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America West Arena, September 23, 2000 (by Michelle Nunziata) Wow! What can I say? There were so many great parts of this show. I'll just start at the beginning. This event was the absolute greatest! Stevie's dad came on stage to introduce her. She started with "Outside The Rain" and starts singing when she notices that the mic is not on. So she motions to tell the guys to fix it when someone in the band tells her that she is at the wrong mic. This was funny, but cool! After "Outside The Rain" she then went into "Dreams". In between she thanked everyone for coming out to see her and for donating their time and money to such a worthy cause. Stevie looked incredible and sounded fantastic! She then sang "Enchanted" and "Gold Dust Woman". She introduced her first guest as saying that she and Sheryl Crow co-produced her upcoming CD and that she has become a very good friend. Sheryl came out and they did "Everyday Is A Winding Road". It was really cool to see Stevie sing back-up to someone else's song. Stevie left the stage after that and left Sheryl there to do "My Favorite Mistake". Stevie came back out and the two did another Sheryl song called "The Difficult Kind", definitely a highlight of the evening. They harmonized very well in this song. It was very beautiful. Stevie next thanks Sheryl for helping out and goes into "Stand Back". Right after she sings that song, the opening chords of "Leather and Lace" start to play. Stevie sings her part and then Don Henley came out. The crowd was going crazy all night and everyone was really into it. After they sang that, Stevie left Don there to sing a really cool version of "Boys of Summer". Next, Stevie comes back out and thanks Don for helping out and the music starts playing for "Rhiannon". Stevie comes onto the stage again wearing her Rhiannon outfit. That song was definitely the most hypnotizing version I have ever heard. Stevie was really into this song and it was great! So, Stevie now has to introduce Chris Isaak. It was really cool because he came out wearing a red outfit. He looked great and he joked around at how Stevie told him to clean up his act tonight because her parents were there. So he said that he wouldn't be too filthy and said that the heart was his second favorite organ!!! Of course, everyone including Stevie cracked up. The first song that they did together was a song that Stevie used to sing with her grandfather. It was called "It's Late" and can be found on her box set. It was a really cool version. Next came "Solitary Man". They also sounded great on that. Stevie was very playful and flirty with almost all of her guests. Stevie then left Chris to do a song by himself. I don't know the name of it, but it is from the soundtrack to Eyes Wide Shut. Sheryl came out and did some background stuff with Chris and she was really playful with him and seemed to be having a great time. Somewhere in between her guests, I forget where, she introduces her band. It is Brett Tuggle's (keyboardist) birthday and she lets everyone sing Happy Birthday to him. She also tells everyone when she is introducing Don Boyette (bass player) that he saved her life the other day. It seems that they were doing a private show and she was walking across the stage and tripped over the bass player amp. It was lucky that Don was there to catch her just in time or she would have fell off the stage and got seriously hurt. So, I am guessing this is why she was wearing her platform black sneakers instead of her trademark platform boots. She also told a story when she introduced her musical director, Carlos Rios. It seems that his father had to have heart surgery and Carlos was very worried and hoped that everything would be okay. Stevie told him that everything would be fine because there are great heart doctors and the AHI is researching everyday to make people better. She then said that everything did turn out great and his father was in the audience that night. What a great ending to a story! Finally, the moment that I have been waiting for. Stevie is on stage and doesn't really know what to say to introduce this last guest. So she just says Lindsey Buckingham. The crowd freaked out! It was so incredible to see Stevie and Lindsey on the same stage holding hands and talking to each other. You could really see the love that is still there between them. So, Stevie is about to leave the stage, when Lindsey grabs her and tells her not to leave just yet. He precedes to tell the crowd how when he and Stevie were dating they would come to Arizona to visit her parents and when he was a little boy, his family would take him and his brothers to Arizona. He then said something to the effect that with all the ups and downs and all the good times and the bad times that he and Stevie shared, it was really great that they were both here in Arizona doing this tonight. Lindsey dedicated the next two songs that he would sing to Stevie and his speech really touched her because she walked off the stage wiping the tears from her eyes. What an incredible moment!!! All the while during his speech, Stevie had stood behind him with her arms around his waist and it was so great to see how far the two of them had really come. Lindsey started with "Big Love" and then went into "Go Insane". I have never really seen Lindsey in concert before, so this was definitely one of the best moments of my life. He was awesome, incredible and amazing. He looked great! Stevie then came back out onto the stage and before she started singing, she dedicated "Landslide" to Lindsey's brother Jeff, her parents and her aunt. I never thought that I would ever see Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham perform together again in concert in my lifetime. They are truly two legends and performed "Landslide" so incredibly. Next, Carlos Rios (guitarist) and Waddy Wachtel (guitarist) joined Stevie and Lindsey on stage and Stevie said that they haven't really done this song in a long time and Lindsey actually suggested that they do it tonight for the show. The guys started playing the guitars and that is when I realized that it was "Gypsy". This is my absolute favorite Stevie song and I never thought that I would ever see her perform this song again. It has such a special meaning for me. It was a very welcome surprise and it sounded amazing with nothing else but guitars and Stevie. So, after all that incredible stuff, Stevie comes out and does "Edge of Seventeen". Great version!! At the end of the song, she shook everyone's hand and did not accept any gifts from anyone. Finally, her two encores, "I Need To Know" and "Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You". It was a perfect ending to a perfect concert in a perfect setting, Arizona. She thanked all of her guests and then thanked everyone for coming out to support the Arizona Heart Institute and said she was really touched that we were all there. After that, we headed to the party and it was very nice. Sheryl, Chris, Stevie's mom, Stevie & Lindsey all were on a upper level above us and they all waved to us. Then the guy who ran the benefit introduced Stevie's dad and then Stevie and her friends came down. Stevie spoke about the AHI and how important it is to raise the money for the research. This event raised $200,000. They raffled off the motorcycle and Stevie picked out the name. Unfortunately, the person who won was not present. They did not mingle with the crowd, but it was still great to be at the same party with them, even though it was only for a little while. I had such a great time at both the concert and the party. Arizona is a very beautiful place and you felt Stevie's presence as soon as you got into town, well I did anyway. I will never forget this show!!! |