Columbia (Operation Stevie Nicks Concert: Attempt #2)

I returned home from Houston exhausted and disappointed following my failed attempt to see Stevie Nicks and the Pretenders in concert. By the time I woke up the next morning - Halloween - however, I was ready to begin scheming and dreaming my next adventure: Stevie's Columbia, SC, concert now fewer than two weeks away. 

I got to work browsing flights, hotels, and available concert seats. Somehow I lucked out on all the above, snagging affordable flights, a nice but inexpensive hotel room, and miracle of miracles, a VIP seventh-row center seat priced at only $150 (the same price I'd paid for a presale "best available" 24th row seat in Houston) while neighboring seats sold for $500. It all seemed meant to be, with none of the second-thought anxiety I'd had with Houston. I felt like the universe was rewarding me for enduring - and even finding humor in - the entire Houston ordeal. 

I had no doubts I'd made the right decision in rebooking my trip, especially after the emotional low of the concert week's presidential election and its shocking, unfathomable result. I needed something good to anticipate after the previous weeks' trials. Proving I'd learned from my first trip's gaffes, I selected the earliest departing (6:00 a.m.) and arriving flights (11:30 a.m.), not caring that it meant leaving for the airport at 3:00 a.m. All of my flights this time around were on time and problem-free, which reminded me that I actually (still) love traveling. 

The only hitches this time around, ironically, involved non-airplane travel. My Columbia hotel offered free shuttle service, one of its biggest draws, but I was apparently a bit confused about how it worked. I called the hotel after arriving at the airport and was told to walk outside and wait at the taxi stand. After that I wasn't sure what was supposed to happen. Then I was approached by T, a taxi driver who nearly pushed me into his cab after I explained that I was waiting (?) for a shuttle to my hotel. "No, no, I'll take you," he insisted. Which was fine, at first, until, just a few miles from the hotel, I got a call from a hotel employee saying she had arrived at the airport and was waiting to pick me up. Oops. I apologetically explained that I was in a taxi on my way to the hotel, at which point she hung up on me, clearly pissed, which extended to the front desk where, upon my subsequent arrival, I was harshly scolded for taking a taxi (though the front desk clerk reluctantly paid the driver) and told that check-in was not until 3 p.m., so I should "take a seat and have a cup of coffee." Gulp.

I was sniffling back tears when a mercifully-kind desk clerk found an available room and checked me in early. I collapsed on my bed and tried to nap (since I'd be out way past my bedtime and I'd already had a long, full day), but I was too wound up. So I did the next best thing, hitting the gym and running on the treadmill to relieve some of my pent-up excitement before showering and dressing for the big night ahead. At 5:20 p.m. I called Uber and arrived at Colonial Life Arena promptly at 6 p.m., joining a long line of concertgoers snaking down the sidewalk. I was initially concerned about missing part of the show, but the line moved quickly and efficiently into the building and I was wanded and cleared by security within 30 seconds, with ample time to grab water and a wrap and find my seventh-row seat. (I couldn't believe how close to the stage I was! Heck, I couldn't believe I was there at all.) 

My incredible view of the stage.

At 7:30 p.m. the lights dimmed and Chrissie Hynde strutted out on stage to an instant standing ovation. A woman behind me cried out in ecstasy, "Oh my God, she's gorgeous!" (In front of her, I silently, fan-girlingly agreed.) True enough, she's a poster woman for clean vegan living, incredibly fit and still rocking like a badass at 65 (with amazing voice - one of rock's best, in my humble opinion, - completely intact) in a short white fitted blazer over a sleeveless black Elvis T-shirt, jeans, and high-heeled black boots. The band tore through some lesser-known songs before hurtling into "Back on the Chain Gang," during which she cracked a smile (to the crowd's delight) for the first time and seemed to have a blast for the rest of the high-energy show, which included "Stop Sobbing," an a cappella "Hymn to Her,""Middle of the Road," "Don't Get Me Wrong," (Yes!), "My City Was Gone," "I'll Stand By You," and ended with the requisite "Brass in Pocket."

The Pretenders

There was a 30-minute intermission after, which gave my feet a break. Then at nearly 9 p.m., at long last, the goddess Stevie appeared in a long black dress with a tambourine draped through her arm and opened with "Gold and Braid" (an unexpected choice). She announced after this song that she would not sing the Fleetwood Mac songs we'd heard "a million times" because this was her show and she was doing what she wanted. (Right on!) 

As promised, she reached far into her musical vault and pulled out some rarities, including "If Anyone Falls," "Wild Heart" (for the first time in concert), "Crying in the Night" (from Buckingham Nicks), "New Orleans," "Outside the Rain," "Enchanted," Bella Donna," Starshine," "Belle Fleur," "If You Were My Love," an emotional "Moonlight," "Gold Dust Woman," "Dreams," "Edge of Seventeen" (with a Prince tribute on the projection screen behind her), "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around (duetted with Chrissie Hynde!), and for an encore, "Rhiannon" and "Leather and Lace."  

Stevie!

It was an incredibly "enchanted" evening, like none I've ever experienced. I've never been a concert person, but after this one I just might be. My second hitch of the day was trying to catch my Uber ride after the concert. My driver knew the area but had to repeatedly circle the arena in an attempt to drive through police-cordoned streets and other chaotic concert traffic. It was after midnight, over an hour later, that my persistent driver finally reached me and dropped me off at my hotel. I slept maybe 90 minutes before getting up to head back to the airport for another 6:00 a.m. flight. 

But it was OK. Two cities, two hotels, eight flights, and (finally) one concert later, it was all worthwhile.