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October 2023 (Part 02)

Stevie Nicks and Billy Joel in Concert

We went to Baltimore in early October to see Stevie Nicks and Billy Joel in concert at the M&T Bank Stadium (the Ravens stadium).  We went up early to have lunch with Uncle Bill, Judy, Tom, and Tyler (who is a senior and had questions about ROTC).  We then checked into our hotel and headed to the stadium with what we thought was plenty of time.  However, the Orioles had a playoff game right next door that didn't finish until an hour before the show, which meant none of those parking lots were available (worse, they lost, so many people driving were already not happy).  We had bought parking, but a message arrived with directions to a garage west of the inner harbor and well over a mile from the stadium.  Worse, traffic was gridlocked.  We finally got to our seat almost 35 minutes late.  I think the first act, Stevie Nicks, must have started late, as it looks like we got to our seats in the middle of her fifth song.  She played a number of Tom Petty songs and talked a bit about missing him and Christine McVie, who both passed away recently.  She thanked the audience at the end, as performing was helping her recover from the loss of two close friends.  All in all, she did pretty well for someone who's live a hard 75 years (she had a well earned reputation for drug use with Fleetwood Mac).  Her distinctive voice sounded a bit more harsh and husky, but oh well.

We were pretty far up there, 25 rows into the upper balcony and only a couple from the top, plus we were off to the side.  The problem wasn't so much the view, as the sound was off.  Billy Joel came out and immediately asked how hard it had been to get to the show, laughing that he wasn't sure he would have done that to see him.  He also laughed about how cold it was, asking his brass players if their lips were sticking to their instruments. 

Billy is just a year younger than Stevie (they were both born in May), but seemed so much healthier and stronger voiced.  He did joke a bit about singing "An Innocent Man" which requires him to hit high notes which were hard even when it came out in 1983.

Despite the seats, the cold, and the challenging sound, we really enjoyed this.  Both of us essentially knew the words to every song and really enjoyed both the commentary and the performance.