by Parry Gettelman
The former Fleetwood Mac member looked relaxed and displayed a direct
personal style of singing during the show in Orlando.
Fleetwood's Mac Christine McVie grew tired of touring and called a halt
to
the tour last year. The road seems to agree with her former bandmate
Stevie Nicks, however. She has headed back out as a solo artist this
summer, and at the Orlando Arena Wednesday, Nicks not only looked relaxed,
fit and happy but sounded even better then when she appeared at the arena
with Fleetwood Mac in November.
Christine McVie mentioned last fall that both she and Nicks had given up
smoking, and it certainly seems that Nicks has continued treating her
voice kindly. Her alto was strong and secure, husky but not raggedy, with
just the right amount of vibrato. She no longer tries for some of the
high notes she used to hit, but she never was a acrobatic singer, in any
case. And high notes don't matter much when a singer such a distinctive
tone and direct, personal style.
Nicks touring in support of a new three-CD solo retrospective, Enchanted.
However, her set list also included Fleetwood Mac hits such as "Rhiannon,"
"Dreams" and "Gold Dust Woman". Although those are some of her best
tunes, they weren't necessarily the best numbers of the evening. Although
her performances were terrific, her seven-piece band and two female
backing vocalists were solid but rather colorless.
Of course, it's hard for any rock band to try and match up against one of
rock's great ensembles, but perhaps the contrast would have been less
marked had the arrangements been more different from the original
versions. Lindsey Buckingham's incendiary style was sorely missed on
"Rhiannon." I found myself wishing Nicks had played a solo piano version,
as she did on Enchanted. She did perform a very stripped down version of
"Landslide," with just acoustic guitar and understated keyboards. It was
the loveliest part of the show and very well received by the crowd that
filled about two-thirds of the arena.
Not that her fans were ever less than adoring, even when Nicks sang less
familiar material such as the rather clunky "Twisted," recorded for the
movie Twister, and the more affecting "After The Glitter Fades," "Garbo"
and "Rose Garden," performed in a largely acoustic segment. Nicks
introduced these songs as a trilogy relating to the days when she was just
trying to make it in the music business. Although not know as outgoing,
she chatted to the crowd as if it were a group of old pals, even cheerily
calling out "I'll be right back!" when she went to make one of her
frequent costume changes. (Maybe she could teach the Spice Girls her trick
of just swapping shawls and filmy outer layers of clothing).
The band sounded more confident - or perhaps just suffered less by
comparison
- on two hard-charging solo numbers, "Stand Back" and the set closing
"Edge Of Seventeen." Nicks' encore included a quieter number from her
solo career, "Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You," which she sang as
if addressing each member of the audience individually.
Opening acts rarely get standing ovations or encores, but
singer-guitarist
Boz Scaggs achieved that feat with a superb 45-minute set. He and his
exceptionally tight, dynamic band performed both fine newer material and
old hits. In keeping with the rootsiness of Scaggs' recent recordings,
they gave a stronger blues/R&B twist to "Miss Sun," "Lowdown" and "Look
What You Have Done To Me." Those songs may have seemed just part of the
pop tapestry in the ‘70s and early ‘80s, but they hold up amazingly well.
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