as seen by Rudy Tarde
It was the night of January 6th., the place The Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas, at a cozy little place called The Joint. It all started when a very good friend of mine that happens to work at Zenith (HDTV Division) told me about a concert he had to shoot in Vegas as part of a Promo, when I asked him who it was he replied, someone you know very well, when he told me-Stevie Nicks-I almost died.

He said if I wanted he could bring me as a guest with full access to backstage plus the party afterwards, well I guess you can imagine what my answer was.

I arrived at The Joint right about 7:00 PM, i had my passes on, and i was ready for anything, the place was pretty empty except for the video crew working on the shoot, i felt sort of special being able to come and go as i wished, i remember as i was waiting for my friend by the entrance, people where beginning to notice that there was some kind of special event going on or private party and they wanted to know who it was,I looked at them and proudly said, Stevie Nicks and Jay Leno, they scrunched about the door desperately trying to get a peek, only to shadowed by the security guards. I found out that the gig was a private party for Zenith, this was all kept very hush hush from the beginning, because not only was Stevie Nicks gonna be there, but Jay Leno as well., could you in your wildest dreams imagine Jay opening for Stevie WOW.

So anyway the Zenith folks were starting to pile in, and the catered food was been served, the whole scene was surreal, just imagine I'm in a small club, sitting on one of the tables having diner, no more than 18 feet from the stage, with no security to speak of anywhere, and know that I'm finally gonna meet Stevie., I could not believe I was there.

The lights went DIMM and Jay Leno takes the stage, he does his routine for a good 45 minutes, he was awesome, it's funny when you see someone on TV that long you just can't believe that is really them.

Well finally it happens, the colored spot lights light up the stage, the tremor of drums kick in as the band joins in, and out of a misty colored stage she sways her way in, I was in heaven.

I was so taken by her presence that I don't even remember what she opened with, but whatever it was I had goose bumps all over, she was in really good form that night, although I have to admit that her band was not as good as other musicians that have backed her up in the past, but aside from that, it was a kick ass concert.

Her show lasted about 2:30 hours, and I loved every minute, of her ever changing shawls, she was exceptionally good when she did Silver Springs, really took her time and gave them what they wanted.

When the show ended i proceeded to take the elevator upstairs, as security finally made an appearance i was proud to flag my special pass around., finally through the doorway, there she was, i had waited my lifetime for a moment like this and it was finally gona happen, the closest i ever came to being next to her was back in Chicago, about 8 years ago, when i was 5th row at Alpine Valley, and i made my way up to the stage where she was greeting her fans, i gave her a rose which i never forgotten since, she took it from me while holding my hand and saying thank you for the support.

So back to reality, here i am no more than 10 feet from her, waiting for an opportunity to be able to get a few words in, without making a complete ass of myself., so as she finally turns towards me, i smile and greet her trying to keep it together, she smiles back and starts a little conversation, asking me what i though of her concert, i replied that it was very special for the fact that it was such a small and intimate crowd making the songs so much more valuable, it makes you feel more for the songs and their meaning than if you were among a lot of people on a big arena.

Anyway we struck a few conversations on and throughout the night, she really came across a very sweet lady, I also told her that I've been a fan of her's for about 20 years, and seen her in many concerts, alone and with Fleetwood Mac, she said that music was her life, and the bond between herself and the audience gives her the power to go on.