Now that I’m finally done talking about my trip to Portugal (see my last few blogs if you haven’t already), I am ready to get into my regularly scheduled summer programming. It has been a great one so far, with trips to the shore, a lot of running and hiking, barbecues and more. One of the highlights, however, was the Stevie Nicks and Billy Joel concert in June. I believe I mentioned this many a blog ago; however, I am a HUGE Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac fan, and I had the chance to see her live at Bonnaroo in 2022 — what I thought would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. As soon as the tour was announced for Stevie Nicks and Billy Joel, I knew I needed to go. We fought long and hard but were lucky enough to secure tickets for my mom, sister and me to go to the concert.

Once the show came around, we were beyond excited. I actually made my own shawl out of a thrifted dress I found and wore my favorite Stevie-inspired beaded black dress. We headed down to the stadium (the concert was at Lincoln Financial Field) and had some drinks and sandwiches while tailgating. While we were having fun dancing in the parking lot, we made sure to get to our seats right on time because Stevie Nicks was the opening act.

Funnily enough for me, being such a fan, the majority of the crowd was there for Billy Joel. However, her show was fantastic, and she played many of my favorites, even if I was one of the only people in my section singing and dancing. She even brought Billy Joel out to perform Tom Petty’s part of “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,” which got the crowd excited for his set later in the evening. She ended her performance with “Landslide,” and everyone sang along so beautifully.

Before the stage turned for Billy Joel, we ran to grab snacks and drinks and our Stevie Nicks t-shirts. I have worn mine at least a dozen times since. Billy Joel came out and immediately captured the audience with energy. While I came for Stevie, I stayed for Billy. He put on a great show, with us singing along to some classics. He played “Vienna,” one of my favorite songs, along with many others.

At the end of the evening, I was dwelling on how amazing live music is. As we made our way back to the car, I don’t think I saw a single disappointed face in the crowd. We had a fantastic night and so much fun spent with my mom, sister and some fantastic musicians.

— Aly Evans, administrative assistant