Venue – Riverport Amphitheatre, St. Louis
Reviewed by: Jerry
I was pretty excited for this show. This was Heart's first stop on their "Love Alive" tour that had them back together after their brief 2-year split. I hadn't ever seen Heart and had seen Sheryl Crow once. I expected both to be excellent set but I got one set that was expected and the other that was not. Here goes...
Sheryl Crow opened up for Heart. I'll be honest that I only know a small handful of songs by her but do like her voice and musical style. I saw her about 15 years ago and was pretty inebriated during that show so I don't recall much except for the fact that she put on a really good performance and really communicated well with the crowd. And, that's exactly what she did during this show. She put on a great set and the crowd loved her. I did as well. She's from Missouri and I expected her to really play that angle to amp up the crowd but to her credit she didn't do so and really didn't need to. Her only reference to her "home" was the injection of Mississippi Nights into one of her songs. If you are a fan of hers or like me and just like a great show, she's one to go see for sure.
Over the years, I've heard Heart puts on a fantastic show. I wouldn't say I'm a superfan but do like a lot of their music, especially their older stuff and songs that aren't burned out on the radio (see Barracuda). When they started their set, my excitement only rose. The first four songs included 'Magic Man' and one of my favorites, 'Dog & Butterfly'. At this point I thought for sure it would be the excellent show I was expecting. But then it got a bit odd. Song five was 'Heard It Through The Grapevine' and was the first of five, yes, five cover tunes the band played over the next eleven songs of the set. They did a great job on them though it was a bit odd that during Comfortably Numb, Ann & Nancy didn't participate at all (Nancy might have and I just might have missed her). They added in 'Crazy On You' and 'Straight On' in there along with a few other lesser known (and perhaps unknown) songs but with so few well known Heart songs during that 11-song stretch, the band nearly lost the crowd. I am all for a band digging deep in their catalog for a setlist and throwing a cover tune in. I certainly anticipated Heart to pull out some deep tracks. However, it's my assumption that Ann and Nancy wanted to give us a taste of what they've been doing the last couple of years while they were split up. The covers were certainly unnecessary and I'm certain there were many more of their own songs that they could have played. They ended the show with 'Alone' which was certainly an unexpected closer.
Despite the odd setlist, I will say this - Ann and Nancy sounded simply fantastic. There was no strain or 'wear' in either of their voices and the band was spot on all night. Musically, they were exactly what I was hoping for. I would have just like a little less covers.
Reviewed by: Jerry
I was pretty excited for this show. This was Heart's first stop on their "Love Alive" tour that had them back together after their brief 2-year split. I hadn't ever seen Heart and had seen Sheryl Crow once. I expected both to be excellent set but I got one set that was expected and the other that was not. Here goes...
Sheryl Crow opened up for Heart. I'll be honest that I only know a small handful of songs by her but do like her voice and musical style. I saw her about 15 years ago and was pretty inebriated during that show so I don't recall much except for the fact that she put on a really good performance and really communicated well with the crowd. And, that's exactly what she did during this show. She put on a great set and the crowd loved her. I did as well. She's from Missouri and I expected her to really play that angle to amp up the crowd but to her credit she didn't do so and really didn't need to. Her only reference to her "home" was the injection of Mississippi Nights into one of her songs. If you are a fan of hers or like me and just like a great show, she's one to go see for sure.
Over the years, I've heard Heart puts on a fantastic show. I wouldn't say I'm a superfan but do like a lot of their music, especially their older stuff and songs that aren't burned out on the radio (see Barracuda). When they started their set, my excitement only rose. The first four songs included 'Magic Man' and one of my favorites, 'Dog & Butterfly'. At this point I thought for sure it would be the excellent show I was expecting. But then it got a bit odd. Song five was 'Heard It Through The Grapevine' and was the first of five, yes, five cover tunes the band played over the next eleven songs of the set. They did a great job on them though it was a bit odd that during Comfortably Numb, Ann & Nancy didn't participate at all (Nancy might have and I just might have missed her). They added in 'Crazy On You' and 'Straight On' in there along with a few other lesser known (and perhaps unknown) songs but with so few well known Heart songs during that 11-song stretch, the band nearly lost the crowd. I am all for a band digging deep in their catalog for a setlist and throwing a cover tune in. I certainly anticipated Heart to pull out some deep tracks. However, it's my assumption that Ann and Nancy wanted to give us a taste of what they've been doing the last couple of years while they were split up. The covers were certainly unnecessary and I'm certain there were many more of their own songs that they could have played. They ended the show with 'Alone' which was certainly an unexpected closer.
Despite the odd setlist, I will say this - Ann and Nancy sounded simply fantastic. There was no strain or 'wear' in either of their voices and the band was spot on all night. Musically, they were exactly what I was hoping for. I would have just like a little less covers.