Awesome!

July 25, 1998

I drove a long way to see Stevie and let me just say it was worth it! Stevie totally rocked! She was so happy and talkative. Of course I sang and danced to every song and where I sat many people did the same. One girl who was dressed like Stevie actually fell down the stairs :o She was alright though! Stevie actually said something like Thank you for bearing through those songs with me after the acoustic set. All I got to say is it was so awesome!. She shouldn't ever have to say something like that! The songs that totally rocked where Stand Back, Whole Lotta Trouble, and Edge of Seventeen. These songs were so full of energy and brought me to my feet dancing and singing the whole time! I Need to Know was great too. I think I liked her version better than Tom's actually. Before and after the show I hung around the tourbuses and saw all the band members and even Stevie's dog Sara. Let me just say that security and others were very rude to us as we waited! But if you ever try to do this don't give up! We waited and saw Stevie leave in her limo. It was very exciting! Thank you Stevie for making my day and many more days to come!

A Magical Night

July 25, 1998

This is my first time posting on the Ledge. I want to begin by thanking all of the "Ledgies". I have been reading your posts for a few months. It has taken me awhile to get an ID so I could write back. I am a technologically challenged. However after seeing Stevie Nicks in Vegas, I had to get on and write.

I had wanted to see her in Chicago when she came through. A friend of mine was married that night and I missed the show. My husband knew that I was bummed over not being able to see Stevie. He ended up booking a business trip with a lay over in Vegas for the weekend she was at the MGM Grand. He suprised me with a ticket. He did decline to go to the show with me. He just did not know what he was missing. It was a totally awesome gift.

I arrived a little early and at at Emirals at the MGM. The bar area of the restaurant looks out over the promenade to the Garden Arena. I had a drink as I watched the crowd moving toward the show. There were several patrons paying homage by dressing like Stevie. While some of them were questionable, a few were really spectacular. As I had a drink, I was really starting to enjoy the anticipation of the show.

I entered the arena just as Boz Skaggs was starting. I bought The black t-shirt with the blue picture (because that is what Stevie looked like when I was 17) and a program.

Rather than go right in, I watched the crowd. There was a giddiness at the souvenir stand. However, some of the crowd did not appear excited at all. Once I sat down, I discovered that the hotel had given comp tickets to many of the "high rollers" that were staying there that night. The guy next to me did not even know who Stevie Nicks was. There seemed to be a glimmer of recognition when I mentioned Fleetwood Mac, but I was still irked. I had fought hard to get into section 8 on the floor and here was a guy that had no idea what he was about to see with a seat as good as mine!!!! By now the review of Boz has been done to death. I will skip an analysis of his set. Although I would like to say that his back-up vocalist was exceptional.

It was during Boz' set that I noticed two girls walk in and sit down in the section ahead of me. I would later learn their names were Amber and Brandy. Although I am not quite sure which is which. They had the full Stevie "look". They were very excited. Energy just seemed to flow from them. They were a welcome change to the idiot sitting next to me who did not even know what he was about to see. For those who will recognize the comparison, the MGM Garden Arena is about a third of the size of the Rosemont Horizon outside of Chicago. I would say that the crowd only filled 3/4 of the arena. Boz finished, the set changed and Chris came out and read the definition of Enchanted. The crowd went wild and everyone stood. (Even they guy to my right.) The set was wonderful and looked much like the photo in the program. There was an alteration in the front curtains at the sides of the stage. I am sure they were removed to allow better sightlines. The set list followed as expected with the exception of "Whole Lota Trouble." I believe she moved it up in the set.

Stevie's energy, grace and charm seemed to flow from the stage. She was elegant, enchanted and SHE ROCKED! Whenever she spoke to the audience, it seemed as if she was speaking to each one of us individually. In the prior reviews I had read that the sound was as good as a CD. I had not believed it. However, they were right. Her voice was perfect! The band was perfect! With the exception of the idiot next to me, the whole night was perfect!

"Gold Dust Woman"- She really wrapped her voice around that song!

(I wish there would have been more twirling.) At the start of that song she is backlit and the gold shawl takes on a translucent appearance.

"Gold and Braid" - The energy was amazing. I wish more people were familiar with the song. It is one of my favorites.

"Rose Garden" -She seemed to apologize for having written it when she was 17. I think she was trying to say that the point of view was a little immature. Strange how it all turns out.

Brandy & Amber were in my line of sight to the stage. I noticed one of them danced most of the show. As the set got closer to "Edge of Seventeen", the couple a row ahead of me moved forward into an empty seat they had spotted. I moved into their spot. I had not decided at that point if I would try for the stage, but I thought that if I got my courage up, starting a row forward would give me an advantage. When the bongo solo started I walked up along side of Brandy & Amber and asked if they were going to try to make it to the stage. They had no idea what I was talking about. I gave a brief explanation and we were off. We started on the left side of the audience. I found that by moving up a section and then over we were able to zig zag our way across the arena without being stopped by security. We briefly paused at three open seats pretending they were ours. Then, as the crowd started forward we did too. We were stopped 4 rows back from the stage. Security was just about to send us back to our seats when someone else tried to slip by. While the security guard was distracted, one of the Brandy & Amber duo pointed out that the aisle had cleared to our left. We made a break for it and found ourselves just to the right of center and pressed against the stage.

From that point forward, it was magical. "Edge Of Seventeen" was amazing. Stevie was beautiful. Her clothes were beautiful. Her voice was beautiful. As she came across the front of the stage she touched my hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. Her skin was smooth and cool. I noticed that she did not have any rings or bracelets. However, she did have the three sequins on her forehead. All I could say was "Thank you." I hope she knew I was thanking her for all of the wonderful music.

Brandy & Amber were also able to touch her. One of them just kept saying "Oh My God, Oh My God, Oh My God..." Although we had never met before, I was glad to have someone to share the moment with. I am 36. One of them is 22. Another girl near the front admitted to being 15. On the way out I met a woman who was celebrating her 47th birthday at the show. Stevie speaks to all of us no matter what our age or background. She is timeless.

I believe it was at this point that I met Adriene. However, we did not exchange names. I read her review and realized that must be the girl who was standing to my right. The description of her clothes and the story about the gold moon necklace that her friend found at the mall the day before were very familiar. I wish I would have thought to ask if she was a Ledgie. (So Adriene, if you recall a woman with dark hair, a black sweater vest and a pair of black pants near the front of the stage--that was me. You actually spent some time talking to the Brandy/Amber duo. I am not sure if introductions were ever made. Hi!)

To tell the truth, I was too excited to think at that moment. I was just taking in the moment. I wanted it to last a little longer.

The two curtain calls were as expected. Every note of "Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You" rang clear and true throughout the Arena. Then she thanked the crowd and was gone. The entire set ran about two hours. It seemed like it was over in a heartbeat. It was an amazing night.

Thanks to all of the Ledgies who wrote about how to get to the stage, the set list, and concert tips. Without you, I never would have tried.

MGM Grand

July 26, 1998 (posted on The Ledge)

Blackcat has been waiting for over a month for this, so this review is dedicated to her. Me and my friend Angela get to the MGM Grand around 4:45 and rummage around finding a place to get some grub. After going to place after place, we settle on a restaurant called the Studio Cafe'. The prices were reasonable and it had a movie theme going on, so we went to get ourselves some dinner. All the entrees were named after movies, and we both ordered Pygmalions (otherwise known as chicken pitas). They tasted pretty good, but we didn't like our waiter. Maybe that was because we were spoiled by the one we had yesterday at the Rainforest Cafe (Ben, you know who you are :)). Anyway, this guy sitting at the booth behind us kept staring at Angela, and then his friend spoke out and told us they wanted to pay for our meal. We were like "these guys have to be joking" but they weren't. The guy who liked Angela was from Germany and the other guy was a professional basketball player who plays overseas, sometimes doing things with the NBA. They were both staying in penthouses, and even offered to get us a limo for after the show so we could get home.

After that little rendezvous, we walked over to the Grand Gardens and sat until they opened the door. I then realized that I lost my father's wedding ring. We went back to the bathroom but I couldn't find it. So we walked back to the door and talked to two really cool guys. They said that Chris Issak was there and he walked right by us, but we didn't even notice. Maybe because we were looking for my ring. Anyway, we got in and ran straight to the merchandise booth. I bought a tour book, a key chain, and a tee shirt (The blue one with her pic) for my momma. Then I was broke :) So then we went inside to enjoy the show. By the way, Angela was dressed just like Stevie. She had a long black dress, really cool off the wall designed fish nets, Stevie boots (Which I am plotting to steal from her) and a beautiful shawl that somebody made for her. She also wore a moon necklace that we bought yesterday at the mall. I however couldn't wear what I wanted because my boobs wouldn't allow me to go without a bra if I wanted to dance, so I wore a really short blue dress. It was low cut too :) It was funny watching all these older men stare me down. Oh, I was also wearing my groovy black platforms.

So Boz Scaggs comes out, and boy oh boy, Stevie was right when she said he was sexy. The man's music turned me on, and both Angela and I think it is great music to make love to :) So we got up and danced to Lido Shuffle (Cuz we da bomb) and then ran back to the bathroom (I went a lot) before Stevie came on.

Everyone in the front rows were given tickets because they were bigtime gamblers, so they really didn't care, and the people to the side of us kept yelling at us because we were standing up and having fun. This one chick even tried to choke me to get me to sit down! She was yelling like a crazy woman, and finally after yelling back I sat down feeling really awful. She by the way, was NOT the only person to come up to us and TELL, not ASK us to sit down. So after the acoustic set, Angela and I traded seats and that chick came back with a vengeance. But Angela ignored her and the witch left really pissed off. She tried to kill my damn friend. There were other people besides us who were being harassed. But there was people around us who were really cool and they kept standing up and letting us use their binoculars. They told us to tell everyone else to F@%K off. I wasn't about to let those meanies ruin my night, so I didn't. I danced and had fun. Anyway, maybe I should tell you about the song set.

OH WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!! Right before Boz came out, Frank (Who by the way is a real cutie) came over to Angela and I for a quickie. (Quick conversation that is ;P) Ok, so Her songs were so great, SHE is so great. I loved Whole Lotta Trouble, and I don't care for the song very much. I liked Rhiannon, but the Fleetwood Mac version will always be the best. I didn't hear who she dedicated Landslide to, but it was someone in the audience so it really doesn't matter. Angela screamed out "This is for you Toni" which made me sad, but the song was beautiful. Stand Back was great, as was Gold Dust Woman. I thought it was cute how she mentioned Lindsey's name so nonchalantly as if everybody knew who he was (Which I am sure they did). So we sang Twisted with her, and at the end we added the background vocals from the Twister version. Oh, BTW, Lenny played with Boz! Anyway, Edge of Seventeen came on and we ran to the front of the stage. (I am telling you, my tickets were so much better than I imagined) So we ran up and I instantly felt better. I was sooo happy and I started singing along with her. Then she did the usual fan greeting, and lo and behold, the woman held my hand! I was screaming so hard because that was the greatest thing in the whole entire world! Her hands were soooo soft and smooth. Anyway, we got to Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for You (Oh goodness, Don't Stop is on right now and I really don't like this song...anyway) and when she said "And when they ask her about the men in her life" Angela screamed out "LINDSEY!!!!!" Everyone started laughing and so did Stevie! I of course started laughing and looked down, so I missed it! Then she took her bow and left. I kept blowing kisses to Frank, I hope he saw me. He seemed a little out of it when we talked to him. He wanted us to write him a letter. He left cuz he was looking for someone, and then he came out onstage with a haircut.

Stevie cut her hair as well. Mindy was a cutie, and Sharon didn't look as scary to me as she usually does. She is still skinny though. She went up to Stevie during Edge of 17, and she was just a little too close. She so wanted to kiss her. But anyway, they were all dolls and I loved it. It was the greatest. Her dresses were awesome and she is gorgeous. It was one of the grooviest nights of my life. As of this evening, I have now been hopelessly enchanted :)

PS...I heard Boys of Summer over the PA system while waiting for Boz. I instantly thought of Hayley :) (Although she never entered my mind during Gold And Braid) Oh well :)