Stevie Nicks - Baltimore 2017

A couple weeks ago, Tina and I ventured into Baltimore city to catch Stevie Nicks and The Pretenders at the Royal Farms Arena (At the risk of showing my age, I still catch myself calling it the Baltimore Civic Center). After parking the car, we made our way over to the arena. A slight mist greeted us along the way. This caused Tina to go into a bit of a panic. You see, she had to look perfect for Stevie and the moisture in the air was putting that scenario in serious jeopardy. Frizzy hair in the presence of Stevie would be absolutely devastating! So, left in the elements without the aid of an umbrella, I pretended to be a gentleman and walked in front of her in an effort to absorb as much of the mist as possible.

Entering the arena, we observed several middle-aged women dressed in lacy outfits and fancy top-hats. Their laborious attempts to emulate Stevie Nicks was duly noted. With this being said, I didn't see a whole lotta representation from the Chrissy Hynde crowd (for those who don't know, she is the lead singer for The Pretenders). I guess it was fitting since, a short time later, we were informed that Chrissy was sick and The Pretenders would not be performing at this show. There was some disappointment but Tina saw it as an opportunity to spend more time with Stevie.

Now, to say Tina is obsessed with Stevie Nicks is an understatement. Anytime "Edge of Seventeen" comes across the radio, Tina responds as if she just hit the Mega-Millions. Knowing that she's heard the song no less than 15,034 times, I ask her if it ever gets old. She just gives me a cold stare and says, "Of course, not! It's Stevie!"

Inside the venue, we take our seats. We have a pretty good vantage point in the middle of the floor section. We are soon greeted by three women from Pennsylvania who take the seats next to us. One of the women tells Tina that she was really disappointed that The Pretenders won't be preforming. Tina tells her that she's actually glad because she doesn't care much for Chrissy Hynde and that she's only there to see Stevie. Oh boy, it never ends.......

Well, the show starts around 8 o'clock. This particular tour centered around songs that were "kept in the vault" throughout Stevie's career. Although she would still play her popular songs, there would also be a lot of obscure songs. While I was hearing many of the songs for the first time, Tina knew every word to them. In between songs, Stevie spent a lot of time telling stories and talking about the meanings behind the songs. As a bit of a storyteller myself, I really enjoyed this part of the show.

As I surveyed the crowd, it was interesting to see how the dynamic has changed through the years. The images of drunk, rowdy kids had progressed to quiet, middle-aged folks, many using canes to make their way to their seats. At one point, I thought I smelled a hint of medicinal marijuana smoke but I couldn't be sure.

Perhaps the most dramatic image of age contrast came about mid-way through the concert. There was a small commotion in the aisle just to the right of our seats. I walked towards the aisle to see what was going on. I saw a husky woman flailing her arms like a traffic cop. She was telling everyone to be careful where they walked. Trying to figure out what was going on, I asked her, "What's going on?"

She pointed to the floor but it was dark. It was so dark so I couldn't really see what was down there. Then, one of the ushers came over and put a flashlight on the area. It was the upper plate of someone's dentures!

That's right, someone dropped their teeth!

I have been to many, many shows. I have seen people lose their phones. I have seen people lose their tempers. I have seen drunken people lose their balance. And I have even seen a few uninhibited women lose their tops. But up until this point, I have never seen someone lose their dentures.

Moving on......

The show overall was very enjoyable. Stevie Nicks seemed to be in an especially good mood. This projected a positive vibe throughout the crowd. When she introduced "Gold Dust Woman" (my personal favorite), the anticipation was more than Tina could handle. She made her predictable bee-line towards the front of the stage. Having been in this situation many times before, I just causally waved to her as she rolled out. My only wish is that the night doesn't end with me shelling out bail money.

Watching Stevie perform "Gold Dust Woman" is worth the price of admission. The song is very thought-provoking has a certain eeriness to it. But the passion that Stevie adds to the live performance takes it to another level. If I feel this way about it, I can only imagine the way Tina is feeling. She's probably near a state of hypnosis at this point.

After an extended encore, the show ended around 10:30. As the house lights came on, I saw Tina making her way back to our seats. She told me that she got right up front for a few songs and shared a special moment with Stevie. I'm not really sure what that means. And I'm not really sure that I want to know. But nonetheless, it was a really good show. Tina's "Stevie fix" was satisfied for the night. And as a bonus, the rain had given way to a pleasant evening for our walk back to the parking garage....

kw