Ah, Heart. I remember some monster crushes of the early eighties after I saw them supporting Queen on a UK tour. Then I forgot all about them until the shiny, late eighties when Heart reappeared, as if by magic. I didn't really get the spangly years, but they shifted shedloads of records before grunge killed them off like so many others.
But the 21st century saw them raise their heads above the parapets, and a successful tour and live DVD brought them back in the public eye. Time then for a new studio album, their first in over ten years. And it was while promoting the 2004 album, Jupiter's Darling that Heart popped into the Soundstage studio for a show.
For those who don't know, the PBS series Soundstage predated music television as we know it in its original run from 1974-1985. Then in 2003, the series returned in brand, spanking new high definition format. Heart played the show in 2005, so it's taken awhile to make an appearance, and leaning heavily on the then new album, it now seems fairly dated.
The band start things off in peculiar fashion with a non-Heart song, "Sand" from Whirlygig by their side project, the Lovemongers before getting into stride with "Kick It Out" from Little Queen and "Straight On" from Dog & Butterfly. Shame then that "These Dreams" aside, they then go into a run of Jupiter's Darling tracks along with a brace of Led Zeppelin and an Elton John covers. Half the Jupiter's Darling album gets an airing, so a lot of classic fans may find the DVD unfamiliar at best, tough going at worst.
Then they reach the high point of the DVD for me, the triumvirate of "Magic Man", "Crazy On You" and "Bebe Le Strange", a section of the DVD that will get a great deal of repeated playing. But there's still another four Jupiter's Darling tracks to get through before the end of the 2 hour concert, so what it really made me do was reach for the Dreamboat Annie Live DVD which came out last year.
When this was originally aired, it went out in two parts, which may be the way to watch it, as 23 songs back to back is a lot to take in. This wasn't the running order of the actual show, so it also seems a bit disjointed in places. However, Heart DVDs are thin on the ground, so I'm not going to grumble too much. Ann still has a superb voice and the rest of the band - sister Nancy, drummer Ben Smith, guitarist Craig Bartock, Debbie Shair on keyboards and Alice In Chains man Mike Inez - all perform admirably.
Technically, it's well done, with the usual high quality Soundstage production and although there isn't much in the way of extras, just a brief sub ten minute interview with the sisters, with the lengthy running time, Heart fans certainly won't feel short changed.
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