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Home » Last Night: Rod Stewart & Stevie Nicks at Toyota Center

Last Night: Rod Stewart & Stevie Nicks at Toyota Center

‘Hot Legs’ singer and witchy woman co-headline last night of Heart & Soul Tour

Last Night: Rod Stewart & Stevie Nicks at Toyota Center
Photos by Jim Bricker
Rod Stewart, Stevie Nicks Toyota Center August 9, 2012

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(Jim Bricker)

I really wish that Rod Stewart is recording the past few years of tours he’s had under his belt, because he’s in essence setting the bar for how to grow old in rock and roll without looking like a granny doofus or a stuttering clown. At 67 years old, Stewart may look weathered and perma-tanned (he sleeps on the Sun?) but at least he’s still got the stones and humility to put on a capital-S show without a net, virtual or otherwise.

Plus, a 67-year-old who can expertly kick two dozen or so regulation-sized soccer balls into the crowd at a nearly sold-out arena show while singing “Hot Legs” without missing a beat is a hero in my book.

“No one is miming or playing to a tape, this is real,” said Stewart after ending a mid-show acoustic-slash-orchestral set with his band and members of a local string section from Houston. OK, there was a teleprompter somewhere in front of him, but I am starting to think that every major touring act over the age of 30 uses them now.

Co-headliner Stevie Nicks opened the show with Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll” as pictures of rock icons of yore — that she probably partied “serious” with — flashed on a giant screen behind her and her band. It was cool to see guitarist Waddy Wachtel in action next to Nicks after years of reading his name in biographies and liner notes, too.

Nicks’ set was heavy on the solo big guns (“Stand Back”, “Edge of Seventeen”), her newish In your Dreams material, and the mammoths from her Fleetwood Mac catalog. She also has a cool little tent onstage that she changes into different goth gear every few songs too.

Houston’s August music calendar is getting another dose of Mac with Lindsey Buckingham playing Fitzgerald’s in a few days, and the band itself should be here in 2013.

The witchy woman told a great story about visiting injured troops at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, before introducing “Soldier’s Angel.” During the middle of her story — a moving one — someone on the floor of the arena bellowed “Boring!” which was pretty classy.

Thursday night was Nicks and Stewart’s last show on this tour together, but she promised more touring in the future. The duo makes for strange concert bedfellows, and they didn’t end up taking the stage together as they had on some previous dates.

She closed her portion of the show with a perfect version of “Landslide” with Wachtel. Give us them Mac dates already. Also, her “Landslide” means more at 64 years of age than it ever did when it was written, and she said as much onstage too.

Overall Stewart’s and Nicks’ shows were pretty heavy on the patriotic rah-rahs, but it was respectful and not intrusive. Who knew that Stewart was a military supporter?

“As a child of the post-WWII era I owe a debt to the ones that were lost,” he said before launching into “Sailing”. His generation of skinny Brit rockers — and rock and roll itself — very much owe their collective existences to the Allies. Stewart seems to be understanding that the older he gets.

No show with oldsters on the marquee would be complete without a few family photos, with Stewart showing off his toddler — born since his last Houston appearance in 2009 — and his older kids, including son Sean, who has been a tabloid mainstay in the past.

No doubt plenty of the parents and grandparents in the crowd knew what he meant by “my son who wasn’t found his direction yet” line. It was fun to see what Kimberly Stewart looks like now, since it’s been years (thankfully) since she was plastered — maybe literally — in every issue of Us partying with Paris Hilton in the mid-’00s.

He introduced “You Wear It Well” with a quick story about he and Ronnie Wood writing the cut while at Wood’s mother’s home. People rail on about a Faces reunion, but I just want to see Stewart team up with Jeff Beck again. Call me an elitist, but this is the Truth.

Stewart isn’t totally free of his iffy American Songbook stuff, but at least now some it has made a nice transition into his normal setlist back of tricks, and he can still make Tom Waits’ Rain Dogs cut “Downtown Train” into an R&B rave-up. As on previous tours, Stewart’s young band turns his more gaudy dance and New Wave-inflected singles like “Young Turks” and “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” into great crunchy nuggets.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that Stewart showed off some pictures of himself in nurse and prostitute drag on the big screen behind him onstage. He makes a good lookin’ old French whore, and I know my old French whores.

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(Jim Bricker)

Personal Bias: This video.

The Crowd: Older, more refined and wined than the Aerosmith crowd a few weeks back, which was more beer-y and acid-washed.

Overheard In the Crowd: “The wife said she might rush the stage. At our age, I don’t care. I will just be amazed she can still rush anything,” said a husband a row behind me.

Random Notebook Dump: To my recollection of the past six years covering shows, the only older pantheon artist I can remember that didn’t use a teleprompter on stage was Neil Diamond.

STEVIE NICKS SET LIST

  1. Rock and Roll (Led Zeppelin cover)
  2. Enchanted
  3. Secret Love
  4. Dreams (Fleetwood Mac)
  5. Gold Dust Woman (Fleetwood Mac)
  6. Stand Back
  7. Soldier’s Angel
  8. Rhiannon (Fleetwood Mac)
  9. Leather and Lace (With Steve Real)
  10. Edge of Seventeen
  11. Landslide (Fleetwood Mac) (Encore)

ROD STEWART SET LIST

  1. Love Train (The O’Jays cover)
  2. Tonight’s the Night (Gonna Be Alright)
  3. Some Guys Have All the Luck (The Persuaders cover)
  4. Havin’ a Party (Sam Cooke cover)
  5. You Wear It Well
  6. Rhythm of My Heart
  7. Sailing
  8. Young Turks
  9. Forever Young (Bob Dylan cover)
  10. Downtown Train (Tom Waits cover)
  11. Have I Told You Lately (Van Morrison cover)
  12. The First Cut is the Deepest (Cat Stevens cover)
  13. Reason to Believe (Tim Hardin cover)
  14. Rainy Night in Georgia (Tony Joe White cover)
  15. Sweet Little Rock and Roller (Chuck Berry cover)
  16. Proud Mary (Di Reed On Vocals, Creedence Clearwater Revival cover)
  17. You’re in My Heart (The Final Acclaim)
  18. Hot Legs
  19. Maggie May
  20. Da Ya Think I’m Sexy? (Encore)

Craig Hlavaty/ Houston Press / Friday, August 10, 2012

stevienicks

LIVE IN CONCERT (2024)

Stevie Nicks

MAY 3, 2024 – MAY 5, 2024
Lovin’ Life Fest
Charlotte, NC
TICKETS

MAY 7, 2024
Enterprise Center
St Louis, MO
TICKETS

MAY 10, 2024
WinStar World Casino & Resort
Thackerville, OK
TICKETS

MAY 14, 2024
Bridgestone Arena
Nashville, TN
TICKETS

MAY 18, 2024
Frost Bank Center
San Antonio, TX
TICKETS

MAY 21, 2024
Yaamava’ Resort & Casino – Yaamava’ Theater
Highland, CA
TICKETS

MAY 24, 2024
BottleRock Napa Valley
Napa, CA
TICKETS

MAY 27, 2024
Delta Center
Salt Lake City, UT
TICKETS

MAY 30, 2024
Ball Arena
Denver, CO
TICKETS

JUN 4
Gainbridge Fieldhouse
Indianapolis, IN
TICKETS

JUN 9 
Mohegan Sun Casino
Uncasville, CT
TICKETS

JUN 12
MVP Arena
Albany, NY
TICKETS

JUN 15
Hersheypark Stadium
Hershey, PA
TICKETS

JUN 18
Van Andel Arena
Grand Rapids, MI
TICKETS

JUN 21, 2024 (with Billy Joel)
Soldier Field
Chicago, IL
TICKETS

JUL 12, 2024
BST Hyde Park
London, England
TICKETS

^ Non-Live Nation show


Previous 2023 dates

March 10, 2023 – BILLY JOEL
Los Angeles, CA
SoFi Stadium

March 15, 2023
Seattle, WA
Climate Pledge Arena

March 18, 2023
Las Vegas, NV
T-Mobile Arena

May 12, 2023
Raleigh, NC
PNC Arena

May 16, 2023
Knoxville, TN
Thompson-Boling Arena

May 19, 2023 – BILLY JOEL
Nashville, TN
Nissan Stadium

May 22, 2023
Atlanta, GA
State Farm Arena

May 25, 2023
Orlando, FL
Amway Center

June 16, 2023 – BILLY JOEL
Philadelphia, PA
Lincoln Financial Field

June 20, 2023
Toronto, ON (Canada)
Scotiabank Arena

June 23, 2023
Chicago, IL
United Center

June 27, 2023
Louisville, KY
KFC Yum! Center

August 5, 2023 – BILLY JOEL
Columbus, OH
Ohio Stadium

August 8, 2023
Milwaukee, WI
Fiserv Forum

August 12, 2023
Houston, TX
Toyota Center

August 15, 2023
Austin, TX
Moody Center

August 19, 2023 – BILLY JOEL
Kansas City, MO
Arrowhead Stadium

September 23, 2023 – BILLY JOEL
Foxborough, MA
Gillette Stadium

September 27, 2023
Pittsburgh, PA
PPG Paints Arena

October 1, 2023
New York, NY
Madison Square Garden

October 4, 2023
Buffalo, NY
KeyBank Center

October 7, 2023 – BILLY JOEL
Baltimore, MD 
M&T Bank Stadium

October 28, 2023
Memphis, TN
FedEx Forum

November 1, 2023
Savannah, GA
Enmarket Arena

November 4, 2023
Allentown, PA
PPL Center

November 7, 2023
Detroit, MI
Little Caesars Arena

November 10, 2023 – BILLY JOEL
Minneapolis, MN
U.S. Bank Stadium

November 29, 2023
San Diego, CA
Viejas Arena

December 2, 2023
Inglewood, CA
The Kia Forum

December 5, 2023
Palm Desert, CA
Acisure Arena

December  8, 2023 – BILLY JOEL
Phoenix, AZ
Chase Field

December 12, 2023
Sacramento, CA
Golden 1 Center

December 15, 2023
San Francisco, CA
Chase Center

FEB 10, 2024
Mark G Etess Arena
Atlantic City, NJ

FEB 14, 2024
UBS Arena
Belmont Park, NY

FEB 17, 2024
CFG Bank Arena
Baltimore, MD

FEB 21, 2024
Bon Secours Wellness Arena
Greenville, SC

FEB 24, 2024
Hard Rock Live
Hollywood, FL

FEB 28, 2024
Smoothie King Center
New Orleans, LA

MAR 3, 2024
CHI Health Center
Omaha, NE

MAR 6, 2024
Simmons Bank Arena
North Little Rock, AR

MAR 9, 2024
AT&T Stadium
Arlington, TX
Billy Joel

 



2022 Tour

Stevie Nicks

Jazz Aspen Snowmass
Snowmass, CO
Labor Day 2022

Ravinia Festival
Highland Park, IL
September 8, 2022
September 10, 2022

Pine Knob Music Theatre
Clarkston, MI
September 13, 2022
w/ Vanessa Carlton

Sea Hear Now Festival
Asbury, NJ
September 17, 2022

Xfinity Center
Mansfield, MA
September 19, 2022
w/ Vanessa Carlton

Maine Savings Amphitheatre
Bangor, ME
September 22, 2022
w/ Vanessa Carlton

Sound on Sound Festival
Bridgeport, CT
September 24-25, 2022

Ohana Festival
Dana Point, CA
September 30, 2022

Hollywood Bowl
Los Angeles, CA
October 3, 2022
w/ Vanessa Carlton

POSTPONED
Ak-Chin Pavilion

Phoenix, AZ
October 6, 2022
w/ Vanessa Carlton

POSTPONED
Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion

The Woodlands, TX
October 9, 2022
w/ Vanessa Carlton

Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
Alpharetta, GA
October 12, 2022
w/ Vanessa Carlton

Ascend Amphitheater
Nashville, TN
October 16, 2022
w/ Vanessa Carlton

Credit One Stadium
Charleston, SC
October 19, 2022
w/ Vanessa Carlton

PNC Music Pavilion
Charlotte, NC
October 22, 2022
w/ Vanessa Carlton

MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
Tampa, FL
October 25, 2022
w/ Vanessa Carlton

iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre
West Palm Beach, FL
October 28, 2022
w/ Vanessa Carlton

Orion Amphitheatre
Huntsville, AL
October 31, 2022

RESCHEDULED SHOWS

Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
The Woodlands, TX
November 2, 2022
w/ Vanessa Carlton

Ak-Chin Pavilion
Phoenix, AZ
November 5, 2022
w/ Vanessa Carlton