Stevie Nicks

[Brooke]

Soda, glad you enjoyed yourself despite the aging crowd!

I wonder why they even went? That's just strange!

[sodascouts]

Well, if you were a member of AARP, you could buy a package that included a discounted ticket for the concert as part of the overall price of admission. The ticket didn't even say who the performers were at the time. I guess these people figured attending the concert would be part of the overall "convention experience" and hey, they got a bargain price for the ticket!

[Tiffanny Twisted]

Soda...

Glad u r home safe and sound even with doing all that driving.

I am also excited to hear that you got to hear a song performed for the first time live...very exciting indeed.

Wow I'm a aarp member even thought I am too young, and I didnt get offered anything like that.

I am sure that Stevie felt your positive energy in the crowd.

tt

[Freypower]

I didn't know what AARP was. When I looked it up I found that this happened in New Orleans too:

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7422526n

I make no further comment. I won't even put in a smiley to give any indication of my opinion.

New Orleans is one of my favourite songs from the In Your Dreams album. I love the city & she conveys the atmosphere of it very well. She should write a song about London!

[Tiffanny Twisted]

thats a stinking shame.

[sodascouts]

Yeah, apparently the people who run the AARP are mega-liberal. Melissa Etheridge (who performed before Stevie) was actually all excited about it. She believes that hecklers booing are a "terrific demonstration of our [senior] voice." Mmmkay. I guess all seniors are liberals? My 70-year-old parents sure as heck aren't. Now I know why Daddy discontinued membership.

I personally find booing rude and obnoxious. Nobody forced them to attend his talk, and you can bet the people booing weren't open-minded independents, but rather trolls looking to embarrass him. No matter what your politics, this kind of behavior isn't commendable. It's tacky and ugly. JMHO.

[Topkat]

Booing goes on all the time during political speeches. They booed after one comment he made. It's probably even expected. It's never classy, but it does happen.

Now, can we please hear about Stevie's show, & not the grumpy old audience.
I wanna hear what she sang & if she made any small talk between songs. I came here to find out about Stevie!!! What did she say when she introduced her new song??? Was there any reaction to it, or what it was about?
How long was the set?

Also, how was Melissa Etheridge? I'm not really a huge fan, but when I see her on TV, her voice is pretty powerful. I always thought she was a pretty good singer. What did you think of her?

[sodascouts]

Sorry, Topkat, but the audience did bring the party down and affected my concert experience. That said, I'm happy to move on.

The line-up was Melissa Etheridge, Gladys Knight, and Stevie Nicks.

Melissa Etheridge was first. Her voice was terrific and even though I only knew her hits, I really enjoyed her setlist. I can't remember the names of the songs or anything, but she is obviously very talented. She has a new album out.

Gladys Knight was amazing. She moves and sings like she's 20 and looks fabulous. She did her hits as well as some covers of 20s songs as a "tribute" to her inspirations like Lena Horne. She also did a new song - she's still putting out new material, too! A surprise guest was one of the original Pips - he was a hoot and was gettin' down like James Brown!

Stevie came out and from the outset we knew we weren't going to get a typical show when she was doing songs out of her usual order. The show was atypical in both good and bad ways. The bad: No Edge of Seventeen walk where she touches audience hands, no encore, no background display, no Leather and Lace and - for the first time at a public show that I know of - NO DREAMS. That was akin to Glenn not doing Take It Easy in Niagara.

The good: the novelty of a different setlist order, and the song NEW ORLEANS! That alone was worth the trip. She was so emotional - you could tell she was really touched by the plight of the people during Katrina. However, she was very nervous and afterwards, when she was introducing Soldier's Angel, she was all over the place. The intro wouldn't have made sense to anyone who didn't already know the story about her visit to the Walter Reed Hospital. I was kind of embarrassed for her because she rambled on confusedly for several minutes and I knew many of the non-fans were becoming impatient with her, even going so far as to look at their watches. She also flubbed her timing on Rhiannon and came in too early, which led to her for the first time in years doing a little "Rhiannon dance" during the time when she would normally be singing. She made that mistake into a treat! I think part of the problem may have been there was no teleprompter to act as a safety net for her. Still, she did a terrific job overall.

There were no costume changes, although she did pull out her shawls for Stand Back and Gold Dust Woman.

I'm VERY glad I went to the show because I got to hear "New Orleans." However, aside from that, it wasn't nearly as good as prior shows I've been to. It wasn't because of Stevie - I don't care if she makes some itsy bitsy errors when she sings so powerfully - but because there were less songs (only 8!) and less Stevie showmanship thanks to the constraints of the AARP's setup and timeline. Also, there were several moments of feedback, much to Stevie's and lead guitarist Waddy Wachtel's dismay. The feedback after Edge of Seventeen was so bad that Stevie covered her ears and grimaced, and Waddy looked pissed off. I wish I could be more positive, but there you have it.

The setlist:

1 ) Rock and Roll
2 ) Rhiannon
3 ) Landslide
4 ) Stand Back
5 ) New Orleans
6 ) Gold Dust Woman
7 ) Soldier's Angel
8 ) Edge of Seventeen

More Stevie plans on the horizon, though.... details later!

[zeldabjr]

Sorry the crowd was such a bummer Soda...

[Topkat]

Thanks for all the details, Soda. Just trying to get back on track here. Sounds like it was an interesting evening. With the 3 acts, you would have to expect the setlist to be shorter.
I didn't know Gladys Knight was there. That's cool. I also wouldn't mind seeing Melissa Etheridge.

I guess you knew that it wasn't going to be a typical Stevie show, but sometimes seeing something a little different is still good. I'm glad you got to hear the new song. I really don't like seeing the same exact show over & over again anyway. What surprised me is the part about the teleprompter? I have never even seen a show with a teleprompter. Does she usually use one? I didn't know that.
Seems like she was a little thrown off by this audience, & the lack of enthusiasm can put a damper on the experience, but you did get to see her & that's always a plus!! A little surprised she didn't do Dreams.
Hope that overall it was a good time!

Sounds like you have some more Stevie plans in the future, so that's fantastic!