Stevie Nicks didn't think she'd be here tonight. She told us this after opening her Saturday (November 15) show in Toronto. Scotiabank Arena with her cover of the Crickets' '50s Bo Diddley beat single “Not Fade Away.” Nicks was supposed to perform here in August, but he had to save this is her leg North American Tour due to a broken shoulder, and she admitted that she thought the rescheduled dates would ultimately not happen.
It's no surprise, however, that the singer-songwriter approached the recovery process with the same tenacity that has characterized her iconic career. Nyx told us about the months of bed rest and physical therapy exercises that brought her here, and how dangerous it all was to make it feel even more special to be in the same room with her.
I can't think of any current figure who is quoted more readily than Nix and Fleetwood Mac in pop music of the 2020s, and I don't just mean sound-wise—her name has appeared in recent releases by Taylor Swift, Hayley Williams, and a random Spotify algorithm discovery if you let the queue play long enough; there is a whole generation of artists for whom Nix's craft has become a model.
Rumors still sells hundreds of thousands of vinyl copies every year, and his album is easily one of the highest rated albums on 1001 Albums You Should Hear Before You Die site next to the Beatles Abbey Road. Whether they're overrated depends on who you ask, of course, but constant exposure to Fleetwood Mac's 1977 classic thankfully hasn't dulled its shine for me.
Nicks balanced that notoriety with an exquisite selection of the only two songs she wrote for the album into the setlist, with the early inclusion of “Dreams” drawing a particularly enthusiastic response. Naturally, she also performed a few additional songs the band recorded, as well as the aforementioned Crickets cover and a rendition of Tom Petty's “Free Fallin” that really saw her evergreen voice rise to the occasion.
At 77 years old (“one and a half!”), Nix’s gravelly timbre persists like a butterfly in resin, sealed with varnish to maintain structural integrity and vibrant color, creating a sense of victory over nature. Slight changes in the arrangements of some songs helped the artist stay within the sweet spot of her range, but her voice rarely sounded less confident than in recordings from decades past. (At the end of the show, she told us that dancing from the bedroom to the kitchen every night plays a key role in her vitality.)
Before performing “Stop Draggin' My Heart About,” Nicks told a delightfully twisted story about the end of the 1981 album. Pretty Woman and producer Jimmy Iovine told her she didn't have a single. (Funny, “Edge of Seventeen” is literally right there!) She detailed panicking about what to wear to Petty's studio to record the track with him and the Heartbreakers—especially her favorite band—and being disappointed that they recorded it in just a few takes.
Much later, there was a similar long story involving a political call to arms. “Lighthouse”. A song that reflects Nix regrets not voting until she was 70was apparently in development for about two years before its release last September. She asked her manager if she could record a demo on Garage Band after receiving a voice note on her friend's phone early one morning right after she wrote it because the old-school musician's own phone didn't record.
Equally candid and playful, she spoke as if unaware of her authority, comfortable in her element as the screen behind her displayed dynamic video footage of classic Stevie imagery – fringed lamps, dream catchers, the moon, crystal chandeliers, etc. – as well as a particularly impressive slideshow of photos of her and the late Christine McVie during the Landslide.
Knicks wore the original Pretty Woman cape from the album cover as she sang the title track from that record, then told us she had to go get another cape, disappeared backstage before returning wearing the “Stand Back” cape. “The fabric of some of these things is so beautiful that you can’t burn it,” she explained of the heirloom’s enduring power. “It just stays.”
It's an apt metaphor for Nicks' legendary catalog of songs, which seem imbued with a ghostly alchemy, a power that continues to be enjoyed decade after decade. Unwavering as an ancient text, they swirl in the ever-changing night with their creator, the fringe of her cape and silver-blond curls rising as high as people lucky enough to witness a living legend.
