Some veteran bands remain products of their time, while other groups try to update their sound to appeal to current tastes.
Then there's Heart, the Seattle-based outfit fronted by sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson. Despite the band being active since 1974, the DVD Heart Live - recorded in 2005 for WTTW Chicago's Soundstage TV program - demonstrates the group isn't content to crank out the golden oldies, and is still jazzed about playing live.
Image Entertainment Presents Heart Live, Recorded for WTTW's Soundstage
The Wilsons are the only original members left: Heart Live features current members Ben Smith on drums, Craig Bartock on lead guitar and Debbie Shair on keyboards. Bassist Mike Inez left Heart shortly after recording this DVD to rejoin Alice in Chains.
Despite being on the far side of 50, Ann and Nancy Wilson rock the house with this set. Ann Wilson's voice has added more grit over the years but she can still wail those high notes, earning approving whoops from the audience. While not her sister's equal in the vocal department, Nancy's a highly underrated rhythm guitarist; check her playing on "Sand" and "Crazy on You" for proof. She's also a freakin' dynamo onstage, her energy levels rivaling Mick Jagger but without his preening calculation.
Even after 31 years, she still loves rockin' out; my kinda performer.
Where a band like Foreigner pretends it's still 1980, Heart is smart enough to lose the dated gloss of their Mulroney-era singles. That means replacing the sequenced keyboards of 1985's "These Dreams" with mandolin, ably played by Nancy. But they're not pretending their kids either. It's merely stripped-down classic rock: Wilson and Bartock's guitars clanging against one another while Shair adds bits of flavour in the background. It's also great to see the group transform into an acoustic act for songs like Elton John's "Love Song" and "These Dreams"; not every group can cross that divide so gracefully.
My biggest criticism is that, for a band with such great songwriters, there are too many covers in Heart Live. Throwing in their acoustic cover of Led Zeppelin's "The Battle of Evermore" makes sense - it appeared on the soundtrack for 1992's Singles, directed by Nancy's then-husband Cameron Crowe - and Elton John's "Love Song" is a shoutout to one of the Wilsons' favourite records but playing LZ's "Black Dog" and "Misty Mountain Hop" at the end is excessive. Why not play some of the songs Nancy wrote for the fictional band Stillwater in the 2000 film Almost Famous?
Heart Live DVD Extras
"Did you hear that? They shut down the DVD Extras. We'll be destroyed for sure. This is madness."
Heart Live Proves a Great Band Still Has It
Whenever watching a DVD of a veteran group, the question always remains: can they still bring it? With Heart Live, the answer is a resounding yes. It's a tribute not only to the band's talent but the sheer joy of making music. It gets a 4.5/5.
Dominic von Riedemann - Dominic is the Animated Film Feature Writer, and winner of 11 Suite 101 Editors' Choice Awards.
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