Heart - Alive In Seattle
Performance
Production
|
Heart - Alive In Seattle
Performance
|
|
I have mixed feelings about this new DVD concert from the sisters Wilson. This really could have been called "Ann and Nancy Wilson Alive in Seattle", as they are the only original members of Heart left. Most of us can get past this as they basically were Heart, but it would have been nice to at least have original guitarist/songwriter Howard Leese up there with them. He was with them on their The Road Home DVD, but looked bored and not really into the whole thing - which would explain why he didn't join them here. I went from hating this DVD to loving it several times during my viewing, and finally compromised on just liking it. For all of the good things about it, I can point to just as many bad things. The concert started off well enough with Nancy Wilson ripping into her acoustic guitar intro to their rock radio staple "Crazy On You". The excitement was slowly sapped from me when I couldn't get over how terrible their stage show was. They had this bright, glitzy curtain backdrop that only managed to emphasized how weak their light show was. The entire stage, and even the audience much of the time, was almost constantly lit up - like they left half of the arena lights on. What little light show they did have going on was drowned out by this constant stage lighting. It had more of a "Kennedy Center Honors" feel, than a rock concert. Kind of like when a rock band performs on the Tonight Show. Maybe they felt they needed the extra, constant lighting because they were filming, but this really takes away from the rock concert vibe. Just didn't feel like I was watching a rock concert. It was more like a performance on an awards show. The song selection was decent. They dusted off most of their 70's hits and only had a couple of notable exclusions, "Even it Up" and "Bebe le Strange", which I would have liked to see. Heart has almost always played at least one or two Led Zeppelin songs at each of their concerts, and they continued the tradition here. I remember back in high school, circa 1983, when my friend, a Zeppelin fanatic, came back from his first Heart concert giddily reporting how they had blown his mind by playing "The Rover". They played "Rock and Roll", if I remember correctly, when I saw them the following year. Heart is still the best damn Zeppelin cover band there is. For this show, they did an excellent version of "The Battle Of Evermore", featuring Nancy on the mandolin. Ann sang this song beautifully, and Nancy's harmony vocals were flawless. They played another Zeppelin song, "Black Dog", which they appropriately saved for their encore. They gave a powerful performance of this mighty Zeppelin classic, that sounded even better than any version Page and Plant has done recently. Why can't those jerks just take John Paul out there with them, call themselves ZEP again, and make a billion dollars? Call me friggin' selfish, but I was too young to see them the first time around. All of the songs were performed well, but I felt kind of bored during many of the performances. Ann still sings better than ever. I had forgotten about how great of a vocalist she is. She can still hit all of the high notes with ease, and is able to belt out the power rock tunes, such as "Barracuda", as well as sing the subtle, gentle harmonies of "Dog and Butterfly" with equal brilliance. Nancy struts around the stage, six string in hand, looking enthusiastic, and the rest of the band does a fine job, but there was just something missing. The atmosphere created by the stage production put a damper on some of the otherwise excellent song performances. The show didn't really kick into gear until around the sixth song "Minstrel Wind". This was a beautiful acoustic song that they rocked out on at the end. They did a gentle acoustic version of their number one hit "Alone", that I liked much better than the original, soulless, 80's version. The biggest surprise of the night, for me, was their outstanding version of Elton John's "Mona Lisa And Mad Hatters". Ann and Nancy strumming acoustics and harmonizing together gave this great song new life. Four basically forgettable new songs were unraveled, which tend to show that their best songwriting days are behind them. "Heaven" was kinda cool though, since it featured Ann playing the autoharp and Nancy stroking her acoustic guitar with a violin bow - how Zeppelinesque! "Love Alive" was the best song of the night. I just love that contrast between soft and heavy. Ann plays a pretty mean flute intro as well. The audio and video quality on this DVD are both excellent. So far this is the second DVD concert that I have come across that, for whatever reason, has 5.0 surround, vice 5.1. This DVD has both DTS and Dolby 5.0 surround, which sound great, but are definitely missing the extra "oomph" you get from the subwoofer channel. This was worth subtracting a star from my rating. The video was sharp, clear, and vibrant - nearly perfect. The camera work was very nice overall - my only complaint would be all of those shots from behind of Ann shaking that huge ass of hers in those tight jeans she was wearing. That was pretty disturbing, but DAMN she sure can sing! Reviewed by Paul M. Roy - July 2004 |
|
Technical Details |
|
|
Audio Transfer |
Video Transfer |
|
Set List |
Performers |
|
Running Time: 103 Minutes |
DVD Release Date - April 2003 |