Swirling, twirling Nicks captivates (Boston Review)
 

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As if anyone needed a reminder of the influence Stevie Nicks has had on pop music, "Bootlylicious," the Destiny's Child hit built on a sample of Nicks's "Edge of Seventeen," was piped over the house public address system before we got the real thing Sunday night.

The appetite-whetting tease was one not-so subtle reminder - opener Mandy Moore being the other - of the vast difference between a pop star and a genuine artist. As one of rock's most successful songwriters and original voices, both with and without Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks is both.

When the first signature twirl of her gold-flecked shawl came, mere moments into a percolating and percussive "Stand Back," Nicks's fanatically devoted audience roared its approval. It was an auspicious start to a two-hour, career-surveying set at the Bank of America Pavilion that was crammed with many highs and few lows: beloved evergreen hits, power-ballad misses, and poignant moments.

Impeccably supported by a seven-piece band led, as always, by longtime musical director and guitarist Waddy Wachtel, as well as a trio of backup singers, Nicks took a twirl and a tour through a catalog more than three decades deep, and nearly as wide. Considerably less wide, however, was the 60-year-old Nicks's vocal range.

While her voice, clear and strong in the sound mix, was as inimitable and often as affecting as ever, it stayed, for the most part, within a narrow melodic framework. There were fewer highs hit on a still-graceful but somewhat flat "Dreams," for instance, the song's gilded edges blunted and gauzy embroidery all but cleared away. And why perform a flaccid cover of the Dave Matthews Band's turgid "Crash Into Me" when we didn't get "Gypsy" or "Sara", or any number of other Nicks classics?

As if to make up for this brief (but unfortunately not brief enough) lapse in judgment, Nicks and Co. offered a dramatically stirring "Rhiannon," then hit soon after with the baleful, brewing storm of "Gold Dust Woman." A pulse-quickening version of "Edge of Seventeen" was an epic curio, stretching into a well-meaning but distracting meet-and-greet receiving line with the adoring faithful.

If an encore cover of Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll" was the night's throwaway thrill, then "Landside," a tender meditation on the passage of time, was its most elegiac moment. Nicks dedicated the song to her late father, and gave it a gorgeously glistening reading as family photos of dad and daughter gently bled into one another on the stage screen.

Onetime pop goody-two-shoes and perpetual smiler Mandy Moore opened with a cloying 45-minute set of karaoke-bar cover songs meant to demonstrate how, at age 22, she's all grown up and has discovered Cat Stevens and Joni Mitchell. With a voice and personality as bland as generic toothpaste, the fact that Moore's been handed an enormous public platform to say absolutely nothing original felt like an insult to the artists she so earnestly covered.

Wow, he freaking skewered Mandy Moore. She has a good voice and it wasn't unpleasant seeing/hearing her. But there was also nothing there to really move you, no goosebumps. I just hung out outside the tent people watching during her set. Also hoping to see Ledgies, which I did not.

I wouldn't be surprised to see this dropped from the setlist next tour. Michele

I really loved the concert.
And I wasn't expecting to since I was annoyed about the setlist (who wasn't?)

I wouldn't have been so harsh on Mandy Moore, but I thought her song selection was a bit boring. I did, actually, like her better than Vanessa Carlton.

And I really agree with the Crash thing. I HATED that song. I don't even get why Stevie would cover it. You would think, with all the songs out there--if she had to go outside of her own work, she'd pick something with some sort of connection to her own life. This just seemed totally anti-Stevie.

Good review, though. And great show. VERY good audience.

(And Boston is beautiful. But expensive--and this is coming from a New Yorker;-)

Wow. Nice shawl, or cape, or whatever. It looks like a piece from the Wild Heart tour, back when Stevie was the Queen of the Night, the Empress of the Pagoda, the Mandarin with Moxie, etc. etc.

Something -- just a hunch -- makes me think this guy hasn't been to forty Stevie Nicks concerts in recent yrs.

Goodbye, Mandy Moore, & don't let the door hit you on the way out.

Any chance Crash will be out of the set by Saturday night and replaced with any of the following:

Rooms On Fire
Talk To Me
Blue Denim
Planets Of The Universe
Nothing Ever Changes

Hell I would even take another cover, Crash just goes nowhere. The music is flat, disjointed and lumbering.:distress:

hate that song, I agree, it was very flat at the reading show. Out of all the songs in the world, including hers, she picked that one??

As Simon Cowel would say, "wrong song selection Stevie". From what I've heard on the net, it just never takes off for her. But hearing it live may change my mind.

From Edge, June 25, 2008

http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?...mance&id=76298

Stevie Nicks
by Brian Callaghan, EDGE Contributor

Before going to the Stevie Nicks concert at the Bank of America Pavilion Sunday night, there was significant worry she might have crossed over into the realm of self-parody. Would it all be a mess of lace shawls, dervish spins, bleating vocals and freaky hippie chick dancing?

While all of those elements featured prominently in Nicks’ show, the star acquitted herself well, putting on an entertaining and musically formidable concert of songs from both her Fleetwood Mac and solo careers.

Nicks is now 60, but looked much younger. With her long straight blonde hair and wrinkle-free skin, you could easily confuse her for Jenna Bush’s 40-year-old older sister. Her voice was strong and as distinctive as ever, and she wisely surrounded herself with an outstanding 7-member band and three talented back-up singers, many of whom have toured with her for years.

The evening kicked off with a good version of Stand Back, with the classic keyboard riffs Prince provided when the song was first recorded. This was followed by Outside the Rain, a well-received Dreams and an impressive version of If Anyone Falls in Love, a 1983 hit this reviewer had long ago forgotten.

Nicks chatted frequently with the audience between songs, providing little bit of info about their inspiration. Sorcerer, from 1973, was described as being written at a time when she was living with Lindsay Buckingham, waitressing to make ends meet and barely scraping by.

Landslide was dedicated to her father, Jess Nicks, who passed away a few years ago, and was accompanied by a slide show chronicling the life of the singer and her family.

Rhiannon and Gold Dust Woman, the two other Fleetwood Mac songs she performed, showcased her trademark sheeplike warble but her voice was powerful and clear throughout the hour and 50 minute, 14-song performance.

The Mac songs were all wisely performed in extended versions, with playful instrumental preludes that built some excitement before the actual song was revealed.

Edge of Seventeen, with its chorus of "Just like a one-winged dove," was the only other major solo hit she performed. Other well-known songs were missing in action, including Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around, Leather and Lace, The Insider and Sara.

Taking their place were unexpected covers of Dave Matthews’ Crash Into Me, Bob Seger’s new Face the Promise, and even a terrific version of Led Zeppelin’s Rock and Roll, during which the vibrato in Nicks’ voice all but disappeared.

Guitarist and musical director Waddy Wachtel led the proceedings, which included a few too many musical solos in the second half of the show. One wished for a few less indulgent solos and one or two more hits.

By surrounding herself with a great band, Nicks proved it’s possible for an artist with a 35-year career to still keep things fresh and exciting, which the near sell-out crowd embraced enthusiastically.

Opening was singer Mandy Moore, who was pleasant and friendly. Knowing most in the audience would be unfamiliar with her music (and having disavowed herself of her first few albums), Moore wisely included Cat Stevens’ Moon Shadow" and Joni Mitchell’s "Help Me I Think I’m Falling" in her set list, providing the audience with a couple popular anchors to latch on to.

It may, but don't count on it. The vocal is good, the instrumentation is another thing:eek: