Parasocially, Heart and I go back many years together. In freshman year of art school, I purchased the "Greatest Hits" CD from the Best Buy at the old Carousel Center in Syracuse, NY. Honestly, I may have been one of the few 21st century students at 'Cuse drinking in the music of Ann and Nancy Wilson. Heart's "Greatest Hits", Jewel's "Pieces of You", Fiona Apple's "Tidal", the White Album, Norah Jones' "Come Away With Me", and some Sweetwater albums were my most played CD's. Really, can you see why I didn't fit in with cisgender male classmates? Songs like "Kick it Up" and "Dog and Butterfly" were favorites for when I'd perform at open mic nights. It was actually freeing to perform these outside the constraints of karaoke contests because the song books would often limit me to the Doors or Guns 'n Roses. I had the "Heart: Alive in Seattle" DVD playing in my little Playstation 2 console. Wanting to be like Nancy Wilson, Vicki Peterson (of the Bangles), Maria Belo, and Iron Chef Cat Cora didn't not have me wondering about my gender identity in my early 20's. The release of the "Guitar Hero" game allowed me to step into Nancy Wilson's figurative boots for 4 minutes and 21 seconds of shredding to "Barracuda". That brings me to 2023 when I see Ann Wilson's name pop up on the Wilbur Theatre's schedule. With or without the rest of Heart, this would be a treat, and a nice show as I approached Labor Day weekend.
Per Wilbur Theatre rules, I wasn't able to take photos for this blog. For the future, I'm going to ask the venue reps if I can put my illustration skills to use and sketch editorial pieces. Wartime journalists from the Wilson presidential administration utilized this practice back when the theater was constructed. It's in fact something that I practiced at the Schine Student Center when Katrina Elam toured through Central New York. Despite the photography restrictions (and with some other performers, these are closely enforced), the Wilbur provides an extraordinary view. Sort of like Sanders Theater at Harvard's campus, the balcony section of the Wilbur is so steep that you're looking right down to the stage. This steepness didn't satisfy a woman who was sitting some 6 or 7 rows in front of me. She was wearing these massive wedge heels, and there are no railings in the aisles. As if she hadn't realized where she'd be sitting, this lady made at least three round trips sidestepping up and down the aisle griping "I feeling like a bafoon!" I was thinking "Girl, why didn't you wear flats if you were sitting in the balcony section?"
Mobility limitations were also sadly affecting the performance. It isn't like how Frampton needs to sit down when he plays, but it's a sad reality that a 73-year-old Ann Wilson was seated through half of the show. There were songs where she was compelled to sing while standing up, and a stage hand would scoot over to line up the stool so that Ann didn't have to check behind her when sitting back down. With a focal point mainly on Ann's solo work, she was accompanied by the band Tripsitter, with Ryan Wariner taking on Nancy's duties in iconic Heart pieces. There's a combination of Heart songs, covers, and songs from Ann's solo albums like "Black Wing" and "Rusty Robots". Like when seeing Rob Halford perform live, the most amazing part of an Ann Wilson concert is that her singing is still spectacular. Beyond spectacular even. Her's is one of the most powerful voices in classic rock. While she's no longer filling arenas like she once did, you can hear in her singing 100% that embodiment of "arena rock". Twice, Ann & the guys covered Led Zeppelin demonstrating Heart's decades long connection with Zep. Though the the three singers can't be interchangeable, I'd rank her execution of ""Rock and Roll" up there with when Robert Plant or Taylor Hawkins sang it. Then there's her performance of "Alone" during the encore set. Building up into the song, it's like witnessing a Celine Dion performance of "O Holy Night". Everyone present can share my sentiment in saying that "it chills to me the bone" when hearing those peak moments that had once resonated through buildings like the Spectrum in Philadelphia. Unfortunately, this wasn't the night that Nancy guested on her sister's tour, but I'll see the two together in August '24 when Heart's joining Journey and Def Leppard at Fenway Park.
Sharing the billing for this post is Duran Duran (and Bastille). Honestly, I was trying to get to this show as soon as I could, and Chic was just finishing up as I was trying to find my balcony section at the TD Garden.
Let's backtrack a little. Duran Duran is one of those 80's bands that has been part of my entertainment experience as long as I can remember. Iconic videos, anthems like "Wild Boys", and a James Bond movie theme are just part of Duran Duran's lasting impact on pop culture. I wasn't even born yet when "Rio" first hit air waves, but the band was still releasing material into the Top 40 radio conversation when I was in grade school. In high school, the Ryan Murphy proto-"Glee" dramedy "Popular" turned "Hungry Like a Wolf" into a pop culture reference for the older contingent of Gen-Y. The series cued David Bowie's "Changes" for an episode supporting a transgender shop teacher, and was the first place where I heard of Kim Novak (from "Vertigo" and "Bell, Book, and Candle"). After college, a friend who sang professionally was geeking out about seeing Duran Duran live in Boston. I'm saying that this gelato shop manager (by day) was going super-fangirl about this band. 2023 was to be my moment. I had seen videos of them performing at events like Coachella, South by Southwest, and Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee. On Labor Day, the band was posting photos while sightseeing in Chicago. With their tour nearing Massachusetts, I took some time to meditate with some clear quartz pieces and a Roxette-centered Pandora station As "Ordinary World" came on, I just knew that the show would be a thrill.
When I find my seat, the stage setup was getting rearranged for Bastille (Sincerely, Nile Rogers remains on the list of music legends I hope t see live at some point). Part of what made me late for the show was meticulously trying to make myself look more passing among a crowd that may not be as accepting of transgender people. The woman seated to my left (fortunately, the stage was to my right) groans "Oh, great it's a man." I think to myself "Oh, great. It's a bigot." I was so happy when Bastille started, because they also stopped this person from boasting about all the big ticket shows she was seeing. Granted, this person was probably in high school when Duran Duran first appeared on MTV, but every context clue was telling me that she mainly selected her concerts to use her presence as superficial status symbols. I could hear her complaint about balcony karma every time that someone stood up in front of her, but wouldn't venture to her feet. The balcony was steep, but if someone's in your way for a song or two, suck it up and enjoy the music. Don't mar everyone else's experience with your complaining. Bastille was very entertaining. I honestly only knew the band for 2013's "Pompeii", but with open ears and an open mind, I took in what they had to offer. Dan Smith and his band come across as a boy band (can we say that about musicians in their 30's). They follow a blueprint more like their headlining act rather than that one of Lou Pearlman's associated acts. They're an opening act that I'd definitely check out again the next time that they come through New England.
When the introduction of "Night Boat" heralded Duran Duran's entrance onto the stage, the crowd went crazy, and rose to their feet. People remained standing through "Girls on Film". Personally, I just sat, listened, and waited for the crowd to simmer down. The sets were very high up, and the row of seats directly before me went up only a few inches above my feet. This was part of a massive North American arena tour that Duran Duran, Chic, and Bastille had been adventuring through. While Simon Le Bon's exhibited showmanship in his singing and introductory lines, those little introductory quips started out seeming very stock. As if he had used those very same lines before 20 other arenas full of fans, Yes, this may sound like nitpicking, a stadium show has lapses in connective authenticity, it diminishes the show's potential. The show got noticeably better (in my opinion) when the band acclimated to the moment (no rehearsal can fully prepare a band for a full venue, and each show is different). Simon (as leader of the band) was primarily the band's mouthpiece between the show, and eventually, he was telling anecdotes about the band touring through Boston, appreciating the audience and the space more as an individual group and experience. Something caught Simon's eye in a way that he compared it to the cherry on an ice cream sundae. As the four longtime friends played hits from their storied career together (a backup singer joining in a more prominent role for "Come Undone"), I could see in their faces, that they weren't just enjoying this individual show and this individual tour, but the fact that they're enjoying these experiences together. It was so cute how Nick Rhodes (at his keyboard) and drummer Roger Taylor were exchanging little smiles back and forth between their stationary positions on the stage. After Girls On Film, the woman to my right was ecstatic about what she had just seen. She was gushing about the performance, first to her husband and then me. THIS RIGHT HERE is the type of communal engagement and appreciation that I love most about concerts of this scale. The couple is trying to figure out what could possibly be in the encore set. Duran Duran had played so many favorites that an audience (already reaching that post-show vibe of afterglow) is trying to think of what has yet to be performed. I said to this fellow fan "Don't say a prayer for me now. Save it 'til the morning after." This woman whips her had back around to her husband yelling "Oh my god, 'Save a Prayer;!" Just like that, "Save a Prayer" opened the encore set. Simon Le Bon and John Taylor (each in Boston sports jerseys) led the audience in singing "Rio" as a send off to that night's concert. Especially given how the band's lineup was in flux during the 90's, this was one of the finest examples I have seen of a band's collective appreciation of the shared experience.
Boston Globe, ... 😁 That is how a Duran Duran concert should be written about.
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