Stevie Nicks honors Christine McVie as she kicks off new leg of arena tour in Milwaukee

Kicking off a new leg of her North American arena tour in Milwaukee Tuesday, Stevie Nicks let a packed house of fans in on one of her rituals.

When she was a younger woman — and now at 75 — Nicks said sometimes she’ll get a mattress on the floor, sit on it, take a breath and tell herself, “I’m still Stevie.”

That she is, the one and only.

And that mattress ritual to stay connected to herself is working wonders. Across a 17-song, hour-and-50-minute set at Fiserv Forum, Nicks maintained that mystical yet earthy spirit that, combined with her bold songwriting and voice, made her a standout with Fleetwood Mac in the '70s and a successful solo star in the '80s.

That was most apparent when Nicks spoke between songs, which she did frequently Tuesday. Before playing Fleetwood Mac’s “Gypsy,” she reminisced about suddenly having to pay taxes after she began earning a few hundred dollars a week in the band — not knowing and never making enough to pay taxes before. As she told the story, her face lit up like the rush of overnight fame and fortune just happened yesterday.

An even greater level of wide-eyed enthusiasm poured out of her when she beamed about meeting Tom Petty for the first time to record "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around." She honored him Tuesday through performances of that song and "Free Fallin'," during which pictures of Petty appeared on the stage's big screen, and by using "Runnin' Down the Dream" as the intro music and "Learning to Fly" for the exit song.

And while Nicks has been a relatively stationary performer for years now, her youthful exuberance took over for "Stand Back." Snapping fingers early in the performance — one of Nicks' most animated expressions to that point in the show — Nicks was ultimately consumed by Ricky Peterson's '80s synths, Carlos Rios' choppy funk guitar riffs and Waddy Wachtel's bluesy guitar moans as she spun around the stage draped in the same gold-spotted shawl she wore when she first played the song in 1983, shimmying and stomping through the song, belting out the climactic "Take me home" with gusto.

And Nicks' rendition of "Gold Dust Woman" was practically platinum, tugging at her hair and jerking her body to Drew Hester's towering, tense drums, her voice as passionate and ethereal as it was on Mac's classic "Rumours" album in 1977.

But beyond moments like these, Nicks is not frozen in time.

Twice on Tuesday, she mentioned that she finally voted for the first time when she was 71, encouraging the audience to do the same. And even as she beamed about hearing Stephen Stills' "For What It's Worth" for the first time (she performed the song Tuesday), suggesting she could never write a protest song so powerful, Nicks was able to create her own moving protest moment, transforming solo song "Soldier's Angel" into a condemnation of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a barrage of photos from the country building to blinding flashes of the flag's colors as Nicks belted the final notes.

And Nicks' tender vocals for the Fleetwood Mac gem "Landslide," accompanied solely by Wachtel on acoustic guitar and some sparse keys from Darrell Smith, took on a greater level of profundity now that she "is getting older, too," and especially with sweet photos of her former bandmate Christine McVie, who died in November, gracing the stage's big screen.

"For all of us who knew her — and you knew her — we just have to give her our thought every day and say, 'Christine, we hope it's as beautiful up there as you made it for us down here,'" Nicks said Tuesday, her voice slightly choked with emotion.

That she did. And that Stevie Nicks does.

More: These are all of the arena, amphitheater and stadium concerts in Milwaukee in 2023

More: Taylor Swift and 24 other acts that haven't played Milwaukee in more than a decade — or ever

6 takeaways from Stevie Nicks' Milwaukee show, including opener Ingrid Andress

• Tuesday was the third arena or amphitheater opening set in Milwaukee in as many years for up-and-comer Ingrid Andress. But this was one was decidedly different. For the first two, Andress — opening for Dan + Shay at Fiserv Forum in 2021 and Keith Urban at the American Family Insurance Amphitheater last year — tried to win over country fans with a full band. This time out, she was backed by a lone acoustic guitarist, and played piano for half of the songs during her half-hour. The sparse setup ensured Andress’ smart, heartfelt songwriting commanded the room, making anguished reflections like “The Stranger” and “Yearbook” more intimate and personal. The gig clearly meant a lot to Andress, who cited Nicks as one of her biggest influences, and wore her “Stevie shawl” for the occasion.

• Not everyone was on board with Nicks' Ukraine tribute and comments. After the song ended, a rude man somewhere behind my seat shouted "You don't know what the (expletive) you're talking about. (Expletive) you, Stevie." Despite his furious screaming, he was too far back for his comments to make it to the floor and stage. (And considering the onslaught of people throwing things at artists on stage lately, that's a good thing.)

• The show was plagued by technical issues for the first six songs, with the video feed on the stage's big screen frequently flashing and cutting off. But it was operating correctly by the time "Gypsy" rolled around.

• In addition to that "Stand Back" shawl, among the half-dozen or so shawls Nicks wore Tuesday was the one she sported for the "Bella Donna" album cover in 1981.

• In addition to Petty and McVie, Tuesday's show also honored Prince, whose photo appeared during "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" and "Edge of Seventeen." The former song also recognized living and late music legends, with old photos of Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan and others on the big screen.

• Most Fiserv Forum concerts end around 11 p.m., but Nicks took the stage pretty early at 8:19 p.m. and was off the stage by 10:09 p.m. I suspect most of the people in the crowd appreciated the comparatively early end on a Tuesday night.

Stevie Nicks' Fiserv Forum setlist

1. "Outside the Rain"

2. "Dreams"

3. "If Anyone Falls"

4. "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around"

5. "Fall From Grace"

6. "For What It's Worth"

7. "Gypsy"

8. "Wild Heart"

9. "Bella Donna"

10. "Stand Back"

11. "Soldier's Angel"

12. "Gold Dust Woman"

13. "I Sing for the Things"

14. "Edge of Seventeen"

15. "Free Fallin'"

16. "Rhiannon"

17. "Landslide"

Contact Piet at (414) 223-5162 or plevy@journalsentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter at @pietlevy or Facebook at facebook.com/PietLevyMJS.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Stevie Nicks honors Christine McVie, Tom Petty in Milwaukee concert