It Rocked...

7/2/98

Well Hey what can I say that has not already been said before by most of you....The stage was beautiful, Stevie looked great...I hope when I am her age my skin looks just as good.. John L. I hope you made it..I would of looked for you but I don't know what you look like...I would have loved to have meet you..

I only caught the last 15 minutes of Boz..he was ok, I am not a fan of his music. I liked my seats...I wish I had the same seats for FM concert...I would of had a much better view of Lindsey..

Stevie finally arrived....Everyone was excited...she sang her heart out.. everyone looked like they where having a good time. There where a lot of men in our section that looked like their wives or girlfriends dragged them there.. so there was not a whole lot of people standing up around us...high energy songs.. we did..the women mostly.. After the song Twisted people started going to the front of the stage..by the time the Intro to Edge of 17 I grabbed my friend and said lets go...so we did go to the front...much better view...it was a little tight but hey well worth it.. after the song she started to shake everyone's hands and people gave her gifts she was touching everyone she could.

My friend got to shake Stevie's hand and Don Boyette's...I guess I was not as pushy..it was an almost..but my arm is not that long..but my friend tried to help me out she grabbed my arm and pushed me in front of her and into the crowd but by then it was to late..gotta love her for trying..I kind of feel funny about that..like I am too old to do that or something..I don't know. Stevie commented and said this is what I live for.

The closing song , Has anyone written anything for you...was great. This girl next to me screamed YOU DID STEVIE.. right in my ear and I know Stevie heard her because it was a rare quiet second..I know I heard her, my ear still hurts. I really think she had a great time playing for us and we enjoyed her. She was great... a lot of the Stevie connection going on , a lot of smiles a few laughs..I had a great time..The band was very good..I got a close up view of everyone..I had left my brother in our seats holding everything including my camera..I could of gotten some great shots and I could kick myself in the ass for not taking it down to the stage w/ me... John L..I know I left a lot out. I would love to hear your review of the show...it rocked..

Thank You Stevie

7/2/98

Stevie Nicks in Orlando FL, 7/1/98. I had waited for this day to arrive for months. During this time several concerts were canceled and I was getting very concerned.

Finally it was July 1st. At 8:15am Stevie was interviewed by a local radio station and I knew then that the concert was going to be great. We arrived at the O-rena about 45 minutes before the doors opened. There was NO way I was going to be late for this concert. The doors opened and after buying t-shirts we decided to find our seats. I had no trouble finding mine. Front row just a little to the left of center stage.

Right on time the lights went down and Boz started his show. He was great and I even recognized some of the songs. Several times during his set the first few rows stood up for standing ovations and at one time I saw Mindy Stein standing to the left of the stage watching the show. After Boz left, the crew started working on the stage, getting it ready for Stevie.

Chris came out and read out of the dictionary and then finally the moment we had been waiting for. The band started playing "Outside The Rain". The crowd was on their feet screaming when Stevie appeared. She was carrying flowers and handed them to someone in the audience around center stage. She started singing and everyone in the front row stayed on their feet and danced in the aisle. After "Dreams" Stevie welcomed everyone and said "I Love Florida" and told us how the other concerts had been outside and said "it's so nice to be here inside here with you" and started laughing. From that moment on the crowd was hers.

"Enchanted" was next. At the end of the song Stevie walked over to the left of the stage where we were dancing and smiled at us. "GDW" was next followed by "Gold and Braid".

Afterwards Stevie took some time and changed while the band set up for the acoustic set. The 3 song set was beautiful and she told the story behind each song.

During "You Never Promised Me A Rose Garden" she walked behind the band and started to dance. She then realized she had to get back to sing her lines and very gracefully started running towards the mike and made it just in time. The audience loved it.

"Sleeping Angel"was the last song off the set. She finished it with "a soft silver chain... like the love that you give me". Again she started laughing and told us how she had just made that last part up. She seemed so happy to be on stage performing for us and the crowd roared in response.

After a short break the band started rocking with "Stand Back". Stevie came back on stage with her black and silver shawl. Everyone was on their feet for this crowd pleaser. We all danced, sang along and screamed. Stevie started dancing and was really getting into this song. She walked over to Carlos and started dancing with him. The applause to this song was deafening and it resumed again during the beginning lyrics of "Rhiannon". What a wonderful song.

After "Rhiannon" Stevie introduced the band and then continued the show with "Whole Lot Of Trouble". From what I remember up until that point I had only sat down for parts of the slower songs of the acoustic set so of course we were on our feet dancing for this song.

Afterwards Stevie continued the show with "Landslide". She mentioned that in all the other cities she dedicated this song to someone from the audience since they didn't know anyone there. She continued that she loved Florida and in this particular city had friends so she was dedicating this song to someone married to a friend of hers. His name was Liberty and she thanked him for allowing Mary to play with them for a week. "Landslide" was beautiful and Frank did a good job on guitar.

The next song was "Twisted". The previous reviews already mentioned that this song was different from the soundtrack or box set version. The thunder and lightning show was a perfect intro for this song. At the end of "Twisted" one of the head security people came walking by and said "You can all move up now". In my section I was first at the stage, LOL. I turned around and everyone was looking at me, still standing by their seats They realized we could move up and suddenly everyone was at the stage. During the drum solo the drummer threw his drumsticks into the crowd and a girl close to me caught one of them. Carlos came out and was standing right in front of us. The girl on my right screamed his name and he moved forward towards us and screamed "Are you ready for me to get this started?" We screamed back "Yes, start it.....start it" and he laughed, moved back and began the opening chords to "Edge of Seventeen".

Stevie came back on stage and the entire O-rena started to rock. Everybody was on their feet dancing. Several people were dancing on the stairs in the upper levels. Half way through "Edge" Stevie began chanting some of the lyrics. Of course at the end of the song she walked along the stage and shook hands. First she took someone's hat and put it on for a short time. Then she took some flowers and then she was right in front of me. She reached out and tapped the stuffed animal I held out on the top of the head several times, smiled and took my hand. I had wanted to tell her thanks for her music and for touring again but can't remember if I said anything at all. She went further down the line and after she finished the song she said "Well alright...in this new age of honesty for Stevie Nicks, I can tell you that this is my favorite show that we have done in a long time". She turned towards the band, changed her mind at the loud cheering of the crowd and turned back to the mike and finished with "Thank you for just being so perfect and for so being you. Thank you...thank you so much." She looked so happy. The band took a bow and then Stevie and several band members moved to the left side of the stage waving at someone and laughing at them. There must have been somebody they knew in the audience. The stage cleared and everyone was screaming and pounding on the floor calling her back for the encore. "I Need To Know" absolutely rocked. More dancing and singing. Stevie ended the song with one of her famous high kicks. She is amazing.

The concert came to an end with "Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You". Of course everyone screamed "you have" in response to this song. After the song Stevie said "Can I tell you these are the moments that I live for. Thank you. I want you to stay well for me so we can do this again .... cause this is all I have to do...I have nothing else.. so do me a favor take care of yourself so we can play. Yes." She blew a kiss at the audience went to the band and they took a bow. Then they walked to the left...waved at everyone. She took Frank's hand and they walked off stage. It was over.

What can I say. First I want to apologize to anyone sitting behind me since I was on my feet dancing, singing and screaming almost the entire concert. I tried to be considerate but couldn't help myself. It was impossible to stay seated and my voice was almost totally gone after the concert but I felt so great. It was an awesome experience.

Since I'm not sure if I said it during the concert I want to say it now: "Thank you Stevie for your music and for touring. For taking care of yourself and being well. I'm proud to have been at the Orlando concert and being part of this particular audience. You enchanted us. We love you and hope you'll be back soon. Take good care of yourself."