February 22nd, 2002
@ The Forum
I had never been to The Forum before, and I thought it was all right. The set up isn't too complicated. The merchandise they were selling were: two little posters with all the artists' names that played at that venue (one was just black and white, and the other had some red in it), little square pins with the logo on it, a baby-doll T-shirt with the RAC logo, two shirts that followed the trend of the posters, and a RAC logo cap. I was disappointed about there being no programs!
Sheryl Crow started her set at around 8 p.m., maybe just a little before. A lot of people had not shown up yet, but I knew that the show had NOT sold out. She probably got the least amount of reactions from the crowd. Once she finished, she said that John Fogerty was up next. Then it took a long time to take her equipment off the stage and to bring on John equipment. It was a VERY long wait between ALL the musicians' sets.
John then took the stage and he got a huge reaction from the crowd with each song he played. I was beginning to think that maybe most of the crowd was there to see him, much to my surprise! But after the show I realized it was because a lot of people know his (CCR) songs. When he finished, he didn't say who was up next. So then my mind started contemplating who it was going to be, knowing that they would strategically arrange the show.
Then I see a man coming onto the stage through my binoculars...it was Tom Hanks! He then went into saying something about how this next artist is a woman who every woman wanted to be, and the woman every man wanted.....it was Stevie Nicks, of course! The crowd got very excited! By that time I had realized that a lot of people were there to see Stevie. The young couple to the left of us, the woman behind us, and these younger guys to the right of me (I was shocked about that). I think most of the audience was especially there to see Stevie and/or The Eagles.
Anyway, then the "Trouble in Shangri-La" voice track thing played over the audience. She has opened all her shows since the start of the "Trouble in Shangri-La" tour last year. It helps build up energy from the crowd!
Stevie's set was great! She was VERY happy on stage, smiling the whole time. Usually you can tell she's (rightfully so) extremely nervous at first. But I did not notice it this time! I think it might be because all her closest friends were there (Sheryl Crow, Tom Petty, Don Henley, and Natalie Maines was there, who, of course, she did a duet with on "Too Far From Texas").
I had noticed that the concert advertisements had included "...and friends." So I was thinking who all these "friends" could be! Well, one of them was obviously Natalie Maines, because she joined Sheryl Crow on stage. But once they finished that song, she didn't leave for a long time. She stood to the side of the stage and watched the rest of Sheryl's set on the video screen.
A couple of songs into her set I remembered to look to see if she was wearing THE BOOTS....and she was, for the first time in a while! That was kind of like an added bonus. The hard-core Stevie fans appreciate and recognized the significance of this little piece of information.
Anyway, for Stevie's set, I was hoping that Don would come out and do "Leather and Lace" with her, and I thought Tom Petty should show up as well. Sure enough, he did! Just before the band went into "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," Stevie began introducing a friend that she had not sang with for a few years...then Tom Petty walked onto the stage! The crowd just roared for him! I have heard Waddy sing Tom's parts of the song before, and didn't think he was good for it at all. So I was extremely happy to witness Tom and Stevie do it together, live...it was truly special. He also came back and sang with Stevie on "I Need To Know," which was the last song of her set.
Also, before her band went into "Leather and Lace," Stevie talked a bit. She explained the background story to the song, about how she had originally written it for Waylon Jennings and his wife at the time to sing together, but it never happened. She dedicated it to him due to him recently passing on. She sings her part of the song, and then Don came on stage just as his part came up. The crowd really liked that too. He came out with his sunglasses on, looking all cool. I felt this was a really special moment in the show as well. I had never seen these two do this song, even though they do it from time to time. I was glad to have witnessed this duet as well.
Naturally Sheryl came out and sang with Stevie on "Fall From Grace." I went to the Jingle Ball in December in San Diego, so I had seen Stevie do this song already, but it was kind of cool to witness her do it with Sheryl. This song has a lot of energy to it, on the album, but especially LIVE...its a true rocker.
Stevie also performed the staples "Gold Dust Woman," "Dreams," "Rhiannon" and "Stand Back." This type of audience really enjoyed these songs because almost everyone knows them! Stevie was truly a favorite of the night, and she deserves to be. She sounded great (the back ups weren't overpowering her voice), she looked great, she was VERY happy, and just totally rocked out the entire time! This was my third time seeing Stevie, and it was definitely the best performance of the three.
After Stevie we wanted what felt live forever for Billy Joel to take the stage. Suddenly after Stevie's set, I got extremely tired. Billy's set just about killed me. I didn't know any of the songs. I simply was not there to see him, so I found him to be incredibly boring, but at least I saw another legendary figure live!
Last to take the stage that night was, of course, The Eagles. I knew they would go last, even though I was hoping they wouldn't. I was excited to see them, but again, I was very, very tired with a headache. We stayed for the first 4 songs of their set, and then left at about 12:20 a.m. I think they were on stage until just after 1:00 a.m.
I was very happy to have been able to see this concert! A lot of big names and legendary musicians in one crazy, long night, and for a good cause. My hope is that this concert will be released on video. Through the night I got this sneaky suspicion that they were filming it to be released. All the bands were very tight. The camera shots shown on the video screens were works of art through the entire night! I was very impressed with the footage. It was nice and tight as well. Plus the fact that Stevie wore her signature platform boots for the first time in a long time also gave me that sneaky suspicion!
THANKS to RAC and everyone who performed that night, the show was great! See you on the next tour Stevie.