TORONTO -- After years of waiting for her to return, Toronto finally got its much-needed fix of Stevie Nicks.

The Phoenix-based chanteuse brought her Trouble In Shangri-La tour to the Molson Ampitheatre last night for her first Canadian appearance since October, 1990 when Fleetwood Mac's Behind the Mask tour rocked SkyDome.

Nicks, 54, resplendent in her traditional black gown, emphasized how important a stop in Toronto was to her.

"I cannot not come back to Toronto," she told the crowd. "I'm so pleased to be here and thanks for coming."

Opening the show with the 1981 hit "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" (guitarist Waddy Wachtel substituted for Tom Petty on vocals), Nicks and her band captured the audience's attention and didn't let go.

Following up with some of her classic songs, Nicks proved to the crowd she was not feeling any ill effects from a recent respiratory infection which caused her to cancel or reschedule several shows.

The concert was also an opportunity for Nicks fans to hear live performances of several songs from her latest album, Trouble In Shangri-La. While crowd reaction was generally positive for many of the songs, the Fleetwood Mac and solo classics drew the greatest applause.

Keyboardist Scott Plunkett lead the band into a rousing rendition of Rhiannon, the Nicks-penned Fleetwood Mac hit which has long been a staple of her live performances. While she didn't give the same vocal effort towards the climax of the song as she had in years before, it was one of the highlights of the show.

Nicks then explained the story behind Planets of the Universe, a song from her new album which had been written for former beau Lindsey Buckingham following the recording of the Fleetwood Mac mega-hit Rumours. She called it "one of the most difficult songs I've ever written" and always pushed for the song to be included in Fleetwood Mac releases, she felt it needed to be re-tooled before wide release.

Closing the set was Edge of Seventeen, whose guitar riff is sampled in the current Destiny's Child hit Bootylicious. Percussionist Lenny Castro and drummer Mark Schulman improvised until Wachtel appeared to begin playing the riff, driving the crowd into a frenzy. The crowd rose as the song closed out with band members performing solos as Nicks greeted her fans in the front row.

Nicks returned to perform two encores, the Tom Petty-penned I Need to Know and her usual closer Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You. An eerie silence fell after Nicks, in a top hat with an elaborate feather sticking out of it, came out to perform the latter to the appreciative audience.

NICKS NOTES: Nicks made several costume changes during the show... Although she appeared on several dates earlier in the tour, Sheryl Crow was absent from the show... The elaborate stage setup provided an mystical backdrop to the evening, looking as if the Hanging Gardens of Babylon had appeared in Shangri-La... Opening act Jeffery Gaines, who filled in for the previously scheduled Bob Schneider, impressed the crowd with his acoustic set. (More on Stevie Nicks)

Set List

Stop Draggin' My Heart Around

Enchanted

Dreams

Gold Dust Woman

Every Day

Sorcerer

Rhiannon

Stand Back

Planets of the Universe

Too Far From Texas

Fall From Grace

Edge of Seventeen

Encore

I Need to Know

Has Anyone Ever Written