My most anticipated internship assignment of the summer happened on Saturday night when I went to CONSOL Energy Center to photograph Rod Stewart and Stevie Nicks in concert.  I was especially excited to see Stevie because I consider her one of my musical heroes, and I had always wanted to watch her perform live.  Yet, I was also curious to see what Rod Stewart’s set was like, since I like a good number of his songs and had heard he was really funny and entertaining onstage.

The evening of the concert, I felt like a real rock photographer, standing in the special area with my camera and press pass.  Finally, the lights went down, and after a while, the band started playing.  Suddenly, the lights turned back on, and there was Stevie, center stage, singing Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll” with images of bands from the 60s and 70s flashing on the wall behind her.  As a huge classic rock fan, I thought this was a fantastic opening, which made me even more excited about the rest of the night. 

When I was finished taking pictures, I was allowed to watch the rest of the concert from a great vantage point near the stage.   Stevie’s voice sounded just like it did on her old records, and she even wore the original scarf from her 1983 “Stand Back” music video.  She was so remarkable, telling the story of a song she wrote after visiting wounded soldiers in the hospital and singing her biggest hits like “Edge of Seventeen” and “Rhiannon.”  Both her music and the crowd’s energy were amazing.

After Stevie’s fabulous set, I went back downstairs to take pictures of Rod Stewart.  His show included a flashy LED stage, a large band, and three female backup singers in pink, sequined dresses.  These singers were especially cool because they also played instruments.  One of them played the fiddle on “You Wear It Well,” and another played the saxophone on “Young Turks.”  As promised, Rod was really fun to watch dancing around with his backup singers, and his voice didn’t seem to have aged much at all.  His set really gave me a new appreciation for his music and his talent as a stage performer.

Seeing these two huge music legends in one night was something I never expected to do before this year, and it was even better than I could’ve imagined.  I’m so grateful that I had the chance to attend this concert, and I’m eager to see both Stevie Nicks and Rod Stewart perform again sometime soon.