The two Rock and Roll Hall of Famers packed in fans on a brisk night
Stevie Nicks and Billy Joel sang their hearts out during their co-headlining stadium trek’s stop in Baltimore at M&T Bank Stadium on Saturday night (Oct 7th).
Both played separate, full sets of their own hits. Ms. Nicks went first, sprinkling her 14-song set with Fleetwood Mac favorites and her own hits. As early as the second song, she played the TikTok viral “Dreams.” Throughout the night, Nicks’ voice offered that unmistakable, ageless tone. One part twangy, one part nasal, and one part breathy, Nicks’ voice defies explanations. It is only able to be experienced to be understood.
There was a fair helping of her own hits: “Stand Back,” “If Anyone Falls,” and Billy Joel joined her to sing Tom Petty’s parts on “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around.” Of course, “Edge of Seventeen” built Nicks’ set to a twirling, airy climax as we all climbed atop a wide-winged dove.
Dressed for the crisp chill of a Baltimore autumn, Nicks adorned her long-sleeved velvet top with various meaningful capes. For example, a gold glittery one for “Gold Dust Woman.” And the cape from the back cover of Bella Donna for a performance of the title track.
Nicks returned to end her set with crowd favorites “Rhiannon” and the one everyone had been waiting for, “Landslide.” A Fleetwood Mac song written by Nicks, it has become a signature synonymous with her as a performer, as it is her passionate contemplations of life, love, and age that catapulted it into the stratosphere as one of the greatest songs of all time. It’s clear this tome about inevitable change has taken on new meaning for Nicks, as it is accompanied now by a slideshow of her late best friend, Christine McVie.
Of the loss, she said, “Whenever I am hurt I run to the stage and you make me better. I didn’t want to talk about her loss, but I realized that being in front of you makes me better.”
After a brief set change, The Entertainer emerged next to perfectly plunk out 20-plus songs on his signature piano-atop-turntable in seemingly record time. “My Life” was immediately succeeded by “Movin’ Out,” both songs about blue-collar ambition and ownership of one’s destiny.
“Zanzibar,” “Vienna,” and “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant” are all transportive hits that take the listener to their intended destination. Joel is a master of musical teleportation. It helps that his stellar backing band knows exactly what instruments to bring in at just the right time. For instance, Mark Rivera can take tens of thousands to Manhattan with the perfect run of notes on his saxophone. Joel’s longtime percussionist Crystal Taliefero acts as a riverboat captain as her congas and other jungle sounds take us lazily down the “River of Dreams.”
Joel is not one to shy away from surprises. On this night, an off-handed mention of Mick Jagger led his band to kick off a random few bars of “Start Me Up.” Immediately after, Joel—who these days prefer to scoot his songs into a lower register—hit the high notes with ease on live rarity “An Innocent Man”
Another surprise: without giving anything away, Taliefero has a killer set of pipes on her and held the entire crowd in the palm of her hand during a step-out moment.
With no barricade between stage and crowd, Joel was happy to interact with the adoring first row–all of whom were gifted tickets as an upgrade from their nosebleeds in the 70,000-seat home to the Ravens–on the rare occasion that he stood up to play guitar or swing a microphone stand back and forth. “Uptown Girl” remains a stage-apron favorite, with Joel pacing the stage like a barbershop quartet of one.
Nicks’ and Joel’s music complement each other. Nicks’ sound is ethereal and overall wistfully self-introspective. Joel offers grounded music based on storytelling that often feeds the ear a mini-feature. But both contemplate the human experience and ask their listener to find their own life’s journey in their respective musical catalog. And it’s clear that this works for their legions of fans–by a Landslide. Decades on, Nicks and Joel are both Still Rock and Roll to us all.
