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.

With each new song I discover from her discography, the more I appreciate her hopeless romantic songwriting. To the inexperienced listener, Stevie Nicks might seem a bit of a hippie chick obsessed with fantastical fairytales--a throwback to Haight/Ashbury whose universe revolves around witches and gypsies decorated in leather and lace--but in her truest poetic essence, her songs ache of love gained and lost.

Her songs are not like the vengeful heartbroken anthems of today's female vocalists, like Beyonce and Adele or Taylor Swift and Katy Perry. Nicks' catalog of songs take on a persona of stoic maturity, making sense of the breakups and the heartbreaks, but understanding that time is the greatest healer, and that love is a cycle of ups and downs.

For example, her kissoff to former lover Lindsey Buckingham's "Go Your Own Way" (a song which lashes out at Stevie's "packing up, shacking up" as something all she wants to do) is "Dreams," which advises "when the rain washes you clean, you'll know", as in he'll have a better sense of things once he calms down and accepts the inevitability of moving on. It's why I find her the perfect go-to singer when it comes to matters of the heart:

Sure, you could get even with your ex, throw up a middle finger, or set fire to the world, but it would be so much easier (and less consequential) to accept the end and endure the pain, because after all, it will make you stronger, a little wiser, and things will get better.

Nicks' set, including smash hits and beloved b-sides, certainly proved that Nicks has gotten better with age. For one of the few artists (that I can think of) whose solo career is equally successful as the band from which they got their start, Nicks belted out solo efforts right alongside some of her greatest contributions to Fleetwood Mac, including "Gypsy," "Gold Dust Woman" and "Rhiannon".

And for every massive solo hit that brought the nearly sold out crowd to its feet, such as "If Anyone Falls," "Stand Back, and "Edge of Seventeen," she threw in some lesser known tracks (primarily from her first two solo albums, Bella Donna and The Wild Heart--both of which were recently re-released) that clearly pleased her most die-hard fans such as the title tracks to Bella Donna and The Wild Heart, the set opener "Gold and Braid," and the rockabilly-tinged "Enchanted."

Newer songs were also in the mix, like "Belle Fleur and "Starshine," two tracks from her most recent release, 24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault, for which this tour is supporting. She even managed to throw in a long forgotten gem, "Crying in the Night," the opening track from the hard-to-find BuckinghamNicks album, which she and Buckingham released to little fanfare before joining Fleetwood Mac and blasting off into the rock and roll stratosphere.

And let's not forget her opening act! Nicks invited rock legends The Pretenders to join in on this tour, and the band--led as always by spunky Chrissie Hynde--took little effort in getting the crowd riled up before the main event. Strolling through a catalog dominated by their biggest hits, Hynde proved she's had no change in pace in her sixty five years of age, taking zero breathers for hits like "Message of Love," "I'll Stand by You," "Middle of the Road," and "Brass in Pocket." Hynde was barely rested before she walked back out to the stage when Nicks began singing "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," filling in on Tom Petty's vocal and sending the concertgoers into a wild frenzy.

Seeing two trailblazers for women in rock and roll music standing there, playfully spouting off lines like "Baby you could never look me in the eye/Yeah, you buckle with the weight of the world," was truly a moment I'll never forget. These two women, both Rock and Roll Hall of Famers, are remarkably still agile vocal powerhouses, proving that age ain't nothing but a number, and they still have plenty to sing about. The mutual admiration and kinetic chemistry sensed between the two gave me the hope that this duo cut a record some day.

The nearly two and a half hour set culminated with the song that began my wild love affair with Nicks in the first place: "Landslide." Initially left off the set at the beginning of this tour, it's no wonder that Nicks felt obligated to add it on, understanding how meaningful this song is to her fans. It's been covered by an eclectic mix of artists, ranging from The Dixie Chicks to The Smashing Pumpkins, but it's Stevie's vocals that can keep a massive crowd transfixed into silence. There really is something magical about Stevie Nicks.

Five years ago, I beat the odds to sneak up to the front of the stage, finding myself directly in front of her mic stand at a concert in Cincinnati, Ohio. I stood there in awe at the five-foot-one performer--the closest I had ever stood near someone I idolized--and waited for the moment when I could reach up to touch her hand (as part of the "Edge Walk" she used to do during her performance of "Edge of Seventeen").

The moment came, I was the first hand she reached out to, and while it lasted a mere two seconds, it felt much longer. An energy was exchanged between us, something powerful and warm that seemed everlasting because afterward I managed to (I swear to God) have good luck for the next month or two. Perhaps it was just my extreme fanaticism that exaggerated such a moment, or maybe Nicks really is some sort of white witch of wonder.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to repeat said moment, but fortunately for me, Nicks no longer does her Edge Walk. But if she did, and the planets of the universe aligned at once, I know what she would think upon seeing me: That is one fabulous top hat!

Set List for Pretenders:

1) Alone
2) Gotta Wait
3) Message of Love
4) Private Life
5) Down the Wrong Way
6) Hymn to Her
7) Back on the Chain Gang
8) I'll Stand By You
9) Holy Commotion
10) My City Was Gone
11) Stop Your Sobbing
12) Don't Get Me Wrong
13) Mystery Achievement
14) Middle of the Road
15) Brass in Pocket

Set List for Stevie Nicks:

1) Gold and Braid
2) If Anyone Falls
3) Stop Draggin My Heart Around
4) Belle Fleur
5) Gypsy
6) Wild Heart
7) Bella Donna
8) Enchanted
9) New Orleans
10) Starshine
11) Moonlight (A Vampire's Dream)
12) Stand Back
13) Crying in the Night
14) If You Were My Love
15) Gold Dust Woman
16) Edge of Seventeen
Encore:
17) Rhiannon
18) Landslide