Everyone has heard the band Heart at one point or another in their lives. Earlier this year they were one of the four legendary rock bands that were saluted by VH1’s Rock Honors. They have been idols of mine since I first heard Magic Man back in the 70’s and I got to see them perform LIVE on August 25, 2007 at the Monterey Fairgrounds… home of the legendary Monterey Pop Festival. I am STILL in awe.
I grew up in Salinas so Monterey is like my backyard. In all of my years there I had NEVER been to a show at the Monterey Fairgrounds so for me this was a BIG DEAL. So many legends were up on that stage for the Monterey Pop Festival. It was the first major American appearance for such legends as Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Who and Otis Redding (who died only a few months later)… not to mention appearances by Jefferson Airplane and The Grateful Dead as well. That in itself made this venue special and for Heart and Loverboy it was no exception.
Loverboy was the opening band which also thrilled me as I had never had the pleasure of seeing them live before and have always been a big fan of their music. They played one hit after another and it was awesome. Mike Reno’s vocals are incredible. After all these years his pipes are stronger than ever and the whole band had the crowd rockin. They opened the show with Notorious and played many hits like Only The Lucky Ones, Take Me To The Top, The Kid Is Hot Tonight, Hot Girls In Love, Everybody’s Workin For The Weekend, Turn Me Loose (crowd went NUTS for that one), etc. Their encore started with I’m Alive and then a killer bass solo took us into Lovin’ Every Minute Of It and before that was finished they went straight into The Beatles’ Come Together… GREAT performance. At one point Mike Reno looked over at his bass player and asked him how it fealt to be standing in the very spot where Jimi Hendrix had played… they were DIGGIN the history there!
Now it was time for HEART to perform and the place was PACKED! The venue only holds about 5000 people and it was VERY close to a sell out. When the house lights went down the crowd went CRAZY. I was one of them… it was going to be hard to shoot photos for me cuz my heart was racing with excitement too. They opened with Mistral Wind and kept the lighting to a minimal at first. It was almost haunting but beautiful as the faint lighting silhouetted the band. Next song was MAGIC MAN and the stage lights lit up... AWESOME!! I’ve got goose bumps NOW just thinking about it. Nancy Wilson has more energy up there than most of the guitarists I’ve seen perform live….she was all over the place and what a KILLER stage presence. Ann Wilson has got THE GREATEST voice in rock n roll... period! This woman has not missed a beat or a note during the 30 plus years she’s been singing. Talk about a powerhouse – WOW! I truly believe that her voice has gotten stronger over time. I mean, Pat Benetar is also one of my idols 
and I’ve seen her perform within the last 5 years but over time her voice has gotten a lot lower and has become weak. She (Benetar) has to sing an octave or two lower than her originals and has a back up vocalist to assist her with the high notes (no offense to Pat… I still love her). Not Ann… she still hits EVERY NOTE with power and conviction like I’ve never heard anyone sing before and had to change NOTHING! Every song was DEAD ON and sounded exactly like they did when we first heard the recordings years ago. Much like a fine wine… both of these women have gotten BETTER with age!!
The Wilson sisters, along with their incredible band, entertained us with so many of their hits… Little Queen, Straight On, Love Alive, White Lightning and Wine, These Dreams (with Nancy on the mandolin… sweet), Alone (with Ann’s voice commanding authority), Barracuda, Crazy On You, etc. They also did several cover songs which were great... You Wreck Me (Tom Petty), Love Reign O'er Me (The Who), a beautiful version of Zeppelin’s The Immigrant Song (which is on Ann’s new solo CD Hope and Glory) as well as a blistering rendition of another Zeppelin tune… Black Dog… WOW! I didn’t realize that when Heart was first formed they were actually a Led Zeppelin cover band. Ann Wilson can sing some Zeppelin better than Robert Plant himself! They finished the show with Dreamboat Annie and that made me sad cuz I know it was over.
I gotta say that these ladies just blew me away. Nancy had a guitar collection that you would not believe. I can’t even count how many different guitars that she came out onstage with and her body language while playing SCREAMS passion and energy… not to mention the fact that she is still as beautiful as ever. Ann… what else can I say… she is the QUEEN of ROCK!! She’s gorgeous, funny, passionate and can sing like no other. Her brand new solo CD Hope and Glory was released last month and it is great. It is a covers album but she has collaborated with not only her sister but Sir Elton John, Gretchen Wilson (who sang a KICK ASS rendition of Barracuda at the VH1 Rock Honors show), Wynona and so many others.
Big thanks again to David Drew Productions for bring HEART to Monterey. The show was PHENOMINAL in every way and I can’t wait to see what this production company has in store for next year’s concert season.
