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Review: Heart shows all that glitters is gold at end of Rock Hall Three For All
from: heraldextra.comBR
By Doug Fox, Daily Herald
The Rock Hall Three For All tour provided more than three hours of great live music Monday night at USANA Amphitheatre, but if all you happened to see was the final 10 minutes, you would have still gotten your money's worth.
That was when headliners Heart put an indelible cap on the evening with a transcendent rendition of Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven." For those of you who have already seen the band's performance of the song at the 2012 Kennedy Center Honors -- which might be most of you as the clip went viral at the time -- you have a pretty good idea of what fans experienced Monday. Still, it's one thing to watch something on YouTube, but it is quite another to experience the power and majesty of it in a live setting.
To put a spin on a famous "Wayne's World" gag, there was no denying of "Stairway" on this evening.
There was a whole lot of music played before then, though, beginning with hour-long sets by Cheap Trick and JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS. The tour -- which is two-thirds of the way through its 30-plus dates -- features a trio of bands that have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Fame during the past three years. The three sets were all pretty straightforward, without much in the way of frills or effects, except for a multi-paneled video board in the back which played a mix of graphics and, at times, some archival footage. No live coverage was broadcast.
Cheap Trick started the proceedings, albeit by getting off to a bit of a slow start. Following traditional show-opener "Hello There," Cheap Trick, as it is wont to do, eschewed some of its more popular material early on, opting instead for a series of album tracks. That is a cool approach to take in theory, however, it's probably more effective overall when you're headlining and playing mostly to your own fans.
"Here's a song we've never done anywhere, and after we're done, we may never play it again," said guitarist Rick Nielsen five songs into the set while introducing "Yeah Yeah." So obscure was the song that even Nielsen struggled to remember what album it came from. "It's three and a half minutes, just clap, anyhow."
Half the fun of a Cheap Trick set is the band's humor -- whether intentional or otherwise. Lead singer Robin Zander wore what I can only describe as some sort of offbeat cruise captain outfit, complete with cap, for much of the show. Nielsen is himself a bundle of energy onstage, and when he is not tossing off one liners in his onstage role as band spokesman -- our favorite was when he glared into the setting sun and said, "Usually we like it a bit more sunny, but this will have to do" -- then he is most likely tossing out guitar picks (probably close to a hundred) to the audience during the course of the show. Nielsen also entertains with his large stable of quirky guitars, playing a completely different one for each of the band's 14 songs, including a five-necked monstrosity at the very end.
Cheap Trick finally hit its stride midway through the set, oddly enough, during Tom Petersson's bass solo -- which led into an enthusiastic cover of Velvet Underground's "I'm Waiting For the Man." The crowd energy from that song carried through the rest of the show as the band finally launched into familiar territory, closing with "The Flame," "I Want You to Want Me," "Dream Police," "Surrender" and "Goodbye."
JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS hit the stage running -- yes, literally running onstage together. Jett then took a few moments to tune her guitar before opening up with "Bad Reputation."
Jett's straightforward rock approach was on full display throughout her set. It's sometimes amazing just how powerful songs can be when there is a crunching rhythm guitar playing throughout, in combination with a pounding rhythm section. Add in some tasty lead guitar and Jett's still powerful, sneering vocals and you have a very strong live band presence.
Jett, who was dressed all in leather, remains in fine form, and at this point in her career it feels like any mention of her should be accompanied with a trademarked #badass. It's undoubtedly a tag she would wear with honor. Her Hall of Fame inclusion as a female rock and roll pioneer speaks for itself, but that trailblazing effort notwithstanding, Jett probably could have earned induction on the strength and intensity of her mid-song cat growls by themselves. Seriously, does anyone do that as impressively as she does?
In addition to her BLACKHEARTS material, Jett also touched on her groundbreaking start in the RUNAWAYS by playing "Cherry Bomb" and "You Drive Me Wild," which she noted was the very first song she ever wrote.
Other Jett highlights included "Light of Day," "Fake Friends," "I Love Rock 'n' Roll," "Crimson and Clover" and a riotous rendition of "I Hate Myself For Loving You." I'd say that she and the BLACKHEARTS returned for an intended encore of "Everyday People," but they never really left the stage in the first place.
It is also worth noting that Jett could be seen rocking out and grooving in a side tent at stage left during a good portion of Cheap Trick's set. It's inspiring to see that level of enthusiasm and commitment to fellow performers, especially at this stage of a long tour. Kudos!
Heart hit the stage with "Wild Child," the energetic lead track from 1990's "Brigade" album. The searing opening guitar strains of "Magic Man" followed, and the song featured some great lead guitar work from Craig Bartock.
The focal points of any Heart show, of course, are the talents and stage presence of the Wilson sisters, Ann and Nancy. Ann is clearly one of the top female rock voices of all time, and she's apparently lost none of her prowess over a career spanning five different decades. She can still caress a melody with gloriously full emotion or belt out the most powerful choruses with authority. Nancy handles most of the band's rhythm guitars live, and also makes a tremendous impact with her backing vocals. Nancy also put her own lead vocal talents on display on back-to-back ballads Monday -- first on the hit "These Dreams" and then on the haunting new "Two."
The two consecutive slower tunes caused a sort of reverie to come over the crowd, with many people opting to take a momentary rest by sitting. Ann was having none of that.
"It's natural to want to sit during the beautiful stuff," she told the crowd, "but after a while, doesn't your derriere start sending you messages -- like it wants to get up and shake? Mine does."
Heart followed with "Kick It Out" and the new "Beautiful Broken," a pair of rockers that got the audience on its feet and shaking booty the rest of the night. Message received.
One of the true standout moments of the main set was the band's presentation of "Alone." Heart performed a stripped-down version of the No. 1 hit, accompanied only by Nancy's acoustic guitar and Chris Joyner's keyboards. This minimalist approach put most of the focus on Ann's first plaintive then soaring vocals in a way that was tremendously effective. Ann's wailing vocals in the middle of the song would have been the evening's emotional high point were it not for her later effort in "Stairway to Heaven."
The band followed "Alone" with another pair of big hits in "Crazy on You" and "Barracuda." Both songs showed off Nancy's guitar talents, the first on acoustic and the second on electric. "Barracuda" closed the main set.
Heart returned to the stage for a Led Zeppelin encore two-fer. The British hard rock titans have clearly inspired the Wilson sisters like no other band, as Heart has long included covers of a multitude of Led Zep songs in its shows over the years. None of those covers, however, have landed with the sheer level of awesome as the show-closing "Stairway to Heaven." It is one of those iconic songs that I would normally implore other groups on bended knee to stay away from performing. But I am enthusiastically waiving that decree in the case of Heart. Anytime the Wilson Sisters and Co. want to slay this song live is fine by me. They completely owned it. |
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