We saw The Pretenders open for Stevie Nicks, last night. I was a little wary of seeing them, so long after their heyday - could they still play, could Chrissie Hynde still sing? Yes, and emphatically yes! She actually sounds as good as she ever has, and she seemed to be in good spirits. They played a few newer songs at the front of their set, and then went on to play most of their hits and great early songs. Their set was pretty long, for an opening band; but they could've played three times as long and I wouldn't have minded.

I was pleased to see that their steel guitar player was using a Carr amp. They're made in our little town of Pittsboro, NC. I'd have one, if I could justify the (considerable) expense.

The show was at our local 20,000-seat NHL stadium, so the sound was atrocious: huge drums, sizzling highs, and everything else smashed into a roaring and reverberating mid-range miasma.

I'm not really familiar with Stevie Nicks' solo stuff other than the big radio hits, and she played all of those, and some Fleetwood Mac classics. But she also played a lot of stuff that was unreleased or forgotten or stuff that she wanted to improve on the original recording - a deep tracks set for true fans, I guess. So, I was lost for most of the set. Mrs knows Nicks' solo records, but there were a few songs even she didn't recognize. Helpfully, Nicks introduced nearly every song with a long story about how it came to be. She still sounded remarkably good, though.