CONCERT GUIDE: Nicks' mysticism may be legendary, but so's her music

Who: Stevie Nicks
When: 8 tonight
Where: Chastain Park Amphitheatre
Tickets: $22.50, $19.50. 249-6400

Why go? Because it’s Stevie Nicks. The 46-year-old rock goddess practically defined the often decadent, guitar-fueled era of late ’70s music. With lilting, dreamy songs such as “Rhiannon,” she helped Fleetwood Mac become one of the biggest selling rock groups in history. Her solo work (“Stand Back,” “Edge of Seventeen”) got steady airplay throughout the early ’80s but tottered on the brink of anachronism by the end of the decade. But this summer, she’s back with a new CD, Street Angel, that’s getting good reviews for its fresh batch of midlife songs, including a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Just Like a Woman” and the single “Blue Denim.”

What to expect: It depends on Nicks’ mood, the sign of the moon or maybe the Psychic Hotline. But that’s the appeal. Nicks’ mystical, gypsy image – stoked by lyrics about “crystal visions” and “timespace” – is as alluring as the music. Once the personification of cool, she still wears those platform boots and gauzy, beaded shawls. But these days the hair is tinged with gray, and she’s heftier. The voice is in great shape, contrary to longtime rumors that she is heavily produced. In her last solo Atlanta appearance at Lakewood, in 1991, she left the stage after nearly every song for an unexplained pause. But she packs power into a show that’s half greatest hits (including Fleetwod Mac’s “Dreams” and “Landslide”) and half new material.

Nicks in the ’90s: “I’m a much happier person now,” she recently told the Boston Globe, describing her reclusive life in the Arizona desert. “It’s a good time for me.” Nicks abandoned the Hotel California lifestyle last year when she moved from Los Angeles to Phoenix after the earthquake. Although her rock ‘n’ roll romances are legendary (with Don Henley, Mick Fleetwood, Lindsey Buckingham and Joe Walsh), she’s single and says she has no one special in her life. She no longer tours with Fleetwood Mac, so this is your only chance to catch her this year.

Concert trivia: Look for backup singer Sara Fleetwood, ex-wife of drummer Mick Fleetwood.

Recommended recordings: Timespace: Best of Stevie Nicks and Bella Donna, probably her best solo LP. Also Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours and Greatest Hits.

Miriam Longino / Atlanta Journal and Constitution / August 8, 1994