Nicks and Hynde wow Dunedin

Stevie Nicks performs at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin. Photo: Stephen Jaquiery
Stevie Nicks performs at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin. Photo: Stephen Jaquiery
Stevie Nicks performs at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin. Photo: Stephen Jaquiery
Stevie Nicks performs at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin. Photo: Stephen Jaquiery
The Pretenders perform at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin. Photo: Stephen Jaquiery
The Pretenders perform at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin. Photo: Stephen Jaquiery
The Pretenders perform at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin. Photo: Stephen Jaquiery
The Pretenders perform at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin. Photo: Stephen Jaquiery

They may frown on dancing at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena, but the crowd at tonight’s Stevie Nicks Dunedin concert had no such worries.

Melbourne woman Jo-Anne George hit the headlines this week when she said she was evicted from Nicks’ Melbourne show because she wouldn’t stop dancing.

She would have enjoyed the Forsyth Barr Stadium show a lot more, as the Fleetwood Mac songstress had the crowd up on their feet right from the first note.

An early highlight was a duet with Chrissie Hynde – lead singer of support band The Pretenders – on Stop Draggin My Heart Around, a song Nicks originally performed with the late Tom Petty.

With a mix of Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Nicks solo hits to come, the fans were settling in for a big night.

This was a Dunedin show, but it was tough work to find a local among the early arrivals.

The front rows of tonight’s concert filled up within minutes of the gates opening at the Forsyth Barr Stadium venue – and everyone spoken to by the Otago Daily Times had come down from Christchurch for the show.

"The roads were really busy coming down," Christchurch fans Nigel and Dierdre Bratten said.

The Brattens are dedicated Stevie Nicks fans: Mr Bratten was wearing his Fleetwood Mac t-shirt from the band’s previous Dunedin visit, and the couple had also seen Nicks in New Plymouth – and had seen Chrissie Hynde on her last New Zealand tour to boot.

"Absolutely we wanted to see her again, she’s brilliant," Mr Bratten said.

Fellow Christchurch devotees Liz Nichol and Steve Grant – the first fans seated in the front row - were savouring their view of proceedings.

"We were watching a documentary about her on television and I saw to Steve `can we go see Stevie Nicks?’ and he said yes," Ms Nichol said.

"I got on the i-pad and there were only 34 tickets left: there were some left in the front, I said `let’s try and get those", and we did."

Nichol – a former singer in a country rock band – said she loved Stevie Nicks’ music and the couple had always bought her CDs. They were now all set for as close a view as a fan could possibly get of their idol.

Two of the younger fans at the front were Christchurch’s Andrew Te Groen and Brienna Henderson – who weren’t missing tonight’s show having grown up with Nicks’ music.

"I’m a really big fan of both Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Nicks," said Te Groen.

"I sort of sneaked out from work and made sure we got good seats."

Chrissie Hynde and The Pretenders took no prisoners in their opening set, firing out hard rocking tunes like Alone and Gotta Wait as an opening salvo, before playing fan favourites like Don’t Get Me Wrong and Brass In Pocket.

Hynde told the crowd she said had spent a couple days in Dunedin and loved the town. Highlights had included seeing Cirkopolis and First Church.

"It really is just like the north of Scotland, if they had daylight up there."
 

By Mike Houlahan

 

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