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We arrived at the common at 9:00 am. It was chilly and crisp and we could see our breath. I was amazed at how few people had shown up. We immediately laid our blanket down to claim our territory. We were three blankets deep center stage.
It was a long day with a lot of little highlights. Cher came on after 12 and opened the "Mix Fest". She said she would have sung but she had a terrible cold. The crowd sighed and she said "C'mon, give me an F'n break". If it wasn't for all the list members that I met through the day I would have been bored out of my mind. I was especially thrilled to meet a very good friend who I met on the list and now correspond on an almost daily basis now! She knows who she is and hope she was as thrilled to meet me.
After sitting threw all the bands and soloists, Stevie came on at 5:30. The crowd went wild. She looked absolutely amazing. The pictures from the Tampa show don't do her justice. She is thinner than I've seen in over ten years. Her hair was straight and parted down the middle with bangs with one section towards the front pulled over to the side. She wore a tight fitting top belted all in black. She had over that a black satiny robe with puffed shoulders and sleeves that came down to black sequined cuffs that glittered in the sunset. She did not wear her cross.
She opened with "Outside the Rain" then went straight into "Dreams". During which she pointed to the microphone stand and motioned to Lori and Sharon that it was too short. After Dreams ended she said "Welcome Boston". She then motioned to a stage hand that she needed the microphone stand raised. He came over to raise it and she said to him "You didn't plan on me wearing these high boots, did you? That's why I'm so tall" She lifted both arms as to say "See how tall I am?" Then she said "Well, just to take a minute to tell you how much we appreciate you coming to this thing. Thank you so much. This is a very beautiful city. Fleetwood Mac hubbed out of here many times, where we like, actually stayed here for two weeks and... like it's our home, you know, come in and out. So I really like Boston alot. Anyway, thank you. Much love for all of you and... Let's go."
From there she went into a pretty version of "Twisted" that sounded fresh and not as dark as the Tampa version. She sang lead alone and it sounded great! She was definitely into the song. She then said "Thank you. Gives me a reason to be able to do this song. Remember the movie "Twister"? Well my life for two months was "Twister" the movie, getting that song together, and so it's kinda nice to have a reason to play it. O.K. next song!"
She then took the gold shawl from the mike stand and draped it from her arms. "Gold Dust Woman" was as extraordinary as usual. She was really into it, and seemed so happy to just be performing. Now I now what everyone at the Columbus show was talking about. At the end she went over to the drums and picked up a black tambourine decorated with beaded leather straps and grooved for awhile. She ended saying "Said something about it... said something about Gold Dust Woman"
She introduced "Rhiannon" by saying "This is an old mythological story about a welch witch". It was the same version where she sings "Don't leave me", then belts into the rock version. She beat on the tambourine a little more towards the end of that song. After ending it, she said "Thank you, Rhiannon loves you for bringing her back."
Then came an electric, somewhat fast version of "Stand Back". She then shocked the crowd by doing several very graceful yet rocking spins during the guitar solo. She then introduced the next song by saying " And now for a moment, I uh, been doing this song for a long time cause my friend Tom wrote and, so he doesn't mind that I do it, so we'll do it tonight, it's called "I Need to Know".
She then left the stage after saying, " You guys, Thank you so much for coming, thank you so much for... being here. I can't breathe. And I love you, and hopefully one of these days we'll be together again real soon. Take care of yourselves."
She then came out with a white sparkling shawl wrapped around her shoulders to sing "Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You". Towards the end it seemed she became slightly misty eyed as she sang "I want you to remember me...".
She then finished the song in her usual manner, "... And when they ask her about the men in her life she says... well, in answer to your questions, they were poets and yet... they were priests of nothing... and yet the were legends."
She then waved to the crowd, bowed with her band, and was gone. I can't wait til next time...
Sal & Donna
aka CaNtSlEeP
Well I will start by saying that, my wife and I walked out our door at 5:30am to drive 4 1/2 hours to Boston. Never been there before. We arrived at the Boston Common at 10:30am after first checking into our hotel for the night. My wife was so excited that this day was finally here. When we went towards the stage we were able to stand front row right in front of the speakers. My wife did not move from that spot for 8 hours. I have to say that the other acts were pretty good but, we could not wait until Stevie came out on stage. When that time arrived, the crowd went nuts. She started with, Outside The Rain and went right into Dreams, Twisted, Gold Dust Woman, Rhiannon, Stand Back, I Need To Know, and Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You. She said a few words in between each song like how glad she was to see all of us, and right after Dreams she asked a guy on the side of the stage to raise her microphone because she said "You didn't know I was going to wear these boots, Did you?" The crowd started laughing. She seemed extremely happy to be there, she was totally into performing. She smiled quite often and was waving to everyone every chance she had. She was twirling and dancing like crazy during the beginning of Stand Back and towards the end of the song did her famous leg kick. Stevie looked totally awesome. Her hair was straight with bangs. She wore all black. During Gold Dust Woman she put on a beautiful gold shawl and during Has Anyone she wore a sparkling white shawl. My wife and I were just so happy and excited to have attended this concert. One positive thing about what she said during the St. Petersburg show and the Boston show (I was not at the Columbus show) is that she will be seeing us soon. So we can hope for a tour maybe as soon as next year. Until next time.
I read the review that you posted on the 13th which was sent to you and since they pretty much covered all bases for Ms. Nicks performance I will touch on a different aspect which is of power. Unlike those who were sitting up front stage I was outback behind the screened canopy up on the knoll directly back stage. Contrary to those whose thought nothing could be seen through the back drop it gave a different perspective to the show.
Those of us who were on the knoll had the opportunity to see her arrive, perform, and leave. This gave us a great chance to see her up close. It's a very powerful feeling when you see this Lady arrive with two patrol motorcycles to lead the black limosine with a amber flashing light followed by black vans in to the park. As soon as she arrived to the premises I immediately noticed high security go into effect. which was not done in such extreme for any of the other performers. All of a sudden upon her arrival from out of no where these state police which were not seen before, and professional security in black suites were scanning the grounds with their walkie talkies as well as some with their ear pieces. Oh yes, and of course local police as well, (thank you Boston). When she arrived as well as when she left, her motorcade did not stop for any of the street lights. Traffic was halted giving her the right of way. It was very obvious that the majority of the people were there to see Ms. Nicks performance. And it's also very obvious that she has clout no matter where she goes.
Whether or not she made another appearance on the second day of the fest is unknown to me. But if she did I missed a fabulous display of power as well as performance.
Love The Nicks Fix! That is the only way I would have heard about her concert in Boston yesterday. Although only a two-hour drive from my house in Connecticut, I hadn't heard it advertised anywhere and wouldn't have known a thing about it. Thanks for posting all the details.
I took my cousin with me, and although not a huge fan of Stevie's as I am, she said she sounded and looked great, and had a great time. I had to agree. She had on a long, black satin-looking jacket, and a long black skirt or pants. I couldn't really tell. And HIGH boots! She even made a joke to the audience about how high they were. Her hair was very straight and long, as she has been wearing it lately. She looked great. But sounded even better. I have seen her many, many times in concert, and I think she keeps getting better vocally as she gets older - seriously.
She sang (and I will try to remember accurately): Outside The Rain, Dreams, Twisted, Gold Dust Woman, Rhiannon, I Need To Know, Stand Back and Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You. She performed for exactly an hour.
The day was a lot of fun. Bright sun, not a cloud in the sky, crisp air - a typical Fall day in New England. And the crowd kept getting bigger and bigger around the stage, enjoying the other acts but obviously waiting for Stevie's performance. Best Saturday I have had in a long time!
I flew from Atlanta to Connecticut on Friday and met up with six of my friends. We drove to Boston at six the next morning to be there as early as we could. We arrived around 9:00, and set up as close as we could to the stage. It wasn't as close as I liked, but I knew THAT wouldn't be a problem for us! The park was set up for a full festival with every kind of food imaginable, and a bunch of tents with crafts, clothes, and jewelry for sale. So there was plenty to do during the day while waiting for the show. At around 4:00 I went right up to the stage, and was there with only one person in front of me throughout the whole show.
Stevie's band came on at 5:30, and they took a couple minutes to warm up before Stevie was introduced and hit the stage. She looked beautiful with her hair blown out straight and dressed all in black. She had some sort of little black box attached to her at the waist that she kept messing with, it looked like she was checking a beeper! I think it must have been something that allowed her to hear how the sound was. I have to say that she looked happier and put more into this show than I've seen her in years. She did pretty much the same set that she's been doing, so there were no surprises. At the beginning of Gold Dust Woman she put on a rust colored shawl that looked (to me) kind of Native American. Rhiannon was the usual slow version followed by the rockin' one, but Stevie messed the song up and when she was supposed to be doing the "Dreams unwind..." part, she started singing one of the verses again! The bass player started yelling something to her and she waited a minute and did the "Dreams unwind" part, but only sang a couple of lines of it and then walked away from the microphone and picked up a tambourine and played for the rest of the song. She sang "It's all the same...", etc. from afar, not into the mic. Stevie went WILD during Stand Back, doing her high kick, and twirling like crazy! Then she played "I Need To Know" and at the end she went crazy with her tambourine! I haven't seen her play like that since the earlier Fleetwood Mac days. After it was over she put her hand to her chest and mouthed to her band mates that she was out of breath. She left the stage and came out for the encore in a white sparkling shawl for "Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You". Halfway through the song she picked up her mic stand and moved it to the front of the stage to be closer to us. At the end she went over to the side of the stage and did a low bow to the audience, and everyone went crazy. This was one of the best shows I have seen in quite some time and worth every dollar I paid to be there!
Yo. This letter is for all of you unfortunate souls who were unable to see Stevie Nicks at the Boston Common Saturday, Oct. 12. Well, you missed a great show! Stevie brought the house down. But first, let us set the stage for you. If you really can’t wait for the Stevie stuff, skip down to the arrow.> It was a beautiful October day. The witchy New England countryside was alive with colour. Our excitement for the event mounted the closer we got to Boston, soaring across the countryside in our rented Mustang.
Approaching the metropolitan Boston area around 12:00 noon, listening to mix 98.5, we heard Cher take the stage, complaining about how sick she was, etc. Too bad. She didn’t sing, only served as the person who said,"Let the games begin" basically. By the way, the remix of her new song "One by One" by Junior Vasquez is outstanding.
So we finally get there, right, just as former Bangle Susanna Hoffs is taking the stage. It was a nice, simple acoustic performance. She sounded good, especially on "Eternal Flame." We noticed that she had her own little contingent of fans who were there just to see her, and these girls started screaming when it was announced that Susanna was going to be signing autographs over at the Strawberry records booth. You go girl!
After Susanna, we began our slow, but sure ascent to the front near the stage, as we wanted to be able to take great notes for all you guys. Next to take the stage was the young Amanda Marshall. What a firecracker this girl was, with leather pants and a shiny red blouse, and huge kinky rock n’ roll hair, not unlike Stevie’s from the Street Angel tour. Amanda was a dynamic performer, but almost a little too studied in her Janis-esque vocal delivery and mannerisms.
A bit later came Canadian Jann Arden. We were almost up as far as you could get to the stage at this point, thank God! At any rate, Jann was really cool, and very funny with her light-hearted banter between songs. Especially good was her smash, "Insensitive."
> And now, the Stevie stuff you’ve all been waiting for. The anticipation at this point was palpable, especially as they began to set up her equipment. Somebody said Stevie was at the side stage introducing the local Boston area bands. Don’t know if it was true or not. Carlos Rios suddenly appeared on the side of the stage, and we heard a young girl behind us remark to her friend, "damn, it’s Carlos." This was nothing personal against Mr. Rios, but rumours were afoot that Waddy had appeared with the band in Ohio, and if he had reappeared in Boston, it would have been really cool to a lot of the people there. Alas, it was not to be. Johnny Starbuck, Stevie’s long-time body guard, was also conspicuous by his absence. However, we did spy Stevie’s adorable little niece. With her huge mop of honey-brown coloured hair, she looks quite a lot like aunt Stevie.
Boom! The next big event was when they brought out Stevie’s mic stand. We know this sounds lame, but everyone there went nuts over it! It had black ribbons and bows, and what appeared to be black feathers and rabbits’ feet attached to it. Later, the wardrobe mistress came out and hung a golden shawl on the mic stand. Stevie later donned the shawl for "Gold Dust Woman."
Next, the band came out, and checked the instruments, mics, etc. Someone shouted, "Welcome back, Lori", to which Stevie’s long-time back up singer and sister in law replied, "Than-Q" Sharona was also there, still looking just like Elvira.
Ok, the show began with, what else? "Outside the Rain" As you already know from the other reviews, Stevie looked great and was very happy. "Outside the Rain" bled into "Dreams", as it always does. "Well Mick says Stevie this is just one more link in the chain, and I have to, I have to believe him." Did you know Stevie attended the premiere of "Twister" with Mick?
After "Dreams" Stevie talked a little, saying how much she really likes Boston, etc., and wished everybody "much love" Believe us, the feeling was mutual. Then, "Twisted, oooohh you like to be twisted, you like to be TWISTED (screamed)...by the Force!" "Twisted" was amazing, a very haunted song. "You think you hear demons, I think WE are the demons."..."Crazy man, crazIER woman" It was great! Stevie sang Lindsey’s part. She ended by wailing again, "Well you like to be shaken, by-the-force!"
Ooh, next came Ellen’s personal favorite, "Gold Dust Woman" We were almost passing out at this point. So slow, so evocative, so eerily graceful. After "go hoooooome", the music got darker and scarier. "Runnin’ in the shadow" by Lori and Sharon, over and over again, in the background. Stevie chanted "Well I don’t want to hear about it, I don’t want to hear about it." "Well you better try harder, You better try harder" She then did her slow magical dance over by the drums, and you could read her lips as she continued to chant, "You better try harder..."
Wow! Next came Rhiannon, complete with the slow, gothic intro that we love. The very opening cords sounded familiar, like from another song, but we can’t quite place it. A mystery. "And you still cry out for her, and you say, don’t leave meeeeee!!" She doesn’t quite explode at the end of it the way she used to, but it was still brilliant.
"Stand Back" followed, sung with conviction and spirit. Stevie did some serious spinning and shaking during this ever popular number. Next came a smokin’ rendition of Tom Petty’s "I need to know." "Well, take your violet and blue mornings with you!!!" (Carly loves that part.)
"You guys, thank you so much for coming, we love you, and hopefully one of these days we’ll be together again soon..." When the chanting became deafening, Ste-vie, Ste-vie, Ste-vie, she finally reemerged to sing, "Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for you?" She was wearing a shimmering white shawl over her black dress, and had moved the mic up as far forward towards the audience as possible. "And when they ask her about the men in her life, she says well, in answers to your questions, they were poets, and yet they were priests of nothing, and yes, they were Legends..." There were many people in the audience balling, including this girl near us from New Zealand who didn’t even know who Stevie was, and had pretty much ended up at the Boston Common by accident. A true testiment to the power of this little woman to evoke emotion.
The band came out to take their final bow, and then our lady disappeared into the night.
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