The Enchanted Night in Portland!

8/10/98

First I have to say this was a dream come true. I have always wanted to see Stevie on her own. The 5 hour drive from Vancouver Canada to Portland was worth every minute. I first want to say that Portland is a real nice city one that I would love to back to. The concert rocked!! My seats were better than I thought right at the side of the stage. Perfect view of Stevie. The only problem was that from where I was I could not see the entire stage set of the glass back drop and all of the curtains because of the black curtains at the side that blocked the back stage area. Some people in my area were complaining to security and they came up to see what the view was like. They talked to people on the floor area to try and get it moved or something but they refused. A bit of a disappointment as I would have loved to have seen the whole set. But the most important thing was that I could see Stevie very clearly. We had two drunk guys behind us that were loud and rude, they almost drowned Stevie out when she was talking. I was able to tune them out and hear everything she said. I was glad that they got up and left about half way through the show!.

She seemed happy, she was laughing and really enjoying herself. There was so many highlights for me. I loved "Enchanted"; a song that I always thought should have been a single. I loved the acoustic set, especially hearing "Rose Garden". "Sleeping Angel" brought tears to my eyes!! "Stand Back" rocked, full of energy and dancing. I have heard everyone talking abut the "Twisted" version and I have always loved both versions of that song but there was something even more special about this version. She dedicated "Landslide" to Jade (I think a little girl in the front row) and her crew for working so hard during this tour and the dance tour.

Another special moment for me was when she introduced the band. I don't know if they did this at other shows but each member came down and hugged Stevie. Everyone seemed to be very emotional. I had noticed that not many people were able to rush the stage and that she only did get a few bouquets of flowers but she wanted to touch as many people as she could. Every song was done to perfection!! "Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You" brought tears to my eyes, that song is so moving, and I love the ending "the poets, priests" ect... She looked beautiful, her clothes were stunning and she looked like she was having a great time.

It was nice to see her invite the whole crew on stage as well as her dog Sara Bella Donna. I found it very moving when she said for all of us to take care of ourselves, be good to ourselves and love ourselves so we can do this again!!

This is my first Stevie Concert, I have been waiting 15 years to see her and she blew me away!! This was the best show I have ever seen!!! Even my partner who likes her but is not a huge fan screamed as much as I did and left with a new appreciation for her. I am sad that it is over but I all I can do now is wait for her next CD and tour. This one of the most Enchanting nights of my life.

Another Short Review

8/9/98

Hi everyone,

This review is going to be kind of short because I also attended the Gorge concert and wrote a review yesterday and there's really not a whole lot more to add. Of course, Stevie looked and sounded incredible, I think I still have my 1986 junior high crush on her! :-).

I had a seat in the 9th row, a good seat but not nearly as good as my seat at the Gorge. The crowd this time was a little different from Friday's show. At the Gorge there seemed to be a lot of biker/hippy types and at Portland there were a lot of yuppy types. I talked to a couple who had front row tickets to last year's Dance concert, they were very nice. The crowd on Friday was also a little louder/rowdier than last night's show. And of course there was the usual assortment of Stevie look-alikes, some of them were pretty convincing. Once again, the crowd seemed to be into "Stand Back" and "Edge of Seventeen" the most, however all of the songs were very well received. I really enjoyed the acoustic set and hearing Stevie talk about what she was feeling when she wrote these songs. (I missed her talking at the Gorge show because of some loud drunks behind me). She talked about writing Garbo the day she had her picture taken for the "infamous Buckingham/Nicks cover." This drew a very loud reaction from the audience! :-) She seemed incredibly grateful that she was allowed to do the acoustic set, thanking the audience several times after it was over. Once again, I really liked the live version of "Twisted" and "I Need to Know" really rocked! The only song that didn't sound quite right to me was "Rhiannon". Stevie's vocals were great but the band just didn't sound together on this one. I'm not a musician, but it almost sounded like the drums were too loud, drowning out the lead guitar. Maybe I was just missing Lindsey on this one! :-).

A really funny moment occurred when Stevie was introducing her band. I can't remember the exact words, but when she got to Sharon Celani she said that they had met in 1978 in Hawaii when Sharon was living a normal, quiet life. "And then I ruined her life!!" Stevie said jokingly. It was hilarious!.

Security was pretty tight, only the first 2 or 3 rows were allowed up to the stage, so I didn't get the hand shake that I wanted. :-( Maybe next time.

After the last encore, Stevie invited the whole road crew to come out and take a bow because it was the last concert of the tour. "This is a very special night, thank you for sharing it with us," she said to the audience. And guess who also came out to take a bow...her dog!! She brought her dog up to the microphone and said "This is Sara Bella Donna." It was really cute!.

Well, after driving over 550 miles in two states and seeing two incredible shows, my Big Stevie Weekend is over. It's kind of sad to think about, but I will just focus my thoughts on the next album and tour.

Thanks for reading, take care.