Signs, T-shirts and feminist mantras all around have been declaring it: The Future is Female.
What they don’t tell you is that the past was female, too—and the present is female. That’s why two of the best and most groundbreaking female artists from the ’70s through today are coming to The Viv Arena Saturday night in a double billing that has me, as the kids would say, totally stoked.
Chrissy Hynde and the Pretenders will open the show (though only Hynde remains the constant in the group, she really IS the group). Hynde has always mixed gritty vocals with sounds infused with everything from Sam Cooke to underground punk for a trademark rocking sound
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And then there’s the main event, Miss Wasatch Junior High herself, Stevie Nicks.
Nicks is, of course, part of Fleetwood Mac (and all the drama within), a style icon and one of the best songwriters of all-time. She does it all with a persona she says she adopted to create the coolness of Grace Slick, the chillness of Jimi Hendrix, and the attitude of Janis Joplin—but after 40 years in the public eye now she’s the one emulated.
She’s sure to come onto the stage in high-heeled boots, something lacey, leathery or velvet or all at the same time. She’s a gypsy-chic role model and remains an alternative—with gender-normative femininity—to counter the edgier-looking women of her time, like Hynde and Debbie Harry.
On this tour, the 24 Karat Gold Tour, Nicks is digging deep in the catalog for songs that are cult-favorites, radio mainstays or just have a good story attached to them. Previous show reviews predict that fans should expect Fleetwood Mac tunes to turn up mid-set—and for Hynde to provide support in the duet Nicks first recorded with Tom Petty, “Stop Dragging My Heart Around.”.
Talk about girl power.
Stevie Nicks and Pretenders play Vivint Home Arena on Saturday, Feb. 25. Tickets are available here.
