Heart House of Blues March 11, 2012

Sunday night Heart played to one electrified and enthusiastic crowd at House of Blues. There were people of varying ages there: A few teenagers (okay, one I saw), some in their twenties, and quite a big chunk ranging from middle-aged to older adults.

After all, this is their generation's music. The people in their twenties were introduced to the music of the Wilson sisters through the likes of some of the Guitar Hero games, the soundtrack to Charlie's Angels, and raiding their parents' record collection (guilty!).

The Wilson sisters looked sharp as they walked onto the stage and broke into the show's opener, 1980 classic "Even It Up." After that, they kept up with their high-octane hit parade of such songs like "Magic Man" and "Kick It Out."

But this was nothing when compared to their performance of "Mistral Wind." "Mistral Wind," which started off really slow with a beautiful guitar solo by Nancy. However, in a Zepplin-inspired fashion, it goes hard fast and starts rockin'.

One of the more surprising moments was the fact that, for "These Dreams," they took the best elements of the actual recording and added Nancy on mandolin and Ann on flute. There was even a nice fadeout at the end. It worked beautifully.

In fact, several times Ann showed that she is a rather multitalented instrumentalist just like her sister in addition to her role as the lead singer. During "Dog and Butterfly," she busted out her flute and started playing. She did this during the encore as well, when she started playing guitar on Wilsons side project the Lovemongers' "Sand."

The best moment was when they performed "Straight On." Ann showed that, even at the nice age of 61, she can still sound as good as she did in the '70's, if not better. A highlight was when the song's somewhat extended outro, which kinda sounded like a jam session.

Now tell me, what Heart show would not be complete without the closing number, the enduring classic "Barracuda"? The answer is none: It's their swan song, and never gets old.

Truthfully, Ann and guitarist Nancy Wilson looked like they were having too much fun onstage. Not to mention they were sharply dressed - with Ann sporting a huge peace sign on the back of her shirt. Nancy looked as pretty as ever.

Several times, the crowd either sang along or erupted into fever-pitch cheers. Heart is just proof that you are never too old to rock and roll.

Something Ann Said: "That song was written on '70's brain." Do we need to ask questions about what "'70's brain" is?

Personal Bias: Why Heart was nominated but didn't get into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year completely befuddles me.

SET LIST

"Even It Up" "Magic Man" "Kick It Out" "Straight On" "Dog and Butterfly" "Never" "Mistral Wind" "Mashallah" (a new song from their upcoming album) "These Dreams" "Alone" "Crazy On You" "Barracuda"

ENCORE

"Sand" "Misty Mountain Hop" (Led Zepplin cover)