Tour Reviews

18-7-98 Woodlands, Houston, TX

We got on the road for Houston around 12:30 Friday afternoon. It was very hot, but we still took the t-tops off Karen's Camaro. We took the back roads from Austin since the Woodlands is on the north side of Houston and we wanted to avoid Houston traffic. Plus, this way is a lot more scenic. I don't know how familiar you are with this part of Texas, but the older houses in these little towns are all Victorian, very "Stevie" and "Big Love" video looking stuff, lots of antique shops with Tiffany (blue) lamps in the windows. Also, this part of Texas isn't flat like west Texas, it's very hilly. We ate lunch in Giddings, at a little family-owned diner. We also went through Brenham, where they make Blue Bell ice cream.

We started listening to The Dance CD and it was at one point during Silver Springs that I decided to start taking notes of all the little Stevie things we noticed on the road. During Lindsey's solo on Silver Springs, I was gazing out upon the Texas hill country and I just had a moment...I was finally on my way to see Stevie!

Some of the things we noticed along the way: A huge, iron WHITE WINGED DOVE over the door of a little church; a billboard for DREAM Ranch; another billboard for MAC Haik Realty and the signs for LEGENDS Greenery and THOUSAND (days) Trails campsite. When we went through Brenham, it was, "Oooh, look at that Big Love house, Aaaah, look at THAT Big Love house..."

We got into town, checked into our hotel and since we were so close to the venue, we decided to cruise by it. Chicago and Hall & Oates played the night before Stevie. Oh, one thing you need to understand about the Woodlands Pavilion, it's back in a residential neighborhood, surrounded by trees. The entire little Woodlands community has every street lined with tall trees and everything is hidden back in the trees. The mall, the pavilion, banks, gas stations, everything.

One of the streets to get to the venue is Research FOREST (of the black roses) Drive. Other street names we noticed all around the venue were (running in the) SHADOWbend, CATS CRADLE (like the back of Enchanted pic), Bear (silver) SPRINGS Place, CRYSTAL Lake Lane, etc. We also saw a sign for a garage sale on ENCHANTED Drive! If you drive to the back of the venue, you'll get to the GOLD (dust woman) VIP parking lot. Okay, we were stretching for some of these, but it does make a fun little road game to play.

We went to dinner Friday night at Landry's. It's located next to a little lake with a huge fountain in the middle. A thunderstorm came through and there was a great lightning show.

Okay, Saturday, the big day. We had lots to do. Bought champagne for pre and post-concert partying, bought film for the camera and another roll for Karen to keep in her purse in case mine got confiscated, took my RIANON license plate to a florist and had a bouquet made around it. I picked out a card with hearts on it and wrote, "Stevie, thank you for always being the poet in our wild hearts." Karen had a red and white carnation bouquet made also. Oh yeah, couldn't forget to do my nails, blue-green toenails flashing, which I made sure to point out to Tracey when I met her at the show. ;-)

While we were getting ready, I said to Karen, "I wonder if Stevie knows that fans like us get as nervous as I'm sure she does before a show." Have another glass of something French, champagne, okay, I'm better now...this was my 8th or 9th time seeing Stevie solo and I still get the jitters.

One drawback of the Woodlands, you have to walk awhile on the trail through the forest from the parking area. A bee was very attracted to Karen's bouquet and it was freaking me out 'cause I'm allergic to bee stings. Lots of people were making comments to us about the flowers.

Security doesn't find my camera when we go in, cool. Of course, we had to go check out our seats right away. We were on the aisle, middle section, Row 2, on the Carlos side (also keyboard player Kevin, more about him later). Yeah, baby! Tracey came over and found me (little did she know then that she'd be the lucky Landslide dedicatee, is that a word?) My friend from Waco was sitting right next to us, but they moved closer to the middle and I never saw him again after that. It did seem like there were some empty seats in the pit all night.

Now we're thirsty, time for a drink and check out the goods. We both brought plastic shopping bags to haul our crud (thanks to whoever it was on the Ledge for giving me that idea). I asked the T-shirt girl if she would let me pick out everything I wanted, and then I would come back and pay her as soon as the concert was over. She said "no." Whatever, I bought 2 T-shirts, 2 tourbooks (bought one for a friend who couldn't go), a keychain, both pins and the magnet.

I really had planned to watch Boz, but I ran into an old friend from San Antonio and had to talk with him for awhile. Then, this little boy comes running up to me out of nowhere, "Excuse me, is your name Stacey?" (not the first time that would happen tonight). I said, "Yes," he said, "from the internet?" It was Classic's son, he led me straight to her and her husband. Unfortunately, we didn't get much time to visit, I knew Stevie was going to start soon and I definitely wanted to be in my seat.

The pit security told us that we should put our flowers on the side of the stage for one of Stevie's security people to pick up, that Stevie wouldn't be taking anything herself. We decided to hang onto them anyway. Okay, here comes Chris w/ the Enchanted introduction and you know the song list, here are my highlights: Stevie gave her flowers to the girl in front of us and off to the right, who started crying immediately, it was cute.

Outside the Rain and Dreams - I'm still getting over the shock of our seats and how GOOD Stevie looked!

Enchanted - LOVED IT!! I noticed she sang, "It's just a light through the night" instead of "voice through the night."

Gold Dust Woman - Yes, I did the spider fingers, but Stevie didn't really do them, she did do the "shadow" fingers. The "go hooooooome" was awesome...

While setting up for the acoustic set, Brett was playing the intro to "Rooms on Fire." I don't remember anybody else mentioning this, so at first, Karen and both thought they were going to do it.

After the Glitter Fades was flawless - I noticed she hit a couple notes even higher than the studio version.

Rose Garden - I had eye contact with Stevie on this one - she saw me twirling my finger with her on the "roses dangling down to the ground" line....

Sleeping Angel - I have always loved this song and if there was ever part of the concert where I almost lost it, this was it. I think Stevie forgot she had to change because she stayed at the microphone as if waiting for some music and then realized, "Oh, I'm supposed to be changing now," and she ran off, it was funny. Throughout the entire concert, we had MAJOR eye contact with Kevin Stoller, the keyboard player behind Carlos. It was so intense, that I even said to Karen, "I can't look at him anymore, every time I do, he's watching us, it's starting to freak me out." But, it was still fun.

Rhiannon - Stevie screwed up at the beginning, she started to repeat "Would you even try," when she should have gone into another verse. It threw everyone off for a second, but they recovered nicely. I think it was during this song where her microphone cut out for a second.

Whole Lotta Trouble - Okay, this is when things started getting crazy...the deadbeat couple who was sitting down the entire concert, left their 3rd row seats behind us. Toward the end of this song and before Landslide, a guy came up behind me and was talking on a cell phone. He had a laminated crew pass around his neck. I suddenly had a flashback to the Van Halen grid system and thought Kevin had sent a roadie down to give us passes. That wasn't the case, but I was close. The guy behind me kept talking on his phone and looking at me. Then, he says, "Excuse me, is your name Stacey?" I said, "Yeah, who wants to know?" He went back to the phone and told me to wait a second, then he hands me the phone!! Keep in mind, this is at the end of Whole Lotta Trouble and it's loud! It was my friend Lisa, calling from Austin. The guy with the phone works for the promoter and she met him at a recent concert in Houston. She wanted to come to Stevie, but changed her mind (she's not a diehard fan). Anyway, she said, "That's my friend, he's going to get you backstage." He had already given Karen a pass and sent someone back to get one for me. I told Lisa "Thank you, and I really need to go, because it's Stevie and I'm in heaven right now." Landslide had already started, so I missed Tracey's dedication. :-( I would have loved to have seen the look on her cute li'l face!

Well, these crew guys offered to take us backstage right then and there to watch the rest of the concert from the wings. I said, "There's no way I'm leaving this spot until after Edge of 17."

Toward the end of the song, I told the scrawny high-school security kid that it was time for us to be able to move up to the stage. Poor thing, he was so naive...he said we'd all have to get past him and 3 other security guards first. I said "Watch!", grabbed Karen, and got up there as soon as the bongo solo started. We put our flowers on the stage and beat our hands on the stage, inches away from Stevie's microphone. The rest of the pit joined us, the girls in the 4th row who were where I thought Phillip would be, ended up right next to me. Karen and I moved our flowers up against the monitor so they were out of the way. The girl next to me looked like she was about to cry. She told me her friend bought their tickets and had her believing they were on the lawn. She didn't know they had 4th row until they got there and she wanted to cry all night.

Stevie and Sharon finished their duet at the microphone and it was time. She started stage right, as usual, I'm getting more and more crushed by the people behind me, but it was cool, I wasn't getting hurt or anything. Karen was on my left, with both hands up, Stevie grabbed both her hands and squeezed, then she reached over Karen, I'm getting more crushed at this point. I put up both my hands and Stevie grabbed them both and squeezed! I told her I loved her. As she moved on to the others, I rubbed my hand across the top of her velvet boots and her dress brushed across the top of my hand. I noticed the 2 security guards following her left our flowers exactly where we put them. We pushed them further back so nobody else would take them.

While Stevie was still making her way down the stage, my friend from San Antonio was right behind us, he had made it down from the 11th row. We gave him our spot and let our crew friends lead us backstage. Through a maze of equipment, cables and wooden sidewalks, we end up stage right, standing amongst the equipment. Wow, what a different view from here. I saw Tracey, the 4th row crying girls, and my other friend up against the stage. I missed her introduction, did she say the Tom Petty thing? Anyway, I still hadn't taken any pictures all night, the only people I saw getting away with it were not using flash. Karen and I both decided I HAD to take a picture. When "Has Anyone...." started, I dug out my camera and went for it. As I said in my earlier preview post, one of Stevie's people got a little miffed about that, I told him I wouldn't take any more, but I had to get at least one or nobody would believe where I was. He laughed about it.

The first person we run into is Kevin. He asked us if we had a good time, I smiled and said, "Didn't it look like we were?" He laughed and said the girl in front of us looked like she was having MORE fun (she had a shawl and kept playing with it). Then he wanted to know if we were going to the "band party" at the hotel. Now, I don't want to imply anything or be misinterpreted, but isn't Kevin the one that handed some passes to a 13-year old girl earlier in the tour? Hmmm, I'm way too old for him!! They were staying downtown, a good 45 minutes away from the venue. Our crew friend asked if Stevie was going to do a meet & greet and Kevin said he wasn't sure, that she's been hanging out in her room a lot more, but you never know. Later, we found out that they had chartered a plane for her to fly straight to Denver after the concert.

On our way down the stairs to the VIP area, we ran into Don and Carlos. (Travis, you'll be happy to know that I did refer to him as "The Tree!!"). They actually said hello to us first, our crew friend said, "You two don't need any help from me, you seem like you know everybody already." We laughed and told him they recognized us from the audience.

Land, the drummer was sitting at a table with his father and a bunch of kids. I thought they might have been relatives too, but he was asking them their names. Lenny came over to meet Land's father, Christopher Nicks gave teddy bears to all the kids. Mindy Stein came over to that table also.

I didn't get pictures with anyone or ask for anyone's autograph. :-( It seemed like everyone was in a hurry to leave and there just wasn't a good opportunity. We went to the production office with our crew buddies and hung out in there for awhile. I got out my tourbook and was pleasantly surprised to see that Stevie has the same big, pink Wembley arena poster that I have. Also, the picture of Stevie and Herbie and Robin on her mantlepiece, see the blue sun and moon candle votives? I've got those too, there's a star that goes with the set also.

Enchanted? Yes!!!! The entire evening was enchanting...I will gladly invest the bucks to be in the first 5 rows for every future Stevie and (hopefully) Fleetwood Mac concert. There is just nothing that compares to being surrounded by true fans (except for the deadbeats behind me who left early.) Looking around at the crowd and noticing the ones who knew all the words to Garbo and Sleeping Angel, the ones who can't take their eyes off of Stevie, the ones who know every hand gesture, the ones who cry tears of joy, the ones who sing at night...

Trouble In Shangri-La Show on August 3rd
Smirnoff Music Center Dallas, TX

"So-called" a review of Dallas Reviewer: Brian W. Johnson (estranged4life@webtv.net) from Carnegie, Oklahoma August 05, 2001 "Sort-of" a review of Dallas!!!

Hello. I just made it home from Dallas...And it was worth the 600 miles round-trip drive. I would say overall that the concert was great, But the most of the audience, (In my section especially), sat through all the TISL songs...I would give a more detailed review of the concert, but I had a seat over to the right of the Smirnoff Centre, (Section 200 Row AA Seat 3),And I wasn't able to see the whole stage...I however saw the left part ,(From my point of view) ,of the stage where Waddy was positioned to over where Sharon & Mindy were on the right. I couldnt see Lenny or Brett due to the amplification on the stage, Plus I wasn't able to see the backdrop behind the drummer.Anyways, I did remember the set list from the show
last nite. It was basically the same set list Stevie has used so far for this tour, Its listed below:

Stop Draggin' My Heart Around (The WHOLE crowd rose to welcome Stevie!!)
Enchanted (Good performance!)
Dreams (Another great performance!!!)
Gold Dust Woman (Best performance of the night!!! Loved the stage lighting...)
Sorcerer (Sounded very good live...)
Everyday (Much better live!!)
Rhiannon (Great version of THE classic...But the audience in my section sat on their rears during this jewel!!!)
Stand Back (Complete with THE kick!!! I love her shoes...LOL!!!)
Planets of the Universe (Sounded great...Wished I could have seen the backdrop better...)
Too Far From Texas (Brought a great response from the Dallas crowd for obvious reasons...)
Bombay Sapphires (Sounded a bit flat to me...Maybe just an off nite)
Fall From Grace (Straight ahead rocker...Way cool!)
Edge of Seventeen (Great intro-guitar solo by Waddy)
(Encores)-
I Need to Know (A real hard rocking song...Stevie seemed to be enjoying herself!!!)
Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You ( What can I say...Stevie looked like the legendary poet that she is...)

Stevie seemed to be having a great time last night. She was VERY talkative throughout the show, And her voice was back 100!!! Very strong and without an ounce of cracking. And DAMN, Did she ever look so SEXY!!!BTW, When I left the Smirnoff Centre, I went out the wrong entrance/exit. So I had to walk all the way around to the other side to find my car...While I was walking through the parking lot when I saw a few people,(About 10-15), Waiting outside the exit where the backstage area was...Anyways I kept walking a little further down from that exit HOPING to find my car, When I saw a Winnabago (?) that was parallel parked and idling. I thought that was rather strange being parked in a weird way...So I walked on by and noticed it had an Arizona license tag on it, No sooner than I looked back I saw Stevie's brother Chris standing outside behind the Winnabago!!! I nodded to him and he did the same in return. I would have went to talk to him but I was WAY too tired from all the travel I had. I just thought that was a rather strange coincident, First a vehicle with Ariz. tags then Chris Nicks...hmmmm!!! Well, I did meet Livia, And I really enjoyed talking to her,(She's very intelligent and a cutey too!!!). While I talked to
Livia, Lenny Castro & Al Ortiz were standing directly in front of us talking. Thanks for making me feel welcomed Livia!!! Anyways, I hope she can add alot to this "So-Called" review because she had a better seat than I did and may have seen more upclose...Not "Too Far From Texas" now, BrianPS-"Spinal Tap" moment of the day When I purchased my ticket
at Kroger's, The female clerk asked "For which show?", I replied "Stevie Nicks"...Her reply was, "How do you spell HIS name?"..I gave her my "Are you able to even spell your OWN name?" look...Hehehehe!!!! BTW, The opening act Bob Schneider was alright, Not exactly my type of music, But still very entertaining none-the-less.

Here’s my TISL Texas “review” – Since so much has been mentioned already about the set list, etc., I won’t go through all that – I just want to share my “overall” concert experiences and some highlights:

After flying in from Austin, I picked up my rental car (a white Mustang) and checked into my hotel. I was so excited, I didn’t know what to do with myself. I got ready and hooked up with “my people” at the VIP entrance of the venue (thank goodness for cell phones). The VIP pre-concert area had a full bar, but they wouldn’t let you take your drinks into the venue. So, I helped my new friends slam their frozen drinks and off we went.

Although they had let people into the venue, they weren’t allowing anyone to go to their seats yet, including the lawn. We milled around for a bit and checked out the merchandise. Two of the people with me had laminated passes, I had the “stick-on” kind. You may have seen them, they have a Buddha woman on them, they’re cool looking. Anyway, while Bob Schneider was still setting up, we asked one of the ushers if we could go in. He was kind enough to allow us into the empty venue. That’s when I noticed the 3 rows of folding chairs in front of the permanent seats. I asked the usher, “What’s considered front row?” He said the folding chair rows were 1, 2 and 3, then Row A. Like I said in my earlier post, if I had Row A, thinking it was front row, I’d be PISSED! Guess Colby Donaldson from Survivor (the TV show) is really milking his fifteen minutes…

Anyway, they started to let people in and it was really funny to watch the stampede of people on the lawn claiming their spots. We headed backstage at that point to seek some air conditioning. We ran into Lenny, Al, and Scott. I got a close-up look at Lenny’s dragon tattoo. He said, “How’s that for being committed to a band?” LOL We hung out with some of the crew and soaked up all the A/C we could.

I wanted to see Bob Schneider, so I headed back out to the venue to check out my seat. I think this was around the time Brian spotted me – he was sitting in the front row of the 2^nd section back. So that was cool, to meet a fellow Ledgie. J Al and Lenny walked up and were just hanging out, scoping out the scene. I pointed them out to Brian and then went to check out my seat. I had 7^th row, to the right of the stage, directly in front of the speakers. Not too bad, but I moved to the center with Julie (she’s in the tourbook too) to watch Bob.

Bob went into “Tarantula,” his “obligatory audience participation song,” which, being from Austin, I’ve seen 20 times. But he did get the crowd going. It’s a very uptempo, salsa number. And the chorus is very “Stevie,” actually….”there she goes, under the moonlight, under the stars, tarantula!” He’s probably not used to people NOT going nuts for him, so he said, “I hear Stevie Nicks is gonna be here tonight,” to get the crowd screaming.

The only thing I like about the Smirnoff Music Center is that they have a VIP concession line for people w/ passes. That was very convenient. And, it’s on the fairgrounds, the ferris wheel looks really cool behind the lawn, even though it wasn’t running. As far as amphitheaters go, the roof over this place reminds me of a parking garage. Not at all conducive to live music. After Bob’s set, I went backstage for another blast of A/C, used the restroom, took my place in the VIP concession line to get a drink and I knew it was almost time….

I went to my seat and was immediately recognized, “Hey, you’re the NicksFix girl!” Heh.

I was chatting w/ the diehard fans around me and then “Bootylicious” started. I instantly got goosebumps. I absolutely LOVE the TISL vocal re-mix intro. I could listen to just that over and over…

I was surrounded by TOTAL Stevie fans, it was great. I couldn’t see Brett at all, and I thought I’d wait a few minutes to see of any of those empty seats got filled from people arriving late. When Stevie started Gold Dust Woman, this guy, I’m trying to be PC here, uhhh, very effeminate, shall we say, started yelling, “OH…MY…GAAAAWD!” It was sooo funny! He was so thrilled that she was doing that song, he just kept screaming and jumping up and down. In the meantime, there was a woman in about the 3^rd row, right in front of us, who was wearing a duplicate of the TISL cover outfit, except it was pink instead of peach. I guess it looked more like the white outfit from the Mirage tour. Anyway, this woman seemed to be channeling Stevie, literally. She kept doing Stevie moves and seemed almost oblivious to what was happening onstage, ‘cause she was doing Rumours-Mirage era things, like that pose with her elbows pointed upward, hands under the chin, leaning over and spinning until she was on the ground. You just had to see her, she was freaky! And I hope she’s not reading this, and maybe she is a perfectly “normal” person, but she just struck me as one of those fans that security should keep a close eye on. It was funny at first, but after a couple more songs, I was just too distracted by her to enjoy the show. I did ask some of the band and crew afterwards if they’d seen her, they did, and kinda rolled their eyes. LOL

So, I made my move toward the middle and a few rows closer. I ended up 4^th row, behind the folding chairs and just to the right of Stevie. Several seats around me remained empty all night.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I think this stage is the most beautiful set she’s ever had. And whoever’s in charge of lighting should win an award! I loved the pillars of color with their roses dangling down to the ground – and the Buddha women with their skirts.

Stevie flubbed up a few lyrics here and there, but she always manages to recover nicely. Someone else mentioned her mike going out during the “surviiiiiiiive” part of Fall From Grace, that was a bummer. Stevie kinda looked at the mike, like “is this thing on?” I noticed she purposely changed a few lyrics here and there. In Planets, she sang, …leaving nothing left of us to “desire,” instead of “discover.” I liked that.

I didn’t take any pictures until I felt it was safe. I saw some people come up the side aisle and the usher actually told them it was okay to move up front to take pictures, as long as they came right back. So, out came my camera and I started snapping away. I got the kick in Stand Back, and when Stevie did the “sweep” during Edge of 17, I got a nice pic of her waving to the crowd when she was right in front of me. I didn’t rush the stage this time. Been there, done that, and it was too friggin’ hot!

My favorites – Planets (my favorite album cut) ROCKS live! Sorcerer does too, it just has that pounding bass/drum thing that reminds of, oh, I dunno, Fleetwood Mac maybe? Bombay Sapphires, wow! I wasn’t crazy about this song the first few times I heard it, but it has become one my favorites on the album. And it is SO good live! I also love the “meandering” ending, “I can mend your heart, mend your heart…” Fall From Grace was 10 times better than the Blockbuster performance, which rocks. I also love the end of that song, “MAKE sure, MAKE sure, MAKE sure…” It reminds me of Sister of the Moon live too. And I don’t know if it was the hat or what, but HAEWAFY was ultra touching this time. By this time, I had moved even closer to the center, where my friends were sitting. I was standing behind 2 couples – the guys were standing behind the girls, with their arms around their waists. They were swaying along to this beautiful ballad and I really felt the energy and love and magic that was all around everyone. It made me get all verklempt. These are the moments that I live for…

After the show, we were herded into the VIP room (which we nicknamed the holding tank) and quickly informed by security that if we left the room to use the bathroom or smoke, we had to leave the venue. Most of the band came in to chat and sign autographs, but no Stevie. L Lori Perry was there and apparently had several friends in tow. Guys with walkie-talkies kept coming in and out. Next thing we knew, we heard the crowd outside yelling and clapping and off Stevie went, in her black limo. So you see, being backstage isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. I’ve been backstage at many Stevie shows, but only got to meet her at one. I know, POOR me, right? LOL But my point is, you just never know….a backstage pass is not a guarantee.

I hung out with my crew buddies for awhile before heading back to the hotel for some rest before doing it all again the next day…

Houston was, unfortunately, much hotter and more humid than Dallas. The entire time before the actual concert was stressful and extremely nerve-wracking. Mainly because: (a) I did not have my own vehicle and (b) the people I relied on for transportation were not as enthusiastic as I was about getting there early; nor did they fully comprehend the logistics of parking and having to walk a mile to the venue (walk, not sprint, as we were forced to do since we were so late), figuring out where the VIP entrance was, finding my friends to pick up our passes (again, thank goodness for cell phones), standing in line to buy merchandise, concessions and getting to your seat on time. ARRRGH! My friend friggin’ grew up in Houston, but she got lost on the way back to her dad’s after picking me up at the airport. I had originally planned to get a room near the venue, but she talked me out of it because she didn’t want to spend the money since her dad lives about 20 minutes away in Conroe. After driving around the outskirts of Houston for about an hour and by the time we get to her dad’s, we only had 30 minutes to get ready since we’d planned on meeting Jessica Leigh for dinner and getting to the show in time for the opening act. To make a long and grueling story short, after we finally took care of all our business, I was just paying for my drink and about to go to my seat when Bootylicious started. Lesson learned, I shall ALWAYS have my own transportation and lodging so I don’t have to rely on anyone!

Oh yeah, the passes in Dallas were red, I was wearing a black t-shirt w/ a red dragon on it; the passes in Houston were green, I was wearing a blue floral print dress. When I was putting on my pass, Jessica Leigh and I were laughing because, “it is green, it is aquamarine.” Heh. I was very color coordinated in both cities.

The Woodlands Pavilion is a perfect place to see live music. It’s surrounded by trees, and we had the full moon goin’ on. The venue is smaller than the one in Dallas, everything looked closer together onstage and the seating seemed more intimate as well. I had a 12^th row seat, on the extreme left. All I could see was Stevie’s mike stand and the girls and Brett. Like I said in my earlier post, my Sticketbastard should have noted this seat as “obstructed view” because it sucked so bad. I wasted no time moving to the (once again) many scattered empty seats in the middle section. I went up to Row CC with a borrowed ticket stub to get Jessica Leigh down there with me. We ended up in the 2^nd row behind the pit, just to the left of Stevie. I think this was all during Dreams or maybe Gold Dust Woman, but it was early in the show. My friend Bruce was on the aisle between the middle and the right section, I ran over to say hello to him real quick too. He’s a huge Stevie fan, every time I looked at him, he was absolutely beaming with joy. Aaaah, there’s that vibe I needed to calm down after my hectic afternoon.

Stevie flubbed lyrics in the exact same places she did in Dallas. I don’t know what that’s all about, Bruce said she must have a mental block. LOL. Anyway, the sound was better in Houston too. Of course, the crowd went nuts during TFFT, “there’s a room just outside of Houston…” Stevie dedicated it to Sandy Stewart, who was in the audience.

After getting the first show out of my system, it was fun to share Jessica Leigh’s excitement and see her reaction. We had a blast together, she’s very cool! The people around us had all hung out with the drummer, Mark, all day at the lake. After TFFT, the guy next to me asked me if that song was on her new album. Then he said he hoped she’d do Landslide and Silver Springs. Sorry he was disappointed, and he just didn’t seem to “get” my explanation about both of those songs not being the same without Lindsey, in my opinion. He and his friend were making fun of me for knowing all the words, but they were having a great time and it’s always fun to watch people becoming “Stevie-cized” for the first time! LOL The girl in front of me kept raising her arms during Stand Back and I wanted another picture of the kick. The guy next to me let me lean into his space to get it. Jessica Leigh and I also had him take a picture of us, with our backs to the stage and Stevie in the background. Can’t wait to see that one! I joined my friend Bruce again for HAEWAFY. Stevie was having a little trouble keeping that hat on, we were cracking up.

Afterwards, we were once again herded into the holding tank. My crew buddy informed us that Stevie was definitely coming in there. Sigh! Once again, no luck. We stayed there until we were told Stevie had left the building. But before that, was the “leaky pen incident” (see my earlier post) with Al. Heh.

We said our good-byes to my crew buddies (who were very apologetic that we didn’t get to meet Stevie this time). I told them that I knew 2 shows just wouldn’t be enough for me, and I’d probably see them in Vegas or Phoenix, if they add more dates. I just reserved my flight to Vegas today. J

If you managed to read all of this, bless you! LOL But, I know y’all understand. Like Stevie said when she introduced Sorcerer, “Who else am I gonna tell these stories too?”

Thank you, Stevie, for having that magic that uniquely touches all of our wild hearts!

The truly enchanted Laura.

(with thanks to Laura Mountain who sent this review to me)

05-10-01 & 06-10-01 - Aladdin Resort and Casino, Las Vegas

London UK - Las Vegas USA. 17,000kms in a weekend.......you're kidding, right?

No....we did it. Anything for Stevie. We made T-Shirts especially for the trip saying how far we had come to see Stevie Rock-A-Little. We even made cards to hand out with our email addys.

Disaster - Stevie very sick. August 25th Concert postponed. Had to cancel everything at great cost and wait for a new date.

Surprise - Two dates! Wooohooo!

September 11th - The world in shock. Stevie very upset. Tour nearly cancelled. Is Vegas still on? Flights changed meaning we would be late for the first show.

October 5th - We left Milton Keynes early to miss the traffic. This was a very good move as we were put on an earlier flight to Las Vegas. Once on board we noticed that Stevie's Storytellers was being shown as part of the in-flight entertainment! What a great omen! By the time we checked into the hotel we had been travelling for 21 hours. We took showers and headed for the show. This was my first Stevie concert in 12 years and Louise's 2nd (she had made it to Boston this year)

We got to the Aladdin early to meet up with various internet buddies. Hello to Mishi, Kel, Jules, Kristin, Michelle, Courtney, Donna, Angela, Livia, Tori. We decided to try for better tickets...unsuccessfully. We now wanted to find a way to get our gift to Stevie, the gift being a beautiful painting called Rhiannon. After speaking to the right people we found ourselves waiting at the backstage door. After a while we were told that we can't see Stevie before the show as she was doing a sound check (we had guessed as much) and after the show she would be with her family. We were told to return Saturday at 5pm.

We went back to the theatre, purchased some merchandise and met John Kinney! He is a real gentleman and even signed our tourbooks.

To say that Stevie rocked on Friday night is an understatement. We danced the entire night and had a great time much to the annoyance of the people behind who wanted us to sit. They threw ice, beer and lemon slices at us but we had not travelled 6500miles just to sit down! And we told them as much!!

As Fall from Grace came on we picked up our bags ready to get to the stage. We noticed security getting into position to stop this from happening. We made it almost to the stage but were held back by very heavy handed guards who refused to let anyone but the golden circle approach the stage. Stevie came towards us and the crowd pushed forward and I was almost strangled by the security guard pushing us back. One man grabbed Stevie's hand so hard that it clearly hurt her. Louise managed to touch her hand but I just couldn't reach. As Stevie went along the stage Louise managed to put the cute toys we had brought with us onto the stage. They were two pigs and a bunny rabbit all of which walked and wiggled their noses! Waddy picked up the little pig and put it on the piano! We have since found out that Waddy kept that pig and Stevie claimed the white bunny!

It really was an amazing show and Stevie rocked...but the security guards were way out of line.

October 6th - We arrived early at the Aladdin again - too early to go to the stage door as instructed. So we brought a drink and sat down outside the limo rank. After a few minutes Louise spotted Brett Tuggle coming out of the hotel. Almost immediately Lenny Castro came out and waved when we called him. I turned my head and to my amazement saw Sharon Celani coming out. She was very friendly and signed out tourbooks and agreed to a photo despite having no make-up on! As we were about to take a photo Mindy Stein walked out! WOW! So she signed our tourbooks and we had pictures with both of them. They read our t-shirts and were amazed how far we had come. They were both lovely ladies.

We then went to wait at the backstage door. After standing there for around 15 mins a limo pulls up. The door opens and we see curlers!! Huge curlers! It was Stevie - no make up, hair in curlers, green tinted shades and she still looked fabulous!! Stevie got out followed by her two yorkies (very cute). A few other people got out one of whom was Sheryl Crow who seemed to have a mobile phone glued to her ear! We waited some more and could hear the sound check. I tried to imagine Stevie singing Fall From Grace in her curlers!!! It was at this time that Stevie's security guy came to talk to us. We told him how far we had come and showed him the painting. We asked for just 5 mins of Stevie's time. He took the painting to show to Stevie's assistant and on bringing it back told us Stevie couldn't see us as she was having a massage. He told us to return after the show. Lori Nicks was wandering around as was Sharon who waved at us!

So we headed back to the venue and waited for some friends. We saw Lenny Castro wandering by and he also signed our tourbook.

Our seats weren't as good on Saturday but we planned to enjoy ourselves. We swapped seats several times as we wanted to be able to dance and first we had a man in crutches behind us and then a pregnant lady! Eventually we settled right in front of the sound console.

The show was amazing and it was an added bonus to see Sheryl Crow. About half way through the show we were permitted to move to some empty seats that were around 6 rows back. We were in front of Sharon and Mindy who saw us waving the British flag. They laughed and waved at us!. We also saw Stevie's mum and dad in the audience looking very proud. Her mum looked frail but funky in cream snakeskin pants!!!

Once again Security seemed tight so we didn't try to get to the stage. AT this time a guy came up to us and asked us how big a fans we were. He had read our shirts and handed us backstage guest passes!

After the show we headed for the backstage door. We were stopped by Aladdin security a little way back from other people. We saw Stevie's parents leave in a limo and then saw a white limo pull up. Once again we spoke to the security guard who finally let us through. There were around 20 people waiting and we were told not to rush Stevie when she came out and that she would approach people.

Stevie appeared - she looked amazing and I couldn't believe we were this close. She spoke to a lady and then headed for the limo. My heart sank as I thought we had missed our opportunity to talk to her. As she got into the limo Lori Nicks looked across at me and said "Has she seen you yet?".... "No" We were asked this again by two more of Stevie's people and then we heard "You two only" and were beckoned to the other side of the limo as the security closed ranks around the other people. This was our private Stevie moment. The window was down and there she was smiling. She held both our hands and said "Hi, How are you?" I told her it was nice to meet her (quite an understatement don't you think!!) We were with her for no more than 2 minutes. We gave her the painting and she said "This is soooo beautiful" I asked her to sign our tourbooks which she did willingly and then Louise noticed Sheryl Crow in the limo and asked if she would sign also. I noticed Stevie's yorkies and they were so cute with little bindi jewels in their fur!! As Stevie handed the books to Sheryl we were told 30 seconds. Stevie said "Quick sign, they came all the way from England" She said she had planned to come to England but it got cancelled. She seemed genuinely sorry about that. Someone behind me shouted "Stevie, have you seen their shirts?" so I turned round for her to read.

Louise told her about another painting waiting for her in Sheryl Louis' office and I told her about my daughter Rhiannon. We thanked her, she held our hands and thanked us for coming looking us right in the eyes when she talked to us. And then she was gone! As the limo pulled away we saw her showing the painting around. Unfortunately we had no time to get a photo of her.

Our excitement didn't stop here. We stuck around with the band and crew. Chatted with Lori Nicks who seemed genuinely surprised when I asked for her autograph. She was very down to earth and friendly as was everyone else. We also got autographs and photos from Scott Plunkett, Chris Nicks, Al Ortiz and more with Mindy. At this time I remembered a bracelet made for Stevie by my 5 year old daughter Rhiannon. I spoke with Lori and she said she would get it to Stevie. She put it on her wrist and took a photo of Rhiannon. Chatted to Mindy and asked if she saw our British flag and she said " Yes, didn't you see me wave at you?" Of course we had but I just wanted to check it was us she was waving at! Scott overheard and said that he had seen us also!

We really didn't want the evening to end. I can still se Stevie looking right into my eyes and holding my hands and Louise feels the same. It was a moment we have both dreamt of and will cherish forever.

Thankyou Stevie for your music, your poetry, your courage and for spending those special moments with us

Pip Fidler and Louise Beard

(with thanks to Pip Fidler who sent this to me)

Arizona Heart Institute Benefit - Phoenix, December 6th 2001 (Review One)

Stevie Nicks' annual Stevie Nicks and Friends concert to benefit the Arizona Heart Institute looked mostly like an extended version of the singer's recent tour to support her new album, Trouble in Shangri-la, but an album loaded with highlights deserved another act in the eyes of many in attendance. After the Destiny's Child hit "Bootylicious" played through the arena to signal the concert was about to begin and the vocal arrangement of "Trouble in Shangri-la," the now-trademark booms led to "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," and started the show off with Nicks' biggest solo hit. Three songs later, "Gold Dust Woman" brimmed with an intensity not usually found in the song on her solo tours and followed with the first of Sheryl Crow's appearances on stage. Nicks and Crow followed with "Sorcerer," the most recent single off Trouble in Shangri-la, then Nicks left to give Crow the stage to herself for the latter's "My Favorite Mistake."

Up next was Don Henley, who sang "Leather and Lace" with Nicks, then did his own "End of the Innocence" and "Boys of Summer." Unlike last year's nearly acoustic, Storytellers-esque version, "Boys of Summer" was more like the original version, then Henley left and Nicks told the audience they had to cut a song from the set. Most likely, the song to get the axe was "The Highwayman," a cut from Nicks' first album, Bella Donna, which she said she would perform with Henley in a radio interview.

Nicks followed with "Every Day," the first single off Trouble in Shangri-la, then went back to her classics, "Rhiannon" and "Stand Back." Fleetwood Mac bandmate and former lover Lindsey Buckingham came next, playing guitar on "Landslide," which Nicks did not perform on tour this year. Buckingham followed with two of his songs, then Mick Fleetwood came up and they, along with bass player Al Ortiz and percussionist Lenny Castro, previewed a new Fleetwood Mac song.

Crow's return signalled "Every Day Is A Winding Road," which saw Nicks singing occasional background vocals on it, then Natalie Maines switched places with Crow to sing her duet from Nicks' album, "Too Far From Texas."

After band introductions, Crow returned to the stage to a version of the anthemic rocker "Fall From Grace," delivered with a conviction that suggested the song may become a concert staple for years to come. Unlike last year's show, this one didn't have too many surprises in store, but one that counted was Maines, not Crow, coming out to sing the Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers song "I Need to Know" with Nicks. For many fans, that song added to their case that Nicks and Maines sing well together.

Even though the magic of the previous year left this year's show with too tough an act to follow, Nicks and her friends still delivered a powerful show that left few stones unturned.

Review sent to me by Mike Sarzo, with thanks

Arizona Heart Institute Benefit - Phoenix, December 6th 2001 (Review Two)

First off the arrival. I got to the main entrance a little before the doors opened. One of the local radio stations had this fun little sing a long (I know what its really called but I can't spell it for the life of me............I can't spell a lot of things for the life of me) thing going on. People coming up and singing Landslide, Stop Dragging My Heart Around. A fun little way to get pumped. I was tempted.......I was.......but the doors opened. So I got inside and bought three special AHI/TISL T's. One for moi, one for my mummy, and one for my oh so cute guitar teacher (now continue to imagine a cute little purring sound rolling off my tongue. Also I gotta the TISL teddy that I have now named Sapphire (in the tradition of naming my last bear Glitter. (He has a friend now! Damn that's more than me. Heehee)

The entering of the arena. This is the very first time I have gotten a floor seat for a Stevie AHI concert and I'm pretty damn psyched. So I get down to the floor and the usher takes me to my seat in section B. Now I'm almost in the center and I'm happy, I'm cool, and I find out that its the freaking ushers first day. Meaning to put me on the wrong side of the row. So I move my butt to the other side. Now I'm buuuumin for just a moment. Just until the hand of "Wake up and count your clues" smacks on the head and reminds me that I STILL have a better seat than last show and the show before that. That and I meet a sweet guy named Mike who was sitting next to me asked me out on a date. WOO.....whoa......that was close. Ok enough yadda yadda's lets get to the set list.....

Before the show even started there were a few announcements and now I can say that everyone got a little bootie last night. Bootlishous of course. Everyone seemed to have fun bopping up and down to that one. Ok then, the lights are out, the crowd is hyped, my cupith is runith over from my blouse, and then........... A funk remix intro of Trouble in Shangri-La - Which was a cool way to start the show. It was too bad her father wasn't there to introduce her. But I guess it was best for his health. Anyway the funky bunch that is Stevie's band takes there places. Then walks out on the ground that many fans would worship, sleep on, lick and then spit into a little vile and sell it on Ebay (What? I'm the only one??) Its Stevie Lynn Nicks!!

Ok now for the rock and roll

Stop Draggin' My Heart Around - Now this was a pleasure since she had dropped this song just before I was going to see her first solo concert a couple years back. But now I'be had my chance. I tell I love Waddy and Tom singing this song with her but for some reason I just think it would be killer if Roger Daltrey of The Who would sing it with her. Its a dream, a highly unbloody likely dream, and it shall sit next to Johnny Rezinik wrapped in nothing but guitar strings (ya you can do the purring thing again.) Enchanted - -Dreams- Yes Dreams and not Crystal. Believe me if she sang that one my legs would be sticking out from behind my neck just from one round of flipping out. Gold Dust Woman - Its classic glad shawl wearing, twirling, chanting Stevie throgh and through. Sorcerer - In the words of Pete Townshend.....There is Crow everywhere! The first of many entrances of Miss Sherl Crow. I tell you all right now. I'm tried of Britney, Chistina, JLo, Shakira (although I do like her. You know "Butts thou are wide stick side by side.") Sheryl is 100% pure sexy. She just looks hot in her black blousey, dressy, rosey, slits up the side, guy gettin chicwear! She makes me say "I think I can wear leather pants. I think I can wear leather pants. I Know I can wear leather pants!) What? Oh ya the song. Heehee You know what I really love about a live show? When the band is moving in the same fluid motion as the song itself. Thats what you can call N-sync. Ya I'm sticking it to ya Timberlake! My Favorite Mistake - Sheryl minus guitar or bass guitar. Just her and sexiness. Leather and Lace - Every AHI benefit I have seen them perform this number this one has to be my all time favorite performance. I have always been a longtime Lindsey and Stevie romantic. Now I think I'm converting to a Stevie and Don romantic! I'll just mention this first. Before Don walk out on stage. He was standing by the side playing around with one if the buddaish TNSL figurines. Hey it was funny so I mention it. Then when it came for his part of L&L it was just too sweet the way he was holding her in his arms while he was singing. Stevie was singing along with him to herself and he kissed he softly on her head. Awwwwwww. Just a beautiful sight for sore eyes. Stevie and Lindsey has there moment last year and now I think it was Dons turn. Just makes my heart melt. Cupid! Can you like not see the target crazy glued to my heart?? End of the Innocence - Boys of Summer - The rockin version this time next too the more mellow version he did last year. He played electric guitar and rock with the guitarist that played along on his set. Although when he strapped on the guitar I was hopping for "Dirty Laundry." Well lets hope for next year then Everyday. Piano solo for Rhiannon - Classic Stevie. Fists pumping during "All the same, All the same....." Imagine the concussions that could have occurred.........especially with the people in the row in front of me?? Stand Back - Infreakintastic Classic Stevie. Landslide - People, I hope your sitting down. Ok....here it goes.....Lindsey......wore..... a white shirt! :-o Oh my goodness I'm shaking! I was in Lindsey drag just for him and he bumps me one! Lookin oh so fine with age. A fine wine my friend. Anyway people have been taking about the tension between S&L but I though it was them feeling more comfortable as friends the second time around. Just what my eyes see. ANYWAY back to Landslide. It was Dedicated to her dad one last time. Tearjerker all the way. Big Love - BRILLIANT. A poem, Go Insane - Hulloooooo?? Guitar World? You need to do some reviewing of the top 100 greatest guitar players. Ya? Ok? Good. My Love - A new Fleetwood Mac song with Lindsey and the nickerless (not naked, just in a suit) Mick Fleetwood. While Lindsey was making a speech Mick would do his little "ba dum dum ching" during every little break in between. Again like Don with the Budda a funny moment. Then Lindsey dedicated the song to the hardcore and in my mind the cute Beatle, and their friend George Harrison. -EDIAWR - Sexiness is back again for a very funky jamming version of this song. Too Far From Texas - Out comes Natalie Maines in a cool funky black mini dress with the top drooping in various directions. But hell it looked better on her than it will ever look on me. Very nice new duet. I would have loved to have heard the both of them crank out Goodbye Earl but so many songs so little time. Band Introductions - I'll bet Lenny Castro has some very nice hook-ups after Stevie's intro for him last night. Lite a cigar for Lenny! Fall From Grace - The Crow needs to spread herself around a little more one of the best r&r songs Stevie has done in a long time. Drum solo which lead into- Very cool although I actually missed the 20 minute drum solo from Mick. Man, you don't know what you got till its gone. A moment of silence please...Edge of Seventeen - Angela I am so jealous of you! Heehe. Encore: I Need to Know - With Natalie Maines. HAEWAFY- Stevie with the classic Top Hat and feathers. Toni girl that one is for you.

And last but not least the bows, the bows, and the bows. Another magical night has ended folks and I am on my way home.

Review sent to me by Shayne Annan Bittebender with thanks