[The Nicks Fix]

Hartford Courant
July 14, 2001
Stevie Nicks Enchants Crowd, With Help From Sheryl Crow

By ROGER CATLIN

Stevie Nicks' solo career is marking its 20th anniversary, but in many ways she couldn't be more contemporary.

To prove the point at her well-attended show at the ctnow.com Meadows Music Centre on Friday, she preceded her show by blasting Destiny's Child's current hit, "Bootylicious," built off a riff of her "Edge of Seventeen."

Old songs from her solo career and a couple with Fleetwood Mac were the best-received in the show, but there was also strong support for "Trouble in Shangri-La," her new album that hit No. 5 on the charts when it was released earlier this year.

Of course, some of the 11,000 on hand could have come to see her special guest, Sheryl Crow, who had contributed to five songs on Nicks' new album and is popping up on her tour to be what Nicks calls "a part of the band."

It was a tough thing to arrange, she said from the stage, but it paid off as Crow walked out without fanfare during "Gold Dust Woman" as if she was returning to her old job as backup singer (when she toured with everyone from Don Henley to Michael Jackson).

Crow enjoyed an expanded role, though, playing two of her own songs as well as helping on five of Nicks'. Her strong vocal parts were key to some of the new songs, such as "Sorcerer," which fit in with Nicks' career-long fascination with witches . Other constants in her work include dreams and weather. Friday her "Outside the Rain" segued nicely into "Dreams."

At 53, Nicks' voice has fallen markedly in register, but at least she didn't have the kind of rasp she did last time she was here. And the harmonies by Crow and her backup singers provided those soaring higher parts.

On a florid set similar to her current album cover (or an old Maxfield Parrish painting), Nicks showed she could still cast a spell on the audience, some of whom joined her in wearing veiled dresses, scarves and velvet.

In addition to Crow, another rocker was present in the form of songs from Tom Petty that bookended her show, "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" and "I Need to Know."

Nicks' seven-piece band was a strong one. Their mastery meant Nicks could lay off the tambourine more often this time out. Which left more time for her to twirl around in her dresses and many shawls, to the delight of the enchanted fans.

The set list for Stevie Nicks (and Sheryl Crow) Friday was: "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," "Enchanted," "Outside the Rain," "Dreams," "Gold Dust Woman," "Sorcerer," "My Favorite Mistake" (Crow), "Every Day," "Rhiannon," "Stand Back," "Planets of the Universe," "Everyday is a Winding Road" (Crow), "Too Far From Texas," "Bombay Sapphires," "Fall from Grace," "Edge of Seventeen" (Encore) "I Need to Know," "Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for You."

 


The Nicks Fix main page