LIVE REVIEW: Stevie Nicks in Boston, MA (11.24.25)
Monday night, two-time rock and roll hall of famer and cultural icon Stevie Nicks returned to New England for the second time on her “24 Karat Gold Tour.” Her previous visit was a show in Hartford, CT, on October 25th. Nicks’ current tour was initially scheduled to come through in August but was pushed back after Nicks broke her shoulder in a fall over the summer. However, nothing has ever been able to keep Stevie Nicks down for very long.
There was a buzz in the air around TD Garden before the long sold-out show even began. Secondary-market tickets were going for over $400, making it one of the toughest tickets in town this fall. One of the first things that stuck out on the night was the wide range of ages walking around inside and outside the arena. Teenagers and adults in their early 20s walked alongside groups of people in their 50s and 70s, many of them dressed in outfits inspired by Nicks’ iconic looks over the years.
The music portion of the night began with a 30-minute opening set from Nashville by way of Texas singer-songwriter Abby Anderson. Anderson played a split of cover songs and originals. Covers included the Eagles’ “Desperado” and Carole King’s “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” and a country interpretation of Post Malone’s “Circles.” In the late part of her set, Anderson dedicated her original song “Heart on Fire in Mexico” to her mother, who was in attendance. The song was written as a tribute to her mother and was about her mother’s life.
After a 30-minute intermission, and a house mix of mostly classic rock songs – that briefly detoured to New Politics’ 2013 hit “Harlem” for some reason – The lights went down, and the volume went up as the Tom Petty classic “Runnin’ Down A Dream” played over the PA. The members of Nicks’ backing band took the stage, each warming up on their particular instruments. The generationally diverse audience erupted as Nicks took the stage, dressed in all black, walking up to a mic stand decorated with bedazzled ribbons and beads as she has for decades.
She immediately launched into her version of the 1956 classic “Not Fade Away” by Buddy Holly and the Crickets. Her cover of the song was initially released on a 2011 tribute album to Buddy Holly and had only been performed live once before this tour.
Following that, she addressed the crowd for the first time, speaking fondly of Boston, saying, “I just wanted you to know that you live in a very, very, very beautiful city. However, it is a very, very, very cold city.” She also spoke briefly about her shoulder injury, remarking how her physical therapist told her it would be a tough road. Still, Nicks said she decided, “I am going to turn myself into the best physical therapist that ever lived.” After the anecdote, she launched right into “If Anyone Falls,” which felt appropriate after she talked about the fall she had injured her shoulder in.
Before playing “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,” Nicks went in-depth, speaking about the process of recording the song with Tom Petty and how the song was written for her by Petty. She described the experience of meeting him for the first time, remarking, “I am dressed to the nines, making what I’m wearing right now look like a washer woman who lives next door,” referencing her stage outfit from last night.
Four songs into the set came the landmark song “Dreams” from her Fleetwood Mac days, one of the most popular songs in the history of recorded music. The song reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 1977 and has since reentered the charts intermittently, most recently in 2020, when a TikTok introduced it to new generations and pushed it to No. 21. It came in at No. 9 on both the 2021 and 2024 incarnations of Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Songs of All Time” lists.
The next song took us from the 70’s to 2024 for Nicks’ most recently released song “The Lighthouse,” she described the process of writing and recording the music, as well as the reception saying was invited to perform the song on Saturday Night Live, then again on Jimmy Kimmel and was excited to keep performing it, but realized she wouldn’t be able to until her next tour, the one she’s currently on.
The following few songs became something of a fashion show for Nicks, as she performed each while wearing the iconic capes she was known for. One from the Bella Donna back album cover while performing the album’s title track.
During an extended version of “Stand Back,” she donned the cape from the song’s music video. Nicks said that there were actually two versions of the music video recorded, “one just funny and stupid and really expensive, and the other one just really good, this was in it.” Referring to the cape.
A few songs later in the set, she paid tribute to her late friend Tom Petty by playing a cover of Petty’s 1989 classic “Free Fallin.” As the track played, images from Petty’s life appeared on the video board behind Nicks, including several of the two of them performing together over the years.
She went back to the capes for “Gold Dust Woman,” wearing the gold cape that she’s worn while performing the song live throughout most of her career. “This one has been stuck on me and the sequins, and the rings, and had to be ripped off; people run out to undo it, it has had a life of its own,” she said about the cape.
Following up GDW came another Fleetwood classic, 1982’s “Gypsy,” which she punctuated with one of her signature twirls. The song was initially intended for Bella Donna, but Nicks decided to hold it after the loss of her close friend Robyn Anderson led her to see it in a new light.
Nicks then told the crowd she would “be right back” before walking off stage, leaving lead guitarist _ to play a solo. He began with a short instrumental tease of “Dirty Water,” much to the delight of the Boston crowd. He quickly went into the opening notes of “Edge of Seventeen,” after that, leading to chaotic moments in the crowd for folks who had begun to head to the concourse. One fan was seen stopping dead in his tracks, turning around on the staircase, and sprinting back to his seat so as not to miss the song. As it turned out, he did have a little time as Nicks’ band spent some time building the song up before she returned to the stage. She spent part of the song walking to both sides of the stage to acknowledge her fans. All told, the song worked out to be an extended playthrough of at least 10 minutes, followed by a thank-you, goodnight bow before an encore break.
She closed the night with a pair of Fleetwood Mac classics, 1975’s “Rhiannon” first, as scenes of wild horses played on the video board behind her and the band.
Before playing “Landslide” to conclude the night, Nicks took a moment to dedicate the song to the son of her long-time vocal coach Steve Real, saying, “I would like to dedicate this song to the son of my amazing vocal coach that has kept me singing all these years.” Real’s son Matthew is part of the touring crew, running teleprompters.
Leaving the show, I found myself awestruck by an artist whose life is so legendary it’s inspired several books and documentaries. Her life as a member of Fleetwood Mac heavily influenced the Netflix series Daisy Jones & The Six, with Nicks serving as the main inspiration for the titular character. At 77 years old, Nicks is outperforming nearly all of her contemporaries and even a large portion of today’s most popular artists. Nicks’ vocals are still strong as ever, thanks to her aforementioned vocal coach and her dedication to preserving her voice throughout her life.
Performing a nearly two-hour set of songs and telling several stories about her extraordinary life and the process of writing her songs, Nicks gave the sold-out crowd more than just a concert; it was an experience. One that anybody in the arena would be hard-pressed to forget.
Nicks’ final thoughts of the night: “We want you to know we love you so much, we don’t care how old we are, we’re out here, and we’ll be out here next year and the year after that because you give us back so much.”
Featured image by Brian Babineau
