Post by lora on Jun 30, 2005 16:58:59 GMT -5
Tuesday was the greatest night of my life.
I'll start at the beginning, as all good stories do. Things were going along just fine. My friend Travis (the only one who cared enough to want to go to this show with me) and I left Lexington to head to Cincinnati at around 4:45, stopped at Taco Bell on the way out of town and had a peaceful hour or so on the interstate, listening to Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac songs to get the night going. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, some moron going well over the speed limit, coming the opposite direction on the interstate, crossed the median and clipped the back end of Travis' car. Honestly, it felt like nothing, but Travis pulled off to get a look. Not only is the left back end of his car totally smashed, the bumper is completely gone. A lady behind us got hit basically straight on. Her airbags deployed and she was really shaken up over the loss of her new silver SUV. The idiot driving the pickup that caused all of this ended up in an embankment on the other side, taking down a highway sign with him. After we assessed the damage and made sure everything was okay, a police officer had to get some information from both Travis and I, then she told us we were free to go. This was all at around 6:20.
It almost felt weird leaving the scene of an accident like that to head to a concert, but Travis and I were both so pumped that it was easy to just go on. From there, it didn't take much longer to get to Riverbend Music Center. We both used the bathroom and I bought a tee shirt and keychain. We went and sat down for a bit then decided we were hungry, so we went back out to get some food.
Vanessa Carlton was the opening act. She only did six, maybe seven, songs, but it was just her and her piano the entire time. She was phenomenal. I absolutely have to find the lyrics to "White Houses" now. It seemed like an amazing song, but apparently Vh1 and MTV both edited the song when they played the video. Huh. I went to the bathroom while Vanessa was on stage because I knew I would have to go at some point in the night, and I didn't want to miss a second of Stevie. I came back just in time to catch Vanessa's last song and then not ten minutes later, they began to play "Bootylicious" and the crowd exploded. Of course, anyone who knows anything knows that Stevie's "Edge Of Seventeen" provided the guitar riff for "Bootylicious". Duh, people. Anyway, after that a brief clip of the new remix of "Dreams" by the group Deep Dish (featuring newly recorded vocals by Stevie) began to play and the band filed out onstage.
It was during "Bootylicious" that I actually started to get nervous. At one moment, I thought I might pee my pants. But I calmed down. When the band was coming onstage, I was having a hard time seeing because of the fact that I'm so damn short! But Travis and I maneuvered around and I finally found a decent spot where I could see. I kept watching for Stevie but the wait seemed like forever. Then Travis said, "There she is," and I looked to the right side of the stage and could hardly contain myself. I was near tears. There she was, one of the great loves of my life, in eyesight, in the very same vaccinity as yours truly. It was almost too much to take. She blew me away. As soon as she came onstage, I felt a rush of peace just completely wash over me. She was like a fairy, a mystical angel. She was breathtaking. Stevie wore her typical black, flowy clothing with platform boots. Hey - when you're only 5'1", you have to do what you can. She was just so regal...
They opened with "Enchanted" which, like many of these songs, I'm sure most of you are not familiar with. Only us hardcore fans know some of these. Anyway, she rocked hard with "Enchanted", and the normally calmer "Outside The Rain" came next. That song was kicked up a notch from the album version, but that was nice. That then faded perfectly, seamlessly, into "Dreams". Then came "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around", with accompanying vocals from Stevie's guitarist, Waddy Watchell, on the Tom Petty parts. She then started into "Rhiannon", which garnered an enormous reaction from the audience. I love what Stevie does with "Rhiannon" live. She plays with the lyrics a little bit, changing the "taken by the wind" line to "taken by the sky" and crying "don't go". It's beautiful.
A lot of the audience remained standing throughout it all (me and Travis seemed to be the only ones within our area though). Most of the crowd sat down for "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around", then sat again after "Dreams". The next song was "Sorceror", from 2001's Trouble in Shangri-La, which is the only studio album of Stevie's that I own. I knew she was going to do the song from seeing previous set lists online, and I was excited. Love that song. I sang along with every word, but it seemed that many people there didn't know the song, or didn't like it much - one or the other. Then came "Gold Dust Woman", which was recognizable from the first two percussion beats. Right before that Stevie had gone offstage for a moment while the band continued to play. She put on a gold shawl just for the song, and it was awesome. Then a stage hand came and took Stevie's shawl for her, which was apparently unexpected, since she said, "Oh, he scared me half to death." She was just so adorable I could hardly stand it.
After that Stevie did "Stand Back", which was amazing and a true highlight of the evening. She had so much energy on this song, and this was the first time I remember seeing her twirl that night. That made me giddy. Tee hee. Stevie began the next song with the statement, "This next song needs no introduction." And indeed it did not. On the screen behind, there were different photographs and video snippets of Stevie flashing in sepia as she sang "Landslide" - the one song Travis wanted to hear. It was a treat for me too. "Landslide" always is. That marked the second time I almost cried.
Then Stevie spoke briefly about the ONE campaign to help end global poverty. Today I went and signed the online petition because Stevie told me to.
Stevie dedicated her next song to the cause of the ONE campaign, and this was the most wonderful surprise of all - "Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You". I think the only song that could have made me happier would have been "Ooh My Love". Her voice was so pure on this, and I was almost brought to tears once again. The show then got kicked back into high gear with "Fall From Grace", also from Shangri-La. Naturally, I remained standing during both this and the previous song, while many people sat. "Fall From Grace" totally rocked my socks off. This was an awesome song to hear live, and the band did a fantastic job here. Next came a cover of the Bonnie Raitt song "Circle Dance" which was simply amazing. I didn't know the song beforehand, so that made it seem new to me, and I loved it.
Before I finish, I have a few scary facts for you. Now, I didn't recognize Waddy Watchell, but when Stevie said his name, I knew immediately who he was. The same went for Al Ortiz, the bassist. He's from Phoenix and plays on a lot of Stevie's demos. The band members I knew right away, however, were the backup singers - Jana Anderson and Sharon Celani. Jana's a fairly new edition, but Sharon's been singing with Stevie since her solo career began, so when Stevie did the band introductions, I shouted a little "whoo!" for Sharon. I only wish Lori were still touring with Stevie. Lori has been with Stevie just as long as Sharon, but Stevie's brother and Lori were married in the mid '80s. The reason she doesn't tour with Stevie anymore is because of their daughter, Jessica. She stays home to raise her. Jessica's about thirteen to fifteen, somewhere in there. So hopefully by the time Stevie goes on her next tour, Lori will be ready to rejoin the team. That would be awesome. Lori's an amazing singer.
Okay, carrying on. After "Circle Dance", Stevie finally did the one everyone had been waiting all night for. You guessed it - "Edge Of Seventeen". Wow. It was friggin' awesome. Stevie and the entire band were on their toes, as was the audience, who were pumped to finally get to hear Stevie's signature song. After it was over, they cleared the stage. I saw a few people leave, but I knew the show wasn't over. A few minutes passed, and they came back with a bang. Stevie did the Led Zepplin song "Rock and Roll" and totally made it her own. It was phenomenal. Then there was a huge percussion solo after this, before Stevie did another costume change and came back for the big finish. It was an extraordinary rendition of "Beauty and the Beast" (no, not from the animated movie), complete with video footage from the 1946 French language film. I had already seen footage of Stevie doing this at the close of another show, and it was so heartbreaking that I was praying she would close with it at Riverbend as well. She did not disappoint. It was fantastic.
The ride home was a lot of fun, talking about the show and listening to some more Stevie songs. I wish I had a better memory, because I don't think this set list is exactly right, but I did the best I could, considering I'm still in awe.
I'll start at the beginning, as all good stories do. Things were going along just fine. My friend Travis (the only one who cared enough to want to go to this show with me) and I left Lexington to head to Cincinnati at around 4:45, stopped at Taco Bell on the way out of town and had a peaceful hour or so on the interstate, listening to Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac songs to get the night going. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, some moron going well over the speed limit, coming the opposite direction on the interstate, crossed the median and clipped the back end of Travis' car. Honestly, it felt like nothing, but Travis pulled off to get a look. Not only is the left back end of his car totally smashed, the bumper is completely gone. A lady behind us got hit basically straight on. Her airbags deployed and she was really shaken up over the loss of her new silver SUV. The idiot driving the pickup that caused all of this ended up in an embankment on the other side, taking down a highway sign with him. After we assessed the damage and made sure everything was okay, a police officer had to get some information from both Travis and I, then she told us we were free to go. This was all at around 6:20.
It almost felt weird leaving the scene of an accident like that to head to a concert, but Travis and I were both so pumped that it was easy to just go on. From there, it didn't take much longer to get to Riverbend Music Center. We both used the bathroom and I bought a tee shirt and keychain. We went and sat down for a bit then decided we were hungry, so we went back out to get some food.
Vanessa Carlton was the opening act. She only did six, maybe seven, songs, but it was just her and her piano the entire time. She was phenomenal. I absolutely have to find the lyrics to "White Houses" now. It seemed like an amazing song, but apparently Vh1 and MTV both edited the song when they played the video. Huh. I went to the bathroom while Vanessa was on stage because I knew I would have to go at some point in the night, and I didn't want to miss a second of Stevie. I came back just in time to catch Vanessa's last song and then not ten minutes later, they began to play "Bootylicious" and the crowd exploded. Of course, anyone who knows anything knows that Stevie's "Edge Of Seventeen" provided the guitar riff for "Bootylicious". Duh, people. Anyway, after that a brief clip of the new remix of "Dreams" by the group Deep Dish (featuring newly recorded vocals by Stevie) began to play and the band filed out onstage.
It was during "Bootylicious" that I actually started to get nervous. At one moment, I thought I might pee my pants. But I calmed down. When the band was coming onstage, I was having a hard time seeing because of the fact that I'm so damn short! But Travis and I maneuvered around and I finally found a decent spot where I could see. I kept watching for Stevie but the wait seemed like forever. Then Travis said, "There she is," and I looked to the right side of the stage and could hardly contain myself. I was near tears. There she was, one of the great loves of my life, in eyesight, in the very same vaccinity as yours truly. It was almost too much to take. She blew me away. As soon as she came onstage, I felt a rush of peace just completely wash over me. She was like a fairy, a mystical angel. She was breathtaking. Stevie wore her typical black, flowy clothing with platform boots. Hey - when you're only 5'1", you have to do what you can. She was just so regal...
They opened with "Enchanted" which, like many of these songs, I'm sure most of you are not familiar with. Only us hardcore fans know some of these. Anyway, she rocked hard with "Enchanted", and the normally calmer "Outside The Rain" came next. That song was kicked up a notch from the album version, but that was nice. That then faded perfectly, seamlessly, into "Dreams". Then came "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around", with accompanying vocals from Stevie's guitarist, Waddy Watchell, on the Tom Petty parts. She then started into "Rhiannon", which garnered an enormous reaction from the audience. I love what Stevie does with "Rhiannon" live. She plays with the lyrics a little bit, changing the "taken by the wind" line to "taken by the sky" and crying "don't go". It's beautiful.
A lot of the audience remained standing throughout it all (me and Travis seemed to be the only ones within our area though). Most of the crowd sat down for "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around", then sat again after "Dreams". The next song was "Sorceror", from 2001's Trouble in Shangri-La, which is the only studio album of Stevie's that I own. I knew she was going to do the song from seeing previous set lists online, and I was excited. Love that song. I sang along with every word, but it seemed that many people there didn't know the song, or didn't like it much - one or the other. Then came "Gold Dust Woman", which was recognizable from the first two percussion beats. Right before that Stevie had gone offstage for a moment while the band continued to play. She put on a gold shawl just for the song, and it was awesome. Then a stage hand came and took Stevie's shawl for her, which was apparently unexpected, since she said, "Oh, he scared me half to death." She was just so adorable I could hardly stand it.
After that Stevie did "Stand Back", which was amazing and a true highlight of the evening. She had so much energy on this song, and this was the first time I remember seeing her twirl that night. That made me giddy. Tee hee. Stevie began the next song with the statement, "This next song needs no introduction." And indeed it did not. On the screen behind, there were different photographs and video snippets of Stevie flashing in sepia as she sang "Landslide" - the one song Travis wanted to hear. It was a treat for me too. "Landslide" always is. That marked the second time I almost cried.
Then Stevie spoke briefly about the ONE campaign to help end global poverty. Today I went and signed the online petition because Stevie told me to.
Stevie dedicated her next song to the cause of the ONE campaign, and this was the most wonderful surprise of all - "Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You". I think the only song that could have made me happier would have been "Ooh My Love". Her voice was so pure on this, and I was almost brought to tears once again. The show then got kicked back into high gear with "Fall From Grace", also from Shangri-La. Naturally, I remained standing during both this and the previous song, while many people sat. "Fall From Grace" totally rocked my socks off. This was an awesome song to hear live, and the band did a fantastic job here. Next came a cover of the Bonnie Raitt song "Circle Dance" which was simply amazing. I didn't know the song beforehand, so that made it seem new to me, and I loved it.
Before I finish, I have a few scary facts for you. Now, I didn't recognize Waddy Watchell, but when Stevie said his name, I knew immediately who he was. The same went for Al Ortiz, the bassist. He's from Phoenix and plays on a lot of Stevie's demos. The band members I knew right away, however, were the backup singers - Jana Anderson and Sharon Celani. Jana's a fairly new edition, but Sharon's been singing with Stevie since her solo career began, so when Stevie did the band introductions, I shouted a little "whoo!" for Sharon. I only wish Lori were still touring with Stevie. Lori has been with Stevie just as long as Sharon, but Stevie's brother and Lori were married in the mid '80s. The reason she doesn't tour with Stevie anymore is because of their daughter, Jessica. She stays home to raise her. Jessica's about thirteen to fifteen, somewhere in there. So hopefully by the time Stevie goes on her next tour, Lori will be ready to rejoin the team. That would be awesome. Lori's an amazing singer.
Okay, carrying on. After "Circle Dance", Stevie finally did the one everyone had been waiting all night for. You guessed it - "Edge Of Seventeen". Wow. It was friggin' awesome. Stevie and the entire band were on their toes, as was the audience, who were pumped to finally get to hear Stevie's signature song. After it was over, they cleared the stage. I saw a few people leave, but I knew the show wasn't over. A few minutes passed, and they came back with a bang. Stevie did the Led Zepplin song "Rock and Roll" and totally made it her own. It was phenomenal. Then there was a huge percussion solo after this, before Stevie did another costume change and came back for the big finish. It was an extraordinary rendition of "Beauty and the Beast" (no, not from the animated movie), complete with video footage from the 1946 French language film. I had already seen footage of Stevie doing this at the close of another show, and it was so heartbreaking that I was praying she would close with it at Riverbend as well. She did not disappoint. It was fantastic.
The ride home was a lot of fun, talking about the show and listening to some more Stevie songs. I wish I had a better memory, because I don't think this set list is exactly right, but I did the best I could, considering I'm still in awe.
