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Ladies ruled, with JOAN JETT and Heart rocking Burgettstown
from: timesonline.com
By Scott Tady | Photo by Keith Lorich/For The Times
BURGETTSTOWN â€" JOAN JETT was flawless.
Heart hit a few uneven patches outnumbered by triumphant ones, with the power ballads sounding better than ever.
And Cheap Trick curiously crafted its setlist to load up all the hits in the end, which at least meant a strong finish.
Here's more of an overview from Thursday night's "Rock Hall 3 For All" show at First Niagara Pavilion:
The headliners, Heart, expertly mixed the old with the new. The classic rock band played its banging new song about hot messes, "Beautiful Broken," and an interesting new one, "Two," written by Ne-Yo (seriously) about a mismatched couple persevering. Heart's Nancy Wilson did a nice job on the lead vocals of "Two" and the preceding ballad, "These Dreams," one of those dentist's office tunes that took on extra emotional heft Thursday. It's aged well.
As always, sister Ann Wilson handled most of the lead vocals, and she soared magnificently on another big power ballad "Alone." Her full voice also shined on "What About Love."
The harder-rocking songs were more the issue, with tune No. 2, the mighty "Magic Man," lacking guitar firepower. Guitarist Craig Bartok and Nancy Wilson made up for it on the blistering "Bebe Le Strange."
"Barricuda" brought that great churning riff, though the time structure seemed off-kilter in the middle.
"Straight On" offered creative textures and a satisfying stomp. Ann set up that song by encouraging spectators to let out a few liberating screams, noting if they try that at home, their kids will chastise them for being un-cool. Fans screamed, though not as loudly as you might expect. People in the second section of the pavilion stayed seated most of the time.
Nancy nimbly picked an acoustic guitar for an extended intro to "Crazy on You," easily one of the night's best-sounding songs, rendered faithfully to the classic rock radio staple.
You always can count on a few cool Led Zeppelin covers from Heart, with the encore represented by "The Immigrant Song" and the mighty "Stairway to Heaven."
Overall an entertaining set, though not as action-packed as Jett and her band, The BLACKHEARTS, who started marvelously with "Bad Reputation" (the "Freaks & Geeks" theme!) and "Cherry Bomb" from her days with legendary female rock band the RUNAWAYS.
Looking fit and fabulous at 57, Jett strummed electric guitar as her band ripped through a hearty and hooky set of perfectly paced garage-rock.
A few songs from her 2013 album -- the rather timely "TMI" and the Dave Grohl co-written "Any Weather" -- added something extra to a set that also included her first RUNAWAYS song, "You Drive Me Wild."
Jett winsomely dusted off "Light of Day," from the same-named 1987 movie in which she starred with Michael J. Fox. Bruce Springsteen wrote that song, so that was pretty cool, Jett said.
Jett's street-toughened speaking voice only said nice and encouraging things Thursday. She even pulled off "How yinz doing?" twice, with a bit of an "o" sound after the "y" as those who don't regularly say it often do. The gesture nevertheless was appreciated.
Jett and fellow guitarist DOUGIE NEEDLES kept the riffs tight and muscular for "I Hate Myself for Loving You" and the gloriously simple "I Love Rock 'n' Roll," which prompted dancing and audience singing even from those who don't remember when a jukebox cost a dime. Jett's psychedelically tinged "Crimson & Clover" cover and Sly & The Family Stone's "Everyday People" ended the set well.
Jett needs to play Pittsburgh more often.
Influential power-pop band Cheap Trick started the show with guitars cranked loudly. Rick Nielsen wielded a variety of colorful axes, including a double-necked one where the body was a cartoon cutout of himself, and a quadruple-necked one, just because.
With reliable Robin Zander on lead vocals, the Rockford, Ill., band waited until its ninth song, prototype power ballad "The Flame," to whip out the hits people were eager to hear. The party got good as fans sang along with "I Want You To Want Me" followed by the oft-covered, never duplicated "Dream Police" and "Surrender."
For no worthwhile reason, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto was called on stage to chip in on the "Surrender" vocals. Let's just say he'd better not quit his day job. |
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