In advance of Fleetwood Mac’s Tuesday concert, singer Stevie Nicks stopped by a screening of her new documentary for a Q&A.
By Linda Barnard
Toronto Star
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Stevie Nicks says it was a “million-to-one” serendipitous event that allowed her to present In Your Dreams, the documentary she co-directed with Dave Stewart of Eurythmics fame, at two sold-out screenings at TIFF Bell Lightbox Monday night.
“Really, seriously, what are the chances that Toronto would ask us to show this film? They didn’t know that Fleetwood Mac would have one day off here and I would be able to come to this showing,” said Nicks during the first of two post-screening Q&A sessions for the film, about the making of her 2011 solo album. “What are the chances of that?”
Fleetwood Mac plays the Air Canada Centre Tuesday night. With bandmates Mick Fleetwood and John McVie in the house to cheer her on, singer-songwriter Nicks shared insight into her art and her life with appreciative fans. They brought albums, photos and even paid tribute by imitation, like Nicks female impersonator Crystal Visions, who was outfitted in a blonde wig, flowing black dress with a sparkling shawl and a scarf-ringed tambourine.
Nicks took her time on a red carpet leading into the theatre, stopping for photos and interviews. Slim and looking younger than her 62 years, Nicks was dressed all in black with her trademark high-heeled boots, fingerless gloves and a shimmering half-moon necklace at her throat.
The film is an up-close look at Nicks’ songwriting process and, since the album was recorded in her California home, a rare look inside her life.
Working with Stewart and the added pressure of shooting a film while writing and recording an album took some getting used to, Nicks admitted. He showed up daily to start work at 2 p.m., “which was ridiculous because I don’t get up until 1 o’clock,” Nicks laughed.
So she simplified. “I wore exactly the same thing every day. It was a different top, but it was a closetful of these black tops made by (New York designer) Morgane Le Fay. I didn’t want to think about what I was wearing.”
Nicks made several jokes at her own expense during the brief Q&A session. She said that what’s onscreen, the portrait of an uncompromising artist who has a stellar ear, a silly side and a stubborn streak, is true to who she is. “If you know me, if you had known me for the last 35 years, you would say, ‘That’s really her. That’s the way she really is.’”
But she became quiet and her voice quavered when Nicks talked about her mother, Barbara Nicks, who died at age 84 in December 2011.
“Ever since I lost my mother, I really realized how important what you do is and that your journeys are much, much more important than what you come out with,” she said, adding her mom often reminded her during the making of In Your Dreams to enjoy the moment when creating the album.
“It’s a journey,” said Nicks. “You’re just making memories. That’s all you’re doing.”
In Your Dreams screenings continue until Thursday at TIFF Bell Lightbox.
The songs to be played at Tuesday’s Fleetwood Mac concert at the ACC are under wraps, but here’s what the band performed at its most recent show, on Saturday in Chicago, according to setlist.fm:
1. Second Hand News
2. The Chain
3. Dreams
4. Sad Angel
5. Rhiannon
6. Not That Funny
7. Tusk
8. Sisters of the Moon
9. Sara
10. Big Love
11. Landslide
12. Never Going Back Again
13. Without You
14. Gypsy
15. Eyes of the World
16. Gold Dust Woman
17. I’m So Afraid
18. Stand Back
19. Go Your Own Way
(Encore)
20. World Turning
21. Don’t Stop
(Second encore)
22. Silver Springs
23. Say Goodbye
