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Stevie Nicks and Chrissie Hynde roll back the years at Perth Arena

Sophie MooreEastern Reporter

STEVIE Nicks told a packed crowd at Perth Arena she was “the crazy aunt they had to put up with,” as she kicked off the Australian leg of her solo tour.

The 69-year-old Fleetwood Mac frontwoman toured Australia with the band just two years ago, with this solo tour coming off the back of her 2014 album 24 Karat Gold.

Subtitled ‘Songs from the Vault’, the album contains songs re-worked from old demos written by the US star 45 years ago.

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“I put them in what I call my gothic trunk of lost songs,” she said.

One track, New Orleans, is a celtic sounding dirge Nicks said was written in 2005 following Hurricane Katrina.

“I haven’t been able to play it until now,” she said.

The crowd fell silent when Nicks sang her 1981 single ‘Stop Draggin’ My Heart’ around, written by her long-time friend and collaborator Tom Petty.

It was the first time Nicks had performed on stage since Petty’s death on October 2.

“I didn’t know how I would do this tonight,” she said.

She was later joined on stage by fellow rock queen Chrissie Hynde, whose band The Pretenders is supporting the tour.

“That’s the first time we ever got it right,” Hynde said when the song finished.

“First time in 56 shows,” said Nicks.

Hynde recently made headlines when she stormed off stage following an expletive ridden rant in Dubai after concertgoers refused to put away their mobile phones.

But the feisty 66-year-old was calm, only telling one concert goer in the front row to stop filming at the start of the set.

Nicks also paid homage to Prince, whose song ‘Little Red Corvette’ was the inspiration for her hit ‘Stand Back’.

The crowd began cheering wildly after Nicks rolled out Fleetwood Mac favourite ‘Landslide’.

And despite singing for almost two hours, she belted out ‘Rhiannon’ like it was 1975.

Nicks thanked fans for their support.

“You got me through this so I feel I can go on and finish (the tour).”

“So I thank you, Tom Petty thanks you,” she said.

Stevie Nicks and the Pretenders will next play Botanic Park Adelaide on November 4.

– AAP