Live (DVD)

release date: 6 Oct 2008 // label: Sound Stage
reviewer: Andy Snipper



Back aways Led Zeppelin and Bad Company were the epitome of the rock band and Joni Mitchell and Melanie typified female musicians – a softer breed without the sheer exuberance of their male counterparts; and then there was Heart. Fronted by Ann & Mary Wilson, they kicked ass and wrote raunchy songs and both shocked and excited millions. It really isn’t a stretch to say that performers like Anna Popovic and Erja Lyttynen might have struggled even harder to be heard if it wasn’t for the guitar playing of Nancy Wilson (the blonde one) and the powerful vocal style of Ann Wilson (the dark one). The band disappeared for a while but rediscovered their roots and the hard edge that made them successful in the early 'aughties and this DVD captures them on the Sound Stage series.
The band they now have around them includes Ric Markmann on bass and Debbie Shair on keyboards but the main focus is on the Wilson sisters and they are on top form throughout the 23 songs on this disc.
From a surprisingly low key opener in 'Sand’ they move on to a rocking 'Kick It Out’ and you can see that the sisters are enjoying being back together and doing what they are best at.
The combination of their own material and some classics from Zeppelin and Elton John – 'Love Song’ as well as the variety of Heart songs keeps the performance moving with real variety and changes in tempo and intensity and they aren’t afraid to play numbers like 'The Battle Of Evermore’ as a two hander with Nancy playing a superb mandolin against Ann’s guitar.
The full band numbers like 'Magic Man’ and 'Bebe Le Strange’ rock out like the Heart of old and it is only on the late-eighties material that the music becomes a little bland.
The gig finishes up on 'Barracuda’, 'Black Dog’ & 'Misty Mountain Way’ and amply shows why they were compared with Zeppelin back in the day – asses are firmly kicked and axes spanked – great fun.

As usual on the Sound Stage shows the images use the HD to the full and the 5:1 sound is superb – the Americans have learnt well from the BBC!