cocteau film), was infused with high drama. Nicks is still a revered diva. Maybe next time she can give her followers a well-rounded concert experience.

Alone on piano, Carlton's deeply personal and bittersweet adult pop tunes fared well in the cavernous arena. Her 35-minute set was leavened by a self-deprecating sense of humor and prompted a standing ovation. Highlights included the lustrous hit "A Thousand Miles" and plea for tolerance, "Who's to Say."

Great review! Sounds like he's a fan at least; he mentions all the same songs I wish she'd play...

Yeah, except he f*cked up and said that SDMHA segued into Dreams - he did probably meant to say OTR....

No doubt, Vanessa Carlton is extremely talented, yet I have no interest in her. Still, it's really nice to see Stevie take her under her wing, exposing her to an older audience that probably wouldn't ever have her on their radar. She's likely having an amazing experience on this tour.

The reviewer of this show seems very knowledgable about Stevie and her performance history. And, he made some very excellent points about her set list. Yeah, her performances have been amazing and she's better than she's ever been in years. And adding "Circle Dance" and "Rock & Roll" is unprecendented! But still, her set list does remain somewhat stagnent.

Given this latter stage of her career, you would think she would take more stock in her catalog and revisit other songs, rarely or never performed. If I was an entertainer I would get so bored and tired of singing the same 10 songs over and over, for decades! I'd want to keep it fresh, drastically change the set around, and perform songs that would really surprise people, or recast older songs.T his would at least make each tour uniquely special and distinct.

Stevie clings to her safe haven of songs like a rock. It's a little embarassing, really. (And the reveiwer called her on it!) No doubt Waddy or someone else in the band really pushed her to sing those cover songs. I wish they would push her even more.

She must be very stubborn and set in her ways. This meaning we can look forward to a few more tour sets opening with Enchanted, Dreams, Edge Of Seventeen, Rhiannon, Stand Back, Stop Dragging My Heart Around etc...leaving very little room for anything new or different.

To a certain extent, some fans are responsible for it. They expect to here those songs or else they feel they haven't been served properly, and Stevie buys into that. I don't get that mentality at all. Maybe I'm old school, but I remember the days when you enjoyed a concert for what it is, not what you want it to be -- a greatest hits show!

Thankfully there are still bands and artists out there that mix it up nightly. I hear of bands that rehearse dozens of songs for a tour and continually change the sets, so their tour doesn't seem so canned. (I think it was the Rolling Stones -- or some other big band --that recently mentioned that they rehearsed 100 songs or so for their new tour!) They may not always play their biggest selling hits...and no one suffers for it! These are the artists that keep the spontaniety of rock and roll alive.

God, I've drank way to much coffee today. Must chill out now! :shocked:

Ah, I missed that...

That's a perfect review, because it's true. :)

Well said. I thought this was a very thoughtful review from someone who knows what he's talking about.

It is a decent review but would have been better had he replaced "Gypsy, Sara, or Beautiful Child (all which were done at some point during the SYW tour) with a wish to hear something from the FM catalog like Storms or Angel.

I like this guy.

I think Stevie is stuck between a rock & a hard place. Because she has so much recognizable material, she has to do most of it each & every show. She's also temperamentally inclined to trot out the warhorses every night, too -- she & Mick always talk about that Kansas City concert that fell like a lead balloon, according to them, because too many then-new Rumours songs were in the set. This view of theirs has affected Stevie Nicks & Fleetwood Mac concerts for many years.

But what's up with that? We all have Rumours shows on tape from early in 1977, filled with songs from the new album. It doesn't sound like audience boredom to me; everybody's hootin' & hollerin' just as loudly as they do for "Rhiannon" & "Landslide." In fact, we've all heard 1976 shows with "You Make Loving Fun" or "Silver Springs" & it sounds as if these tunes were fully accepted. So frankly I don't know what Stevie & Mick are talking about with regard to Kansas City. All sorts of things can make an audience act like jerks: a late start, hot weather, humidity, hecklers, dirty restrooms.

But Stevie & Mick are (unfortunately) correct in principle, & they're on to something that they haven't quite recognized: there's no such thing as a casual fan. I could say I'm a "casual fan" of U2 -- meaning I guess that I like a bunch of their songs & I enjoy their shows. But if I don't hear those hits that I want to hear, I get a little perturbed, or at least disappointed. I'm not a U2 fan, actually, because I want to hear them play the same stuff that the radio stations always play of theirs.

If you're a fan, you're a fan: you're always going back for more, first of all, & secondly, once you hear the big songs, you want to hear the little ones, especially after the fourth or fifth or tenth time. But that's not true of the rest of the world ("casual fans" are the rest of the world) because they don't keep going back. They only check out U2 every decade or even less, so they want all the recognizable stuff.

I'm a casual fan of U2 -- in other words . . . not, strictly speaking, a fan at all. I just like them. Remember that "fan" is short for "fanatic." "Casual fan" is a contradiction in terms.

So what does Stevie do? Nothing, if she's Stevie. Temperamentally, she leans on her tried-&-true like a husband/And she knows it's no good to shake up the set. That's internal pressure. But there's also external pressure on her because of all the people who go to see her in big venues (not "fans") who want to hear "Dreams" & sing along to "Rhiannon" & "Landslide" because they will see Stevie just a few times in their lives; she's just a nostalgia act to them. She's just a fun night out, just a concert at which to spend Friday night with their friends.

The other thing that I think is going on in Stevie's head is this: Think of all the times she has talked about how important it is that her music connect with people. That to her is probably the most important thing that she does as a singer & songwriter. But how do you measure that connection? How do you quantify it? Easy . . . your big hits! The songs of yours that have sold the most & become the most recognizable & popular -- if you're looking at it the way Stevie does, the songs most people know of yours are therefore the ones that must have connected with people the most & made a difference in their lives. So THOSE are the songs you most continue to give them whenever you tour.

I think Stevie truly believes that her most popular songs are ipso facto her BEST songs. It's sort of like Vox populi, vox Dei to her.

Well, atleast he realized it. We've all been saying this FOREVER.

Anyway, good review! :)

Sandpapered voice?
 

Hahaha,LOL Sandpapered voice, I've hav'nt herd that in a long time..

Amen, brother. I like this guy. :laugh:

originally posted by David It isn't just these things I lived in this city for 8 hellish years and cried tears of joy to return to where I am now .If the US. had an a**hole this town would definately qualify.