Stevie Nicks delivered an other-worldly, sublime set to a 65,000 strong crowd in London’s Hyde Park. Then brought out Harry Styles for a double encore.
1 hour and fifty minutes earlier…
The legendary Fleetwood Mac vocalist stepped out onto the stage to thunderous applause at 8.20pm, from fans of all ages, dressed in many variations of the iconic performers’ outfits – floaty dresses, colourful dust jackets, so many hats, and more ankle boots than I’ve seen in a park in July. Her trademark long curls rested over an all-black ensemble, including fingerless gloves. Then her trademark raw of a voice rang out effortlessly, delivering “Runnin’ Down a Dream” and ‘Outside the Rain', bowing her head after each song, arms outstretched behind her.
Then the stories started, with Stevie sharing her belief that Hyde Park is one of the best stages in the world; there was almost a Taylor Swift concert earthquake moment in response. Stevie delivered ‘Dreams' then settled into sharing pre-Fleetwood Mac days, when there was no money and they were so poor, but there was always the music. Reminiscing about reminiscing about missed days of wine and roses in the ‘60s, Mama Nicks then belted out ‘Gypsy' the band having as much fun on stage as she was.
Nicks shared that she’d recently recorded a song, written by Stephen Stills (of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young) in the ‘60s, because she loved the harmonies. As she recounted the story, she cautioned herself, laughing, that she had to stay on the right story path, otherwise she’d be talking for an hour. I suspect the crowd would have also been fine with hearing those. But she rounded off the path, revealing that she never voted until 2020 ‘I was always busy', but now urged people to vote, then broke into “For What It’s Worth”.
I’ve been fortunate/obstinate enough to see so many legendary performers, and Stevie Nicks was an absolute highlight.
But, wait, the night’s far from over.
Nicks shared memories of her very good friend Tom Petty, recalling the last time they performed together, and delivered a stunning version of “Free Fallin'” to a visual montage of Petty and a younger Nicks. Then it was back to Nicks’ back catalogue, with an invitation to interpret the song as we’d like, which ‘any songwriter will tell you is what they want from a song’ and dove into ‘Wild Heart'.
Then it was the turn of the capes to take centre stage, and Nicks brought out the original fabric that she draped around her for the recordings, then played the songs, ‘Bella Donna', ‘Stand Back' and the Fleetwood Mac classic ‘Gold Dust Woman'. Each song extended into the next (mostly) with impressive interludes from a stellar band of musicians playing music to happily disappear into on a summer evening of incredible live music.
Vocal coach Steve Real joined Stevie for a stunning duet of ‘Leather and Lace' (originally recorded with the Eagles’ Don Henley) and then it was time for ‘Edge of Seventeen' which played for over six minutes, each breathtaking note taking the crowd both back in time and absolutely in the present. Fans danced freely, remembering every song they heard the first time, before disbelief kicked in that Nicks was heading off stage after, in her words, an ‘awesome’ show, an adjective she rarely used, to retain its value.
Yet Stevie belongs to an era when an encore was the inevitable secret. And she was far from done with her Hyde Park audience.
Nicks returned to the stage to perform ‘Rhiannon', which included a lot of singing around euphoric people around me. Then walked off stage again. Hearts were wrung out.
But of course, she brought a friend out, to duet on the song shared originally with Tom Petty, “Stop Draggin' My Heart Around”. I saw a man walk on stage in a face mask at the same time as the women behind me shouted ‘that’s Harry Styles’. My camera joined the swarms of others, as Styles and Nicks brought Hyde Park to their knees with a perfect performance. He dressed for the occasion, honouring the ‘70s with a wide collar, and matching Stevie Nicks’ dark outfit. My videos are full of the emotion of the crowd behind me.
And then the floods of tears almost drowned the park as Harry and Stevie sang ‘Landslide', honouring Christine McVie, former Fleetwood Mac bandmate and the best friend Stevie Nicks had ever had. I’m almost crying again writing this review. Instead, I’ll just compile the set list from one of the best shows I’ve ever been to, and relive the memories.
Set list: 1. Runnin’ Down a Dream 2. Outside the Rain 3. Dreams 4. If Anyone Falls 5. Gypsy 6. Free Fallin’ 7. For What it’s Worth 8. Wild Heart 9. Bella Donna 10. Stand Back 11. Leather and Lace 12. Gold Dust Woman 13. Edge of Seventeen Encore: 14. Rhiannon 15. Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around 16. Landslide 17. Got a Hold On Me (played as the crowd exited) Performance date: 12th July 2024
