KSanders writesConcert Journal: Stevie Nicks & The Pretenders at the United Center (12/3/16)

[picture from zumic.com]

by Kyle Sanders

Two key points to wearing a top hat:

1) It will get you many compliments.

2) It will not keep your head warm in thirty degree weather--which is surprising, considering top hats were all the rage for men 100 years ago (so how did they do it?!).

Times might have changed, yet the appeal of Stevie Nicks remains timeless. There I was, standing in line to enter the United Center last Saturday night in cold temperatures, donning a vintage Victorian-style black top hat to match the vest and combat boots I had also decided to wear.

Looking more steam-punk than mystical, I scanned the crowd of concertgoers of mixed ages, genders, and races, realizing I was the only person sporting a top hat. It's one feeling of joy to dress up to stand out, but it's a whole other level of smug satisfaction in knowing that no one else in all their chiffon glory holds a candle to your distinct look. "Taken by the (chilly) wind," indeed!

For more than half of my life, I have been a fan of Stevie Nicks. My obsessive admiration began in 1997, the year of Fleetwood Mac's well-received comeback tour, The Dance, and I instantly fell in love watching the intimately acoustic performance of Nicks' "Landslide" on an MTV special (it's the best version of that song in my book). Nicks' weathered voice singing words of reflection and gained knowledge cast a spell over me at age 11, and nearly twenty years later, that spell continues to enchant my heart and soul.

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