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Stevie took the stage about 8:45. The crowd, of course, went wild when she was announced and came out. She looked absolutely captivating! Her hair is back to the beautiful waves instead of the straight look that she had been wearing. She wore an all black outfit with wing-like sleeves which was fitted at the waist and flowed out and down to her ankles. She had on a black fitted vest with largely spaced apart rhinestones. Around her neck was a huge silver cross. She was accompanied by a five piece band and her two favorite backup ladies, Sharon Celani and Lori Perry-Nicks, who were also stunnning in all black.
On the way over the bridge to St. Petersburg, I was so hoping that the clouds would form in a way to have a picturesque sunset. I wanted it to be perfect for Stevie. So when Stevie took the stage during the intro of "Dreams", the first thing she did was point to the sky directly in front of her. When I turned to look, there it was the most awesome sunset that you could imagine. Even though it was very hot and humid and we were all packed in like sardines, the scenery was perfect.
After "Dreams", which was riveting and very close to the original, Stevie said "hello everybody" to the audience and thanked the radio station for bringing everything together. She then made a comment about how beautiful and spectacular our area was. Then the slow hypnotic sound of a cowbell sounded which brought us into an impelling version of "Gold Dust Woman". This is where Stevie did her twirl dance with her hair and wing-like sleeves flowing in the summer breeze. The next song was "Rooms On Fire". It had a beautiful and classy intro with a orchestra-like sound from the keyboard. For some reason or another I became very emotional during this song. It was beautiful.
She then introduced the next song as "one that we may have heard once or twice and that it is about a Welsh Witch - Rhiannon". This was the last song that I had heard Stevie do live when I saw her last, in May of 1986. I was so disappointed with her performance that night. It was obviously ladened with a serious chemical influence. So I got up to walk out of the arena and out of her performance. Right as I reached for the door, she was in the middle of the intro of "Rhiannon" singing "don't go, please stay". Which was really an uncanny coincidence. Well this time after 10 years, I wasn't going anywhere.
The next song introduced was the song from the Twister Soundtrack - "Twisted". Stevie said that "this song was written and recorded very quickly, and that tonight is the first time it's being performed live". This live version sounded better then the recorded one. The keyboardist sang Mr. Buckingham's part and sounded very much like him. I loved it!
The last song of the set is a song that Stevie said was inspired by "the scary world of Rock & Roll and of one of it's own" (Joe Walsh). This song of course is "Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You". This performance was very honest and moving. Especially when Stevie adlibbed about poets and priests of nothing and said very emotionally - "don't forget me". This certainly got a big roar from the crowd. Because she has so graciously allowed us into her magical world all these years and that's the last thing we all could ever do - is to forget Stevie Nicks.
Stevie thanked everyone, said "I Love You", took her bow with the band, and was gone.
Well, we arrived at the Pier at around 12:30 p.m. When we reached the stage we saw only a few people in the front row. My wife got very excited about being able to be that close. We went into the stores at the pier to cool off a little and get something to drink. Then, back out into the hot Florida sun. We sat down about 20 feet from the stage. After about a half hour we noticed people getting up on the stage - Could it be? Yes - it was Stevie, Lori, Sharon and the rest of the band. They were there for a sound check. The crowd got up and started yelling Stevie! My wife then got up and went to the first row. She was about 5 feet away from Stevie. The cameras were snapping away including my wife who took quite a bit herself. Stevie was smiling and waving to everyone. She sat on the side of the stage for a little while until the band got set up. Then she came out to center stage and started singing Twisted, Dreams, a portion of Gold Dust Woman, a portion of Dreams again and then sang Twisted again. She looked and sounded great - she was smiling and very talkative with the audience. The audience was so happy to see her and we were cheering after each song she performed - Then she was done with her sound check and she told everyone that she would see us tonight. Then.... we waited, and waited in the heat until 8:45 when Stevie (wearing all black and looking gorgeous) took the stage. She began the concert with Dreams, then she started to talk to the audience and said how nice it was to be there and thanked Mix96 for putting it all together . Then she ended it with "Let's Rock". Gold Dust Woman was the next song followed by Rooms on Fire, Rhiannon, Twisted and Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for You. It was a very exciting show. My wife and I are so happy that we were able to be there. It was the best 4th of July ever!!
I WAS THERE!! It was wonderful. It was the only place to be on July 4th. A concert on water. The concert site was a long pier with a shopping mall at the end, the stage faced inland. We arrived about 2PM so we missed the Stevie sound check performance at 1PM which they say lasted about half a hour. I meet a new Stevie fan in the crowd, Doug was so excited because he got to meet Stevie during the Sound check setup. It seems that Stevie needed a camcorder to record her performance. Doug provided his to her and got to meet her besides. Doug said she was very nice, and promised to send him a video copy of the concert.
People packed the pier to get in close. The only seating provided was four
sets of bleachers. My wife Terry and I sat on the top row to the right of
stage about thirty feet from stage. We had a very good view of stage and
it was cooler than by stage. I meet a few fans in person that I knew only
from the internet which was fun.
It was about 92Deg@95RH when we arrived at the site. A breeze made
conditions tolerable. It rained for a short period which cooled thing off
a bit. The first band was country music called High Plains. Next up
was Survivor, Jimi Jamison worked the crowd to a fever pitch. I did not
know that Survivor has had five top 40 hits. The band did a great job, but
everyone there was anxious for Stevie to start.
Stevie came on about 8:45PM. I recognized two members of her five piece band from Street Angel tour, but did not know the others. Stevie's two backup singers and close friends Sharon Celini and Lori Perry-Nicks were there. Lori sang behind Sharon making it difficult to see her. Stevie did not introduce the band. Stevie is wearing her hair wavy and very long. Stevie left her signature platform shoes home this trip in favor of wearing just black high heel dress shoes. Stevie wore a black dress with red along the bottom. She wore a huge silver cross around her neck.
Stevie started the set with "Dreams", My all time favorite. I had planned on taking detailed notes, but her music swept me away to the point where details not longer mattered. The sound system was great from where we sat, although I think many at the entrance to pier could not hear band due to the distance away from sound system. Stevie's voice was in great shape. Stevie's voice was rich with with a kind of resonance as she sang. Stevie stressed each phase slowly for meaning, power and impact. Her songs took on new meaning as I felt Stevie connect with her audience. I was deeply moved by her performance. According to the press release this concert is the only one scheduled for 1996.
This could be billed as a greatest hits concert because the only new song was "Twisted", which she said was the first time in public she had performed the song. The set was only forty minutes long. The songs in order of appearance were:
A fireworks display concluded the evening.
I arrived late onto the St. Petersburg pier and was worried I would miss the concert all together! Mechanical trouble on the airplane delayed me for hours. At first glance toward the area, I could not locate the stage where Stevie would be playing...until I found an officer and inquired. He pointed me to the end of the pier, about half way down the pier I heard the beat of the ancient drums, it was the beginning of Dreams! And finally, I heard her beautiful voice!
It was packed with people and hard to get through. I did manage to get up pretty far, along side of the stand where the lighting was striking in the background, but all I could see now and then was Stevie's head. The next song was Gold Dust Woman, and she sounded fantastic!!! Stevie then said the next song was from The Other Side Of The Mirror, and began singing Rooms on Fire. She began th next song by saying, "this is a song about a Welsh witch that I'm sure you have all heard before." Rhiannon was done in the same manner as the Street Angel tour version. The piano echoing a haunt ng tune, with the voice of Stevie intertwined, before breaking into the rock version!! She followed that with Twisted, telling us "this is a new song I had written quickly and this is the first ti e it has ever been sung live," she also says how interesting it was working with Mr. Buckingham again. As the male voice began singing Lindsey's part, I was trying hard to get a look at who this wa , being that is sounded so much like Lindsey himself. Unable to get a look at who it was, I was disappointed to hear later that it was not him(a fantasy I would have much preferred to see go the ot er way, although knew better). The live version of Twisted is incomparable with that of the LP version! After the music ends she sings out, "You like to be twisted!"
After Twisted, Stevie mentions something about a baby announcement! She mentions it is the lady who helped put this together. Stevie also mentions about how beautiful our city is! As the intro fo the next song she says, "this next song was written for a man in the scary world of rock and roll" - Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for you, which she closed with. I think she said something abo t hope to see you soon and goodnight!! Everyone was screaming for more, and I know we were all hoping for an encore, alas Stevie was no longer there and the fireworks began immediately.
It was a great show, and I'm so glad I did make it there in time and didn't miss it! I only wish I could have seen her more clearly. The whole night was a wonderful treat we were not expecting... he sounded exquisite!!!
This is going to be a long one! I just arrived home in the Chicago area three hours ago from Florida. I knew all of you would want details, so I made it a point to try ro remember all I could. For those of you who were there, I was standing on the very far end of the bleachers closest to the stage. If I had the binoculars I usually take to concerts, I'd be able to tell you all how many fillings Stevie has. I was about 75 feet from the stage. A yellow and white striped canopy covered the 25-30 foot-wide stage. Survivor played first, then Stevie hit the stage at about 8:45. Judging by the crowd's cheers, most were there to see Stevie. It looks as though she was wearing the same black dress as she did at the benefit concert last month in AZ. Black, very breezy, with flowing sleeves. It looked like the dress may have been red from about knee-length down, or it may have been the red stage lights coming through the sheer fabric. She also had the same cross necklace as in the photo of her at the heart benefit show.
Her hair was wavy again, but not fluffy as on the "Street Angel" tour. It looks like she has indeed lost some weight.
Here's the set: Dreams, Gold Dust Woman, Rooms on Fire, Rhianon, Twisted and Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for You. Yes, it was short, but folks were waiting for fireworks. It seemed to me like she was told to wrap it up rather abruptly.
She was quite talkative in between each song (more so than on any of the tours I've seen). After Dreams she thanked everyone for coming, wished the crowd a happy 4th of July, and thanked MIX96 for putting the show together. She commented on how beautiful St. Pete was and said that we were lucky to live in such a beautiful place. She capped off her first chit-chat with "Let's rock!" Before "Rooms on Fire" she explained which album it was from. Before Rhianon she said that this next song was an old one tha t you've probably heard before - a song about a Welsh witch. Before Twisted, she said that we may have heard this next song on the soundtrack to "Twister" and that the song was very unusual for her because it was written very quickly and recorded very quickly and it wasn't up in her head for a few years first. She also said that it was her newest song, and that this was really the first time they were playing it (not exactly true, but the show in AZ as a private benefit, so she was mostly right). The part of Lindsey Buckingham was portrayed by her keyboardist (his mike was too loud - could barely hear Stevie over him). She described Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for You as a song written after she had stopped and looked at all of the crazyness of the rock-n-roll/Hollywood world, and that it was written to someone who is probably out there in that world somewhere. Afterwards, she thanked us again for coming. Se said to be nice to each other, take are in our journey home, and she hoped that we would all come to see her again.
Somewhere in there she also said that she had a "baby announcement." She must have seen a few eyes bug out 'cause she said "no no - not me!" It was one of the ladies who put the show together.
Stevie sounded very good, but I noticed that she shied away from the very high notes (she didn't do the climactic ending to Rhiannon). It sounded like she was just taking it easy. Otherwise I think she sounded great. She did move about the stage a bit, but didn't do a lot of the spinning - lots of arm waving (she encouraged the crowd to join in on a couple of occasions).
A few people posted messages saying that they would love to have a program from the show. Stevie's merchandise wasn't there, but folks were handing out a free Tampa summer event guide that had a half-page article about Stevie's performance. I'll post the text tomorrow. I'm exhausted, and it'll feel good to sleep in my own bed again. I hope I've painted a vivid enough picture for everyone. Any questions?
My friends and I got to St. Pete at 4:00 am that Thursday. Our other friends weren't there yet (plane delays from hell!), and with making plans and them getting there late, we didn't get to bed until 5:00. And of course I couldn't sleep! After sleeping for an hour, the wake-up call came. We were the UNDEAD. We got to The Pier at 9:00am, and walked to where the stage was being set-up. I couldn't believe what it was like! The Pier is pretty much a shopping mall by the water, and there's a long stretch of road that goes there from where you have to park your cars. The had set up a small stage at the end of the road, right in front of the mall. There were no gates to get through, no one to check us for recorders or cameras, nothing! There was only one other person there other than my group of seven. We were told that later that afternoon we would be allowed to move up near the stage and set up a spot for ourselves. So we hung out for a while and then a couple people from the mailing list showed up and introduced themselves to me. It was nice to put faces with names! At 10:00 the mall opened and we finally got to go in and eat. Near the foodcourt was a collectibles store that I stopped in because I saw a photo of Stevie hanging in the doorway. They had a bunch of photos and keychains, but what caught my eye was an album of Bella Donna. This was NOT real, but they had made a display of the album (gold) and the cover and it was in a nice frame. It looked so cool and was only $20 so I bought it. It was the last one of only two that they had gotten, so it was kind of lucky for me! That store did a LOT of business that day! Finally at 11 or 12:00 my friends and I decided that we were just going to set up in front of the stage. We were getting a little nervous because more people were showing up, and there was no order or line to anything, and with one hour of sleep and getting there at nine, I was not about to let people get in front of us! So we just walked up to the stage and set up. I encouraged everyone else to do the same, because if we all moved up there, are they going to stop a whole crowd? Security did nothing, and we stayed there for the duration.
Around 1:00 or so I was NOT felling at all well. I was upstairs at the aquarium and decided that laying down was in order. Since I have CFS, I knew I had to take care of myself over the weekend, it's very hard to recover from overexhaustion. So I went back to our blankets and almost got attacked by my friends yelling at me that Stevie was on stage! She was off toward the back and I couldn't see her really at all so I ran back behind the stage where I got a good view. I stood there and watched while Stevie talked to people, smoked a cigarette (Yes, it's true, I even have a photo of it), and then.... I watched in absolute disbelief while she brushed her hair! I got a couple pictures, but they aren't really close and it's not really clear that that's what she was doing. Maybe if I crop and enlarge them... I listened to security talking to each other about how nobody knew she was going to do this, and they were planning on getting more people for when Stevie got off the stage so she wouldn't be mobbed. Stevie then got up and went to the front of the stage and started singing "Twisted"! I ran back around to the front, started my recorder and just started taking as many pictures as I could. I got about 1 1/2 rolls of pictures and they came out great! She then did Dreams and she and the girls did an almost completely accapella version of Gold Dust Woman from the ending chorus. She she did the "pick up the pieces and go hooooooooome......" and the rest of the band came in, and it was incredible. I got chills all over! She did the pale shadow part, then the chorus again and the pale shadow part again, so we heard the best parts twice! Stevie looked amazing in a simple pink long flowered dress, a huge silver cross that sparkled in the sun, sunglasses, and brown boots (NOT platforms) that laced all the way up. She was actually talkative, telling us the difference between what we were hearing and what she was hearing on stage, and that it was definately better to be where we were! During the soundcheck Stevie was ALL business. At one point she wasn't getting the sound she needed so she bent down and moved her amps to face more toward her. Then two guys from the crew ran over and tried to move them again. She waved her arms to get them to stop because she had already moved it exactly where she wanted it. They left the stage and Stevie mock-kicked them from behind because she was mad! She did Dreams again, and then ended with another round of Twisted. I didn't even stay to hear her say goodbye, I ran as fast as I could to the back of the stage where I waited for her to leave. I knew exactly where they were going to open it to let her out and I didn't budge when security tried to round us up. Finally she walked down the stairs (my heart is pounding right now as I relive this! :) ) and they opened the gate to let her out into a hunter green mini-van. A girl next to me held out flowers for Stevie to take and Stevie took them and the girls hand. Then I reached out mine..... and she took it and held it for a second and then let go..... and she got into the van and left. I've held Stevie's hand before at MANY concerts during the show, but never when she was off stage. It meant more to me this way. "And you reached out your hand to me..."
The rest of the day was brutally hot. We kept having to go inside and buy bottled water and ice- I spent a fortune on water! There wasn't much to do because we didn't want to stray from our blankets since it was getting incredibly crowded. The first band came on after 5:00 and I really didn't watch them. Then Survivor took the stage. I guess if you like them they would have been great. I just wasn't interested. At this point everyone was standing so we were now up for the duration. There just wasn't any way to NOT watch them. After the first few songs, I got this feeling of absolute dread.... I knew ALL THEIR SONGS! That was NOT a good feeling! Their set was endless. I never thought it would be over. Toward the end of the show is when things in the crowd started to turn.... Everyone I guess was pretty drunk from drinking all day and we had several people that took it upon themselves to try and get in front of us! No way! One jerk tried to bulldoze his way in front of me saying that he was from the radio station and he was there to take pictures. He was an ass, and I LOST IT! After almost 12 hours on no sleep and being in the hot sun I went nuts. Anyone that knows me knows that I NEVER get like this. I told him off in the most colorful way I could and told him if he came any closer I would take his camera and smash it on the pavement right in front of me. He didn't take me seriously, and I jumped him and pulled the camera from him. He was stronger and started pulling it back, but everyone around me was on my side and pushed him back. Security then came AND THREW HIM OUT!!!!! All the people around me were cheering! It felt great! Finally when I couldn't take it anymore, they played their big song "Eye of the Tiger" and left the stage. We were still being pushed and shoved from all sides, but it wasn't as bad anymore after that guy got thrown out.
Stevie finally took the stage about 8:45. She looked absolutely STUNNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Her hair had been straight in the afternoon, now it was slightly curly and it looked gorgeous. She had on a black velvet top with the black chiffon winged sleeves from the old days, and her skirt was black ragged chiffon with a bit of red at the bottom. It wasn't long, it was about to her knees, and she had on the boots that she wore during soundcheck along with the large silver cross. I was just blown away by how great she looked. She has lost a good deal of weight. You can tell it in her chest (no more HUGE bustiers!), and in her legs. She will never be thin like she was when she was young, but she looked fantastic.
They opened with Dreams, which was nice because I'm sick of the whole same set she's had since Bella Donna. The band didn't sound good at all in my opinion, and the overall sound was horrible. Plus the keyboardist sang Lindsey's part on Twisted and he was awful! And Sharon & Lori could not be heard AT ALL. The set list was as follows:
I drove 900 miles from Blacksburg VA, with another freind Dwayne to see Stevie in concert. We arrived at the pier at 9 AM to find only 5 other fans there. Since there was no assigned seating, we waited patiently on the sidewalk until about 11 AM when the security guard put up the barricades, and then we finally got our positions dead front center in front of the stage.
Around 12:30 one of my freinds spotted Lori and Sharon on the stage, and then I spotted Stevie sitting to the far right side of the stage smoking cigarette and drinking a glass of wine. She was wearing a white flower print sundress with pink sunglasses. There were 2 girls standing beside me who had brought flowers for Stevie. One yelled out that she had written a song for Stevie and Stevie replied "I need one". Anyway Stevie was very laid back and sounded really good. I was able to get some very good photos of her during the sound check and during the concert
I thought the sound check was the best part of the show, a friend of mine, Bruce, recorded both the sound check and the concert, and she definitely sounded better when she sang Twister during the soundcheck. During the afternoon it was annouced that Stevie would take the stage at 8:15 she unfortunately did not take the stage until 8:35 PM. Right before Stevie entered onto the stage the crowd started to get anxious and me and everyone on the front row started to get crushed but we held our ground. A security guard kicked one obnoxious guy out who was trying to work himself to the front to take pictures. I enjoyed the show but it was way too short. Right before the show one of her assistants had carried on several of Stevie's shawls, saw we thought she might make some dress changes. Anyway she never did. After she left the stage, everyone started yelling Encore and Stevie, the radio DJ got on stage and then when it was apparent that she was not going to come back they started playing music and shooting off the fireworks. The only main regret I have with the concert was that she was on for 40 minutes max, while Survivor and Great Plains were on for an hour each + Stevie never played Edge of 17. Stevie did tell the crowd to Come and see her, as if letting the crowd know that one day she plans to tour again.
We drove 7 to 8 hours to get to St. Pete from Pensacola through the night. I was very excited when I awoke on July 4th and knew that I would see Stevie once again. It had been since the "Street Angel" tour since I had seen her in Atlanta.
We arrived early at the pier to check out the area because we had never been down to St. Pete before. We found good parking very close to the pier but decided to ride the trolley up to the pier. My wife, 3 kids and I were enjoying the view and my wife says-there's someone up on stage doing a pretty good imitation of Stevie Nicks. I looked over but the person on stage was not wearing the usual Stevie Nicks wardrobe and I really didn't get to see her to well before we went around behind the building to come around to the other side to get off the trolley. Midway around the building, the driver said that was in fact Stevie on stage doing a sound check. My pulse starts racing and I'm like hurry up and stop this trolley so I can get off.
I stepped off the trolley right behind the stage and there she was. It was incredible. It was the closest I've ever been to seeing her. I went and got me a place in front of the stage and was just in awe. This was so cool to be so close to her and her singing was fabulous. She was wearing a short sleeve peach/tan dress with large flower print, square dark sunglasses, high heel combat boots and a large cross necklace. She was very playful on stage and talked to the crowd some and spent a lot of time over talking to Sharon Celani and Lori-Perry Nicks. She thanked us for standing out there and listening to her-but my gosh-thank you STEVIE! She sang a few songs and bits and pieces of others. I remember Twisted the best. I was so excited when I first heard about this song because I thought maybe Stevie and Lindsey will finally get it together and put out Buckingham-Nicks. What is the hold up anyway? I looked around and saw a few others singing along with her and it was so wonderful to be surrounded by her voice again.
She finally said it was time for her to go and she thanked us all for being there and told us she would see us all later. We all walked around behind the stage to see her go and she shook a few hands (not mine, unfortunately) and she climbed into the van with the band and was off.
I had not brought my camera with me up the pier because we were just going to wonder around and check out the area. We had no idea Stevie would be up there. While my wife let me stay at the stage area so I wouldn't miss anything, she went back to the car to get the camera. But the time she arrived back, Stevie was coming off the stage to leave. I will always have my memories though. After this, we wondered around the pier, just passing the time waiting for the concert later that night. (I think I was in shock.)
After many hours, waiting in the hot sun, a little rain and mobs of people, the show finally started. I didn't really care for the country act but Survivor sure sounded good also. The guy has a great voice. Finally, it was time for Stevie.
I believe she arrived by boat over on the left side of the pier but I couldn't really see. There was a lot of commotion over there. When they announced it was time for Stevie to take the stage, the crowd just erupted. You could tell who everyone had come out to see.
Her voice again sounded wonderful and she had me in her spell. I always get caught up in the songs and don't pay much attention to what going on around me. I remember her singing OUtside the Rain, Dreams, Rooms On Fire, Rhiannon, Twisted and Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for You. Her comments were very short between the songs but she really seemed to enjoy being there also. She looked great in her black, flowing dress and her hair was kind of curly this time. (It was pretty straight at the soundcheck earlier) She looked great and sung just like an angel. As the DJ said when her set was over " HOw can you top that?" the fireworks then started. It was one of the best displays I had ever seen. It was a great ending to such a wonderful day and evening. I will not soon forget.
As the crowds gathered on The Pier, I realized that I was not alone. Many treks had been made for Stevie. The Nicks Fix carried the news far and wide. People from all walks of life were there: young girls in Stevie drag, the old time Fleetwood Mac die-hards, and a seemingly large gay following (to name a few). All had come to pay homage to their Gold Dust Queen.
It was not only the actual concert that made this journey so special. The real surprise was getting to see Stevie rehearse. It was here that a very different Stevie emerged. She was not a Queen or a Witch. Instead a smart and beautiful women appeared who was very much dedicated to her craft. This "big" star prepared for her concert with the highest degree of seriousness and professionalism.
Her hard work translated into the magic: the black flowing dress, the night, the loyal fans...the poetry. Stevie knows. Her spirit transcends the ordinary. When the sun went down and she came on stage, I remembered the past. I was happy that my wife was with me and that we had chance to revisit the magic.
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