"Life is looking good for Stevie Nicks" New article - 5/17/07

[RockALittle250]

Thanks to Gypsy0033 on Seven Wonders for originally posting the article.

http://www.pe.com/entertainment/stor...8.2314625.html

Life is looking good for Stevie Nicks


03:53 PM PDT on Thursday, May 17, 2007

By ALAN SCULLEY
Special to The Press-Enterprise

Stevie Nicks says there's only one drawback to having an artist like Chris Isaak open for her on her summer tour. She has to scale back the kind of set she would normally do for fans.

"I'm very happy to have Chris come with us, but I didn't really realize that meant I was going to have to shorten my set," Nicks said in a recent phone interview. "With his hour set and the 30-minute changeover, we won't go on until somewhere between 9:15 and 9:30, and curfews are 11 o'clock, and you'd better be done because if you're not, they'll pull your power."

Cutting three or four songs from what has traditionally been nearly a two-hour set is about the only thing that draws a complaint from Nicks these days. Her life and career have recovered from a period in which there was reason to wonder if Nicks could continue to be a vital force on the music scene. But, as Nicks herself said, her life today is fantastic.

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AP photo
"I guess if I could say anything about this 'Crystal Visions' thing, (it's that) I've never lost that sparkle of doing these songs, and ... for writing new ones," said Stevie Nicks of her greatest-hits CD.
And why shouldn't it be? The last decade saw Nicks, after a seven-year split with her bandmates from Fleetwood Mac, do a highly successful world tour behind the 1997 live CD "The Dance."

That was followed by the 2001 solo CD, "Trouble In Shangri-La," which was seen as her strongest solo effort since the mid-1980s.

Then came a second reunion with Fleetwood Mac -- this time without keyboardist/singer Christine McVie -- that resulted in a 2003 studio CD, "Say You Will," and another blockbuster world tour that stretched 135 dates.

Now comes Nicks' greatest-hits CD, "Crystal Visions," and, for the second consecutive summer, an extensive solo tour of outdoor amphitheaters. It's a CD that symbolizes her creative renewal, Nicks said.

"I guess if I could say anything about this 'Crystal Visions' thing, (it's that) I've never lost that sparkle of doing these songs, and I've never lost the sparkle for writing new ones," Nicks said.

Nicks is optimistic about her future, hinting that she's eager to return to making new music after this summer's tour.

Another round of recording and touring with Fleetwood Mac isn't out of the question, although she would love to see McVie -- who essentially retired from music after "The Dance" tour -- participate if there is another Fleetwood Mac reunion.

"She was such a strong personality," Nicks said. "It was kind of like Chris was the boss. ... She had a definite defining hand over the whole band.

"So it was very hard for me," she said. "First of all, I had always toured with another woman in the band. That was really fun for me because I had a girl to hang out with . ... That is my problem now with Fleetwood Mac. I don't know whether I could do it again without her. That does not mean that the door is closed. It does not mean that the decision has been made."