Stevie Nicks is undoubtedly one of the most influential people in American pop culture. The reigning queen of rock and roll first toured solo back in 1981 with the release of her debut album, Bella Donna. As the album began making the rounds, it became clear to everyone with ears that Stevie Nicks was something special. She had the opportunity to explore a career independent from her band, Fleetwood Mac, and she was flourishing. This, of course, gave me very high hopes when I saw her in concert earlier this year.
Unsurprisingly, the best part of the performance was Nicks’ vocals. She sang classics such as Dreams, Gold Dust Woman, and Edge of Seventeen. Her voice was, in a word, enchanting. She’s maintained an extremely impressive vocal range since the 1970s. She spoke a bit about her vocal training and the work she’s put in in order to maintain such strength. She gave most of the credit to her vocal coach, who she ended up bringing on stage to sing a duet with.
Considering that Nicks is a 75 year-old woman, I wasn’t expecting much in the way of visuals. However, I ended up being pleasantly surprised. Nicks was mostly stationary, but was very creative in other ways. Dancing lights were shone onto the crowd as era-appropriate collages and slideshows appeared on the screen behind her. For most songs, she’d bring out a shawl or some other article of clothing that she had worn in the related music video. She truly used all avenues that were available in order to deliver the most to her audience.
Although the concert wasn’t as high energy as most others these days, it still stands out as one of the best concerts I’ve been to. I truly believe Nicks was born to pursue music. The raw emotion of her songs have connected with people decades after being written. I’ll always cherish the memory of seeing a living legend perform.