Stevie Nicks As Good as ‘Gold’ In Charlottesville

Currently on her second leg of the 24K Karat Gold Tour, legendary singer Stevie Nicks performed for a crowd of nearly 15,000 at University of Virginia Jean Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville on March 25.  

Known for her work with band Fleetwood Mac and her solo career, Nicks has been regarded by many pubs as the Queen of Rock & Roll, with more than 140 millions records sold and 8 Grammys. This tour is a celebration of her most recent album, the 2014 release of  “24 Karat Gold: Songs From The Vault.”

Originally scheduled for a start time of 7p.m., the venue announced last-minute show’s openers, The Pretenders, would not be performing due to illness. While some fans asked for refunds at ticket booths, many decided Nicks was still worth the night.

A predominantly older crowd, many came dressed to the nines with life-long fans opted to take a page out of their wardrobe from back in the day. Nicks, a mainstay of Rock & Roll music in the 1970s, was a major influence with her style and fashion as much as her music. Thus, many fans dressed in her likeness, sporting Nick’s’ trademark shawl fabrics, big hair and celestial pendants.

A little after 8 p.m., Nick’s’ band appeared on stage to roaring applause from the crowd. Once each band member was set, Nicks gracefully walked onstage and wasted no time getting the show started, opening with “Gold and Braid,” an unreleased song from her 1981 debut solo platinum-selling album, “Bella Donna.”

The album served as affirmation of her decision to leave the success of Fleetwood Mac and embark on her own career.  

After performing the song, Nicks spoke about the creation and legacy of the album, citing collaborators Tom Petty and Jimmy Lovine as instrumental to its success. She continued to perform carefully-selected songs from her early solo albums, including “If Anyone Falls” and“Stop Draggin”.

At certain parts of the night, Nicks chose to perform fan favorites from her work with Fleetwood Mac, performing “Gyspy” to a resounding response from the crowd. Like the album, the nearly three-hour-long highlighted various unreleased songs Nicks chose to perform for the first time.

For each song, she detailed its own unique background story and origin. To the audience’s pleasure, Nicks spoke with much candor and wit in her recollections. In addition, never-before-seen photos appeared on a large LCD screen behind her correlating with each story and song.

When she performed “Stand Back,” she spoke of her close friendship with Prince, who passed away last year. She detailed her first encounter with the legend, citing his purple camaro and his attire as personal memories that still stand out to her to  this day. Nicks revealed that the song was a play on Prince’s classic, “Little Red Corvette” and said that she feels his presence every time she performs the record.  

Nicks closed the set with her famous, “Edge of Seventeen” with her guitarist doing his best Jimi Hendrix impression during his solo. When the crowd pleaded that she sing one more, she gladly obliged performing “Rhiannon” and “Landslide” as encores.

An intriguing yet inspiring element to the show was the perspective in which Nicks spoke about her past and present. She spoke as someone who is at peace with her youth, prime and career. Most importantly, Nicks genuinely looked happy on stage to share these obscure songs that maybe one point in time she was too afraid to perform in the past.
A show filled with nostalgia and remembrance, Nicks’s presence was also one of contentment and joy. With her voice as strong and cool as ever, Stevie is still as good as Gold.

Muktaru Jalloh | Staff Writer

Muktaru is a graduate student working on a Master’s of Teaching after earning an undergraduate degree in English and Political Science. In addition to writing for the CT, he also co-founds his own music and arts site, STROKES N RHYMES. Topic areas Muktaru enjoys covering include music, sports and pop culture.
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