Nicks, Stevie: Live At Red Rocks (DVD)

Recorded on Stevie Nick's Rock A Little tour on August 20th 1986, Live At Red Rocks is a step back in time in more ways than one. If you remember the production values and general idea that if it looked real on a screen in the 80s, then the director wasn't doing their job, you'll feel right at home as the lady best known for being one of the key cogs in Fleetwood Mac, struts her stuff surrounded by the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. There's no denying the huge natural structures make for a breathtaking backdrop to a suitably larger than life show, the era where everyone on stage has bigger hair (including the men) than the huge frocks Nicks and her backing singers are drowned in, also revealing a crowd stretching far off into the distance – and so many costume changes that you wonder how the band manage to squeeze out the 57 minutes presented here.

With special guests Mick Fleetwood and Peter Frampton making brief appearances on camera, it's left to Waddy Wachtel on guitar, Jai Winding on keys, Robert Martin on keys and horns, Jennifer Condos on bass, Rick Marotta on drums and Bobbye Hall on percussion to hammer home the sort of slick, practiced and hugely professional performance a show of this size simply demands. What doesn't stand up so well are the "state-of-the-art special effects", which to be fair was probably an accurate statement some 31 years ago. However looked back on now, the partly faded screen featuring Nicks' face floating over the massive crowd, and rapidly moving clouds above the normal-speed stage moves, make the whole show feel remote and unreal – again in that larger than life 80s, bigger is better fashion. Add to that the artificial look of most of the straight on close-ups of Nicks as she sings (so much so that it makes you wonder if some of them weren't shot in a studio at a later date…) and that the footage is understandably grainy, and to say we are far removed from the feeling of being right in the middle of the action, couldn't be more of an understatement. However the sound is crisp and sharp without being clinical and Nicks is in mighty form; vocally commanding, and controlling the vast swathes of people before her as if it was an everyday occurrence (which it probably was, to be fair…).

In terms of a set-list (which you can only presume, or at least hope is truncated from what the audience actually witnessed on the night), selections such as Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams", Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' "I Need To Know" and "Stand Back" are strong fan favourites. Something that can really be said for all of the nine songs on show. Hence, if that super-smooth rocking style is something you still hanker for, you'll be well served.

There's lots to knock on Live At Red Rocks - 80s production values, a safe set, big hair and shoulder pads galore. And yet at a budget price and containing some genuinely classic songs performed to perfection by a seasoned entertainer, it's hard not to simply get caught up in it all.

Track Listing
1. Outside The Rain
2. Dreams
3. Talk To Me
4. I Need To Know
5. No Spoken Word
6. Beauty And The Beast
7. Stand Back
8. Has Anyone Ever Written
9. Edge Of Seventeen

Added: July 16th 2017
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Live At Red Rocks at Wienerworld
Hits: 1513
Language: english

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