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Niagara Falls, Ont. -Heart played two sold out shows on June 28th and 29th at the Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls. I was able to secure a photo pass and do a review of the second show on June 29th. It’s a great place to see a show. The downside was how ridiculous the security was at the show. Fans were really not permitted to stand and not move up until the last song before the encores. Fortunately, their singer Ann Wilson did manage to help fans “buck the system” and make suggestions like “If you don’t get up and dance to this song you will never forgive yourself” before the Tom Petty cover “You Wreck Me.” Other times, Ann made references for the fans to get up which they did, unlike the night before. Remember, the more the fans get into it the more the band gets into it and Heart is no different.
The first song of the evening “Mistral Wind” had Ann and Nancy Wilson performing without band for the first half of the song. This song is more like a closer, but it was very interesting to see them open up with it and I have to say, it worked well! The harmonies alone with these two are like fine wine, they keep getting better and better! Heart has some pretty amazing musicians in the band. Ben Smith (drummer), Craig Bartock (guitarist), and Debbie Shair (keyboardist) have been with the band for a while now while Ric Markmann (bass) took over for Mike Inez who went back to Alice in Chains in the spring of 2006. The Wilson sisters let the entire band share in the spotlight as during the solos to “Magic Man.”
The highlight of the evening was Ann’s vocal performance especially during the song “Alone.” You can’t help but get chills when she hits that high part during the song. Standing behind the sound guy he even turned to us saying “even though I see that every night, the hair still stands on my arms when I hear that!” It was the same way during a cover of The Who’s “Love Reign.” I have seen a lot of shows and I really have to say that may have been one of the best vocal performances I have ever seen anyone do. She was that good! Nancy’s acoustic guitar playing also is as good as it gets especially during “Crazy on You.”Another highlight for us here at GlamMetal.com was after the songs “These Dreams,” and “Alone,” the rest of the band came out to join Ann and Nancy with Ben sporting the GlamMetal shirt I gave him right before the show. Unfortunately do to security, I was unable to get a photo of him playing with it but made sure I grabbed him for a photo right after the show.
In fact, MANY THANKS to Ben as he made a lifelong dream come true after the show as I got to meet both Ann and Nancy Wilson. They were both very nice talking to me and my friend Sally alone in the hallway for about 5- 10 minutes after the show. It was a great night indeed! Go see them on tour as you will not be disappointed!!
To any who might not be aware, Heart has been touring steady since 2002. They released a new studio CD called “Jupiter’s Darling” in 2004 and plan on releasing another studio CD possibly in 2008. Ann Wilson will be releasing a new studio CD called “Hope and Glory” on September 11, 2007. We hope to do a review of the new CD here on GlamMetal.com so stay tuned for that.
Want to give a shout out to our assistant editor Wayne “Doobie” Dubay who is out on the road managing Britney Fox who got in touch with Ben to make sure GlamMetal.com was well taking care of. Ben was able to secure a photo pass for us (unfortunately had to shoot from the back of the house).
For more info on Heart and to get current tour info, go to: www.heart-music.com . Buy Heart merchandise here
A helpful hint when getting tickets for a casino:
Most casino shows are geared toward the “high roller” as most of the tickets are given out to them. Over 70% of this casino’s show tickets are given out to the high rollers, making it more difficult for fans to get tickets. I was lucky to secure my tickets the second they went on sale through Ticketmaster and suggest to do the same when it deals with this facility or any other casino.
Set List:
Mistral Wind
Little Queen
Straight On
Love Alive
Bebe Le Strange
You Wreck Me
Dog & Butterfly
These dreams
Alone
Love Reign
Barracuda
Crazy on you
Encore 1:
Black Dog
Misty Mountain Hop
Encore 2:
Dreamboat Annie |
