STEVIE NICKS ROCKS STEVEN

STEVEN SPILLS © 93

SEASON FINALE

As June approaches we are faced with the inevitable rising temperatures while local and tourists alike are flocking out of town for escape. Of course there are some of us that must stay and trudge onward so the town will continue until season starts up again and people return. Locals adapt by making decisions for day getaways and book weekend vacations to keep minds occupied with scheduled escapes. Those of us who stay in Palm Springs for the summer know how to deal with the heat and pace ourselves for sanity. Although, speak to me in August when I’m slowly simmering underneath a black vinyl roof in my Jeep Wrangler while sitting at a traffic light.

Bewitching songbird and rock goddess Stevie Nicks recently performed to a sold-out house at Fantasy Springs and we were there to rock on. Madame Nicks had unfortunately been cancelling shows and appearances due to illness with pneumonia so when it was confirmed that she would be on I was happily able to take Jacques to his first live Nicks fix. The Friday night drive to Indio wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. However, it’s not a commute I’d want to do everyday. After grabbing some quick food and a cocktail we found our seats behind two people that had obviously taken some super acid they had saved from the 60s. The choreography this one hot mess was doing in the aisle had me screaming and was slightly distracting. We pushed through. Concert crowds are a crap shoot at best.

The show started and Stevie Nicks wonderfully performed eleven hits from her Fleetwood Mac and solo albums, and the delicious gem “Secret Love” from her In Your Dreams album that just dropped and is climbing up the charts. If you haven’t bought it and are a fan you must get it! At 63-years-young, our Stevie has no signs of slowing down. The Lady Nicks gave us one good series of spins during the opening of “Stand Back” which caused the rowdy crowd to roar and she naturally commanded the stage the entire time. Stevie recently mentored the cast of Glee when they performed juggernaut time-definers from Rumours and has made numerous appearances recently from Oprah to Dancing with the Stars. On her newest musical endeavor, surrender to the driving guitars of “Wide Sargasso Sea,” haunting “Moonlight (A Vampire’s Dream)” and romantic memory of “Italian Summer.”

The next day we attended the Picture Me Happy benefit and pool party where nearly 200 men and women converged to raise money for terminally ill children throughout California. Sunshine blessed shirtless hunks with warmth while founder Tim Courtney was on hand to charm partygoers and local catering giants Grillmarks provided the smart food offerings. Mark Carter and John Lustenring have come together to create a culinary service that presents both whimsical cookout food and more elegant fare in healthy alternative ways. Let Mark do the cooking during your next party and head over to grillmarkscatering.com for menus and information. Through the course of charity donations and the pool party, Picture Me Happy (picturemehappy.org) raised over $5K for the children the organization benefits! Thanks to everyone who attended and donated, the selfless volunteers, DJ Luc Benech, host Jim G. and hostess Bella da Ball, and Mother Nature.

In closing, I wanted to share a priceless story from last evening. On Saturdays, Escena Grill has prime rib for dinner and that’s what we usually order. An insider tip from me to you would be that if you want lunch there, go on easier-to-get-in Saturday rather than everyone-is-there Sunday. Although if you do go on Sunday, go early. But back to last night…

Our reservation was outside to watch the gorgeous sunset. Next to us was a table of sixteen male golfers who appeared straight but when at least 10% of the population is gay, someone is doing someone. I’m just saying, and wondering. They were harmless but rowdy. However, their server was also ours and had waited on us before. After saying hello, we told our busy one to deal with them since we weren’t in a hurry but Pinot Noir would satisfy us for a bit. We continued to enjoy the breeze and atmosphere until they headed back over to us. I’ve omitted any information that would get someone in trouble since the following was all in fun and others may take it out of context.

Here’s how the dialogue flowed between us, verbatim. Server: “Are you ready to order?” Me: “Sure. The lettuce wedge to start and prime rib, medium.” Server: “Did you want the king cut, or the queen?” Me: “Oh, the queen cut, sweetie. Thanks.” Server: (smiling) “Perfect… Since you are a queen.” Me: (after busting out laughing) “How true, you. Touché!” What a ballsy move?! We tipped double!

2011 © PULP