Stevie Nicks off the old block



By BRITTANY SCHAEFFER
DAILY NEWS FEATURE WRITER


Nicks wanna-bes imitate the Fleetwood Mac singer at Night of a
Thousand Stevies.

Perched atop patent-leather platform boots and wrapped in a gold-
threaded shawl, Cathy Cervenka tugs her curly blond wig down over
her eyes.
"Perfect — just like Stevie," she says to the mirror.

Swiveling on 4-inch heels, Cervenka stomps and twirls to the voice
of Stevie Nicks singing "Edge of Seventeen."

"There's something so special about Stevie," says Cervenka
breathlessly. "Nobody else in rock 'n' roll has a style like hers."

Indeed, three decades since she fronted Fleetwood Mac, Nicks
maintains a massive cult following.

Nicks and her former fling, the Eagles' Don Henley, play Friday at
Jones Beach, but her uber-fans warmed up last month at the 15th
annual Night of a Thousand Stevies — an all-night party celebrating
Nicks' music and her taste for leg warmers, hippie shawls
and "tamboquets." (That's a tambourine adorned with flowers and
fabric.) Nearly 30 acts at the Knitting Factory copped her songs,
her dance moves and, especially, her clothes.

Cervenka's group, the HoHos — which also includes Jill Pangallo and
a trio of male dancers — has been playing the Thousand Stevies event
since 1992. For its devotion to the cause, the group was assigned
the night's much-coveted theme song: "Gold Dust Woman," Nicks' fairy-
tale tune about love — and also possibly her decade-long cocaine
addiction.

In a short video introduction/send-up, Cervenka plays Nicks,
ostensibly snorting coke and refusing to come out of her dressing
room, while Pangallo and the dancers act as members of Fleetwood Mac
who try to coax her onstage. "Stevie's songs are famously hard to
understand," says Cervenka. "So we stretch the story to fit our own
vision of it."

As the video screen lifted, Cervenka and Pangallo appeared dressed
as Stevie while dancers Wilson Chan, Mike Albo and Wilder Selzer
interpreted the lyrics.

"Rock on — gold dust woman ... Take your silver spoon ... And dig
your grave."

Cervenka belted out the song, while Pangallo screeched backup vocals
intermittently, playing a hysterically strung-out Stevie. "We are
comedic," says Cervenka. "But it's lovingly that you make fun of
her."

Other performances ranged from soloist cross-dressers lip-synching
to acts by such serious rock royalty as Debbie Harry of Blondie.

But the devotion for some goes beyond parody. Days after Thousand
Stevies, Cervenka and Pangallo jetted to Las Vegas to see the real
Stevie Nicks' performance in Celine Dion's mega-theater.

"We got Stevie-fever, and we decided that we had to go to Vegas,"
says Cervenka. "It's not even like I'm spending money — it's more
like destiny calling."

Originally published on June 7, 2005


--- In rhiannonsenchantedgarden@yahoogroups.com, rhiannon102_44420
<no_reply@y...> wrote:
> Concert review: Stevie Nicks, Don Henley By Deborah Wilker
> Tue Jun 7,10:42 AM ET
>
>
>
> HOLMDEL, N.J. (Hollywood Reporter) - Big-ticket heritage acts have
> been propping up the listing concert business for years now, and
if
> this is the way it must be, the industry would do well to take a
> close look at a novel (but too-brief) new tour from Stevie
Nicks
> and Don Henley -- one of the most magical rock shows in a long
> while.
>
> ADVERTISEMENT
>
> More than just the standard double bill, these songwriting legends
> (and fronts for two of the greatest bands of all time, Fleetwood
Mac
> and the Eagles) work hand in hand, interpreting each other's stuff
> in a way rarely done by truly big stars.
>
> On the second night of this 10-date swing, Henley, up first, got
> things rolling with some dry wit and a well-received "Witchy
Woman."
> Quickly he was into the big stuff -- "Hotel California" -- during
> which Nicks sauntered in from the wings to join him, setting off
the
> kind of frenzied, organic ovation that touring's modern-day
> corporate labs simply cannot manufacture.
>
> Superstar pairings are best, of course, when there is mutual
> admiration between the artists and a career path that is somehow
> parallel yet also different -- as with Billy Joel and
Elton
> John. Tortured friendships are also great for the box office (
> Eric Clapton and George Harrison) -- and if the two were also
> lovers back in the day, well, that's a grand slam.
>
> Henley and Nicks -- both pioneering California rockers -- were
> indeed an item in the late 1970s (after her split from FM
> bandmate Lindsey Buckingham) and have remained friendly. While
> they don't quite set off the unrequited sparks that the
> Nicks/Buckingham-led Mac still produces to this day, there is a
> familiarity about them that lends both comfort and renewal to hits
> such as "The Last Worthless Evening" (his) and "Gold Dust Woman"
> (hers).
>
> On this particular night, there was also a defiant "Stop Dragging
My
> Heart Around," a wistful "New York Minute" and their lone hit
> together, 1981's "Leather and Lace."
>
> Each also worked hard separately. From his seemingly inexhaustible
> supply of frothy radio singles and sturdy album tracks, Henley
> pulled out "Dirty Laundry," "Life in the Fast Lane" and the
> brilliant "Heart of the Matter." Nicks, who only gets better with
> age, countered with an ethereal "Rhiannon," and dramatic versions
> of "Stand Back," "Edge of Seventeen" and others from her long
> career, all set off by her usual costume array of flowing ribbons,
> scarves and ponchos.
>
> Though this terrific evening ran almost three hours, there was
still
> a lot missing, including the rumored set-closer "Desperado" --
> something they're bound to get to if this limited run becomes the
> full-fledged tour promoters are said to be banking on for next
year.
>
> Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
>
>
> --- In rhiannonsenchantedgarden@yahoogroups.com, rhiannon102_44420
> <no_reply@y...> wrote:
> > "Eagle Flies With Nightbird"
> >
> > By Sarah Rodman
> > June 8, 2005
> >
> > Don Henley is nothing if not a gentleman.
> >
> > When asked in what order he and ``Two Voices'' tourmate Stevie
> Nicks
> > would perform at their co-headlining show at the Tweeter Center
in
> > Mansfield tonight, Henley laughs.
> >
> > ``I'm going to go first every night,'' he says, ``because there
> are
> > certain things that she has to have.''
> >
> > Those include, but are not limited to, special lighting, time
for
> > costume changes and the proper performing temperature.
> >
> > ``I'm just a guy,'' Henley says. ``Guys don't mind sweating. I'm
> > just
> > going to go first and that will make my life a lot simpler.''
> >
> > The charming Eagles frontman and Fleetwood Mac's witchy woman,
> both
> > 57, have long been friends - and more in the mid-'70s. They even
> > scored a hit duet in 1981 with ``Leather and Lace.''
> >
> > What songs will they sing together on tour?
> >
> > Speaking by phone from Dallas, Henley chuckles.
> >
> > ``We've already exchanged lists. Now we're in the process of
> arguing
> > about it.''
> >
> > Following his stint with Nicks, Henley hopes to begin work on an
> > album of new American standards by the likes of Leonard Cohen
and
> > Randy Newman.
> >
> > Then he'll hit the road again with the Eagles in August. If
you're
> > waiting for that long-promised new Eagles album, Henley has some
> > advice: Don't hold your breath.
> >
> > ``I don't know if that's ever going to come to fruition,'' he
> > says.``It used to be frustrating, but I had to adopt a more
> Zenlike
> > position or tear my hair out.''
> >
> > http://theedge.bostonherald.com/musicNews/view.bg?articleid=88456