HEART’S ON FIRE
‘We just want to bring you a good time.’ Promise delivered
Rock’s Wilson sisters still sizzle on stage
After 40 years, Heart continues to thrive. Rock’s legendary sister act was in peak form during a sold-out concert at the National Arts Centre’s Southam Hall on Sunday, one of the final shows in a string of Canadian dates.
In a tight show bristling with rock ’n’ roll energy, singer Ann Wilson, 62, and guitarist Nancy Wilson, 59, were backed by a terrific four-piece band. They didn’t waste a second, kicking things off with a sizzling version of one of their biggest hits, Barracuda, a song they often used to end the show.
As an opening track, it was a perfect attention-getter, paving the way for a concert that focused on the classic material, but also mixed it up with a handful of new songs from last year’s album, Fanatic, the band’s 14th. After Barracuda, the band slipped in the Fanatic title track, neatly managing to keep up the crunch, while Heartless knocked it out of the park, thanks in large part to Ann’s incredible voice.
Nancy adopted her usual rockgoddess persona on guitar, cranking it out with all the swagger of a veteran touring musician. She took a turn on acoustic guitar for the intro to Crazy on You. Individually, each of the sisters demonstrated considerable natural talent, and by joining forces on that impressive repertoire of hits, they were unbeatable.
At one point, Ann remarked on the crowd of “wonderful, excited faces ready for whatever we want to bring.” Her offering? “We just want to bring you a good time, that’s all.”
With great songs like What About Love, Magic Man, Dog and Butterfly and some Led Zeppelin and The Who near the end, a good time was guaranteed. Enhancing the experience was the creative lighting design and fantastic sound, two elements of a rock concert that are always appreciated in the luxurious digs of Southam Hall.
Illuminated by spotlights, Simon Townshend opened the show with a tasteful selection of his own songs, performed solo on acoustic guitar.
With a fluid singing voice that sounds quite a bit like his rockstar older brother, Pete, the built-in problem with Simon’s performance was that you kept expecting him to bust out a song from The Who catalogue.
But no. His mission was to play his own songs, mostly from a newish album that, as he kept reminding us, was available in the lobby. The strong, supple voice wrapped itself around emotion-filled lyrics, and was bolstered by a deft hand, especially on the 12-string guitar.
While it would have been nice to hear a familiar song or some banter that wasn’t a sales pitch, Townshend threw himself into his show, and by the end of his set won over a good chunk of the audience with the passion of his performance.
A highlight was a new song called Denial, from an upcoming album, that indicated that even more of his soul will be bared.