Great review on the Reno show =D
Live Review: Heart – Reno Events Center – Reno, NV
Call it nostalgia or just maybe a resurgence of late but Heart is back in a big way. The ladies Wilson have never chased trends and have somehow always seemed cool. Which is how music should be. When you have a sister team that features one of the best rock singers we’ve ever seen and a fiery locked guitar goddess who unleashes monster riffs from the school of James Page, success should be a given.
Taking the stage to the sounds of Queen the band took their places and joined in on the track before taking it over. As the real Queens (Ann and Nancy) finally appeared, they segued into a bellowing “Heartless”. Sticking to their more familiar numbers they got everyone on their feet for an unusually funky take on “Straight On”, a blistering “Barracuda” and a trip back into time with “Dog and Butterfly” that oozed just the right amount of pixie dust.
This time around they debuted three songs for their next release Red Velvet Car and while the title track seemed stock the other two tracks “WTF” and “In The Cool” will no doubt make their way onto set lists for years to come. “WTF” scraped grunge licks against Ann’s ethereal howl and showed that their time jamming with Alice in Chains was mutually beneficial. I wouldn’t be surprised if, in fact, the idea was born out of those performances with the fellow Seattle band and the Wilsons pulled it out recently in the wake of their reunion. At the other end of the spectrum was “In The Cool”, a mellower tale that had just enough twang that it recalled Nanci Griffith and will fit nicely in their Lilith Fair set later this year.
Still, the crowd wanted more hits and got them as Nancy took the lead for “These Dreams”, while Ann had a few thousand join in on “Never” and ended things with everyone dancing to “Magic Man”.
They encored with Led Zeppelin’s “What Is and What Should Never Be” and left us with “Crazy on You”. In a night full of highlights, it would be hard for anyone to eclipse their performance of “Even It Up”, which was teased by a bit of “Gimme Shelter” before hand. The Rolling Stones classic was seamlessly segued into the band’s own song, with the Wilsons giving the audience an old school mash up, punctuating their classic tune with the Stones lyric ” it’s just a shot away”. After all these years these songs have endured because of these two talented ladies who have a bond and trust that could only be attained through sisterly love.
