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Concert review: Rod Stewart, Stevie Nicks at Amway Center
Concerts — posted by jimabbott on August, 3 2012 10:49 PM

“Two legends, one stage,” proclaimed ads for the “Heart & Soul” tour of Rod Stewart and Stevie Nicks.

Part of that might be a stretch, but there was one stage on Friday at a nearly packed Amway Center.

In terms of musical chemistry, these two veteran rock stars seem like an odd couple. Not exactly leather and lace, you know?

Still, Stewart and Nicks (who didn’t sing together on this night) have enough classic favorites for an appealing nostalgia trip. That’s especially true for Stewart, who also possesses a knack for channeling material of heavyweight songwriters from Bob Dylan to Van Morrison.

On Friday, he leaned heavily – and wisely – on rock’s classic songbook in a breezy 1 hour and 40 minutes. At the center of a visually engaging white stage in front of a massive video screen, Stewart hosted a rollicking dance party powered by oldies such as “Love Train,” “Havin’ a Party” and even Chuck Berry.

Of course, Stewart unleashed classics of his own, such as a faithful version of “Tonight’s the Night (Gonna Be Alright)” offered in the early going. He flubbed a note, but came clean about it afterward.

“You probably noticed that I missed a note there,” he said. “I promise it won’t happen again.”

It didn’t. Still, his always-raspy voice seemed more fragile than it once was and occasionally had a hard time rising above the wall of guitars, drums, horns and backing singers. Yet, Stewart managed to be expressive on the “unplugged” string-powered ballad “Have I Told You Lately.”

That one was followed by an endearing take on “The First Cut Is the Deepest,” a nearly forgotten song that packed an emotional punch.

Whether a ballad or a rocker, it was fun to watch Stewart tear through songs such as “Rhythm of My Heart,” “You Wear It Well” and “Forever Young,” the latter introduced by family pictures. Any of those oldies are better than the big-band standards that he has been churning out in recent years.

Nicks, on the other hand, hasn’t been as busy, releasing only two studio projects since 2001. In a well-constructed 75-minute opening set, songs from her 2011 “In Your Dreams” album were strong enough to hope that she doesn’t wait so long for the next release. Even without the rest of her old band, the classics “Dreams,” “Gold Dust Woman” and “Landslide” remain powerful.

Dressed in flowing black, with matching fingerless gloves, Nicks offered a dramatic assortment of mystical gestures and the occasional spinning dance move, especially in a theatrical “Rhiannon.” Between songs, she was chatty enough to qualify as the heart of the “Heart & Soul” tour.

Yet it’s obvious that Stewart’s rock ‘n’ roll heart is still beating.

That doesn’t make it legendary, but both of these stars are survivors and that’s impressive, too.