Stevie Nicks is still touring. As Iman reviewed, she opened for Rod Stewart earlier this year. He thought she wasn't very good but that hasn't stopped Stevie: she is about to launch her ‘In Your Dreams’ solo tour on August 9th, to promote her last solo album,… she hasn’t recorded a studio solo album since 2001, but looking at her bio, she hasn’t stopped touring these last years.
I have this vision of Stevie Nicks, all blonde-hair, surrounded by long black veils, with a tall and eerie silhouette wrapped by layers of lace and mousseline, half gypsy, half witchy. But not exactly,… she showed up at Amoeba rather short (may be no platform shoes?) dressed in black, wearing large sunglasses, and still looking very good when greeting the fans waiting on line. Amoeba music had organized a signing of her last album on Wednesday night, but had limited the number of people to 200.
It sold out fast of course, and people of all age were very quietly waiting on line when I entered the store, trying to find an elevated place in order to observe the signing event.
Stevie was quite punctual, doing some TV interviews and posing for the press before sitting down to the table and signing these 200 posters given away with the purchase of her CD or Vinyl.
The signing turned out to be a quiet and respectful thing, going as smoothly as some religious procession. Not the smallest brouhaha, not even a fan's faux-pas, but everyone got a few minutes with Stevie the queen, as she was taking the time to speak with each of them, paying attention to what they were saying, shaking everyone’s hands, and although I could not hear a thing, each fan seemed to engage into a deep and meaningful exchange.
There were the emotional ones who were leaving in tears (yes in tears!), the very happy ones who were all smile, obviously still high on the recent encounter, the flamboyant ones wearing a Stevie-Nicks-inspired hat, the bold ones wearing a Mr. Stevie Nicks shirt, but overall the crowd was well disciplined whereas I was expecting a little more eccentricity from Nicks’ fans.
There was a large number of woman, even a very young one, around 6, and a very old one, probably in her late 80s, they seemed to outnumber the men, although the gay men were very well represented,.. Has she become a sort of gay icon like so many other aging female rock goddesses?
Later on TV, I had the opportunity to hear a few things she said to the press about her will to keep up the good fight in these difficult times for artists:
‘It’s hard to sell records in these days of age unless you are Lady Gaga, or unless you are in that youthful dance,… performance artist thing, which is great but there are the rest of us’…. ‘I would stand up in the street corner if I have to and play these songs with a boom box and a TV truck if I have to get these songs to the public!’
And about the fact that the title track of the album is a tribute to the victims of the 2001 World Trade Center attack, she declared:‘I just feel that we, as musicians and songwriters, we have a job that is, whatever we are Bob Dylan or me, that is to try to write good romantic music but also reporting the news as we go along’.
Her new CD was blasting at Amoeba during the event, filling the large store with romantic ballads, …. her signature nasal voice still seemed in great shape by the way.
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