Los Angeles Times Reviews Wanted

[David]

L.A. Times reviews of Stevie Nicks shows wanted:

1981 Fox Wilshire
By Dennis Hunt
(positive review in which Hunt names it one of the best pop-rock shows in years)

1986 Pacific Amphitheatre
By Chris Hoffman
(mostly positive)

1991 Irvine Meadows
By Dennis Hunt
(positive but undeserved)

[David]

doesn't anybody have these?

You bastards.

[AliceLover]

I thought this was deserved. Byfar the best show of the Timespace Tour.

Concert Review:
(Greek Theatre, August 18, 1991)
published in L.A. Times, August 2001
(by Dennis Hunt)

What's gotten into Stevie Nicks?

On Saturday at the sold-out Greek Theatre, she sang like a woman possessed. None of the area performances she's given over the years--both solo and with Fleetwood Mac--approached the high quality of this one.

Attending a Nicks' show has always been a gamble. Notoriously tempermental, she could be awful, her voice cracking and taking on an annoyingly nasal, bleating quality. Even when she was mostly good, she'd occasionally drift off-key or sing half-heartedly on some material.

On Saturday, though, Nicks' vocals were dramatic and full-bodied. Her husky voice has deepened with age, losing that tendancy toward screechiness. She emphasized music from her solo career, which is generally superior to her material from her Fleetwood Mac days--though she did her strongest singing on her moody signature song "Rhiannon," which was recorded with Fleetwood Mac.

Nicks has come down to Earth somewhat, playing down her mystery-woman persona while retaining a vulnerable, tortured, little girl lost quality that endears her to audiences. She's also been bitten by the glamour bug: Nicks has turned into a Diana Ross-like clothes horse, changing costumes what seemed like every 10 minutes.

[LiquidBlue5000]

Originally Posted by AliceLover

I thought this was deserved. Byfar the best show of the Timespace Tour.

Concert Review:
(Greek Theatre, August 18, 1991)
published in L.A. Times, August 2001
(by Dennis Hunt)

What's gotten into Stevie Nicks?

On Saturday at the sold-out Greek Theatre, she sang like a woman possessed. None of the area performances she's given over the years--both solo and with Fleetwood Mac--approached the high quality of this one.

Attending a Nicks' show has always been a gamble. Notoriously tempermental, she could be awful, her voice cracking and taking on an annoyingly nasal, bleating quality. Even when she was mostly good, she'd occasionally drift off-key or sing half-heartedly on some material.

On Saturday, though, Nicks' vocals were dramatic and full-bodied. Her husky voice has deepened with age, losing that tendancy toward screechiness. She emphasized music from her solo career, which is generally superior to her material from her Fleetwood Mac days--though she did her strongest singing on her moody signature song "Rhiannon," which was recorded with Fleetwood Mac.

Nicks has come down to Earth somewhat, playing down her mystery-woman persona while retaining a vulnerable, tortured, little girl lost quality that endears her to audiences. She's also been bitten by the glamour bug: Nicks has turned into a Diana Ross-like clothes horse, changing costumes what seemed like every 10 minutes.

let me guess... you were there?

[David]

Originally Posted by AliceLover

I thought this was deserved. Byfar the best show of the Timespace Tour.

Concert Review:
(Greek Theatre, August 18, 1991)
published in L.A. Times, August 2001
(by Dennis Hunt)

Thank you, Jim! I thought it was Irvine Meadows, but obviously it's the Greek.

Dennis Hunt was always the "pop" end of the critic staff at the Times, & consequently I think readers took him the least seriously.

But he also reviewed (fairly positively) Fleetwood Mac's 1979 shows at the Forum, & Stevie's 1981 opening night in L.A. (extremely positively). I think I have the former stored away somewhere, but I haven't read the latter since it appeared in the paper. Can you track it down? He called Stevie's Fox Wilshire show the best pop-rock show in years.

[AliceLover]

Originally Posted by David

Thank you, Jim! I thought it was Irvine Meadows, but obviously it's the Greek.

Dennis Hunt was always the "pop" end of the critic staff at the Times, & consequently I think readers took him the least seriously.

But he also reviewed (fairly positively) Fleetwood Mac's 1979 shows at the Forum, & Stevie's 1981 opening night in L.A. (extremely positively). I think I have the former stored away somewhere, but I haven't read the latter since it appeared in the paper. Can you track it down? He called Stevie's Fox Wilshire show the best pop-rock show in years.

I'll look around.