Beth Hart plus support from Wille and the Bandits (Acoustic)

First up we have Wille and the Bandits, well two of them anyway, with Wille joking that they couldn’t afford the ransom demands. But after actually seeing Wille, as the full blues band configuration, I know how they can rock. It was nice to see a different side, and they pulled it off, getting a great reception from the crowd. With a small mixture of slide blues to funky tinged quicker numbers, no doubt that Wille and the Bandits have recruited some new followers after tonight.

Now for the return of one of our personal long-time favourites, Beth Hart, as due to her well documented and self-admitted ongoing problems, she had to cancel dates on her last tour a year or so ago. So, this five date flying visit to the UK was long overdue, and although the first couple of numbers were at the piano, she soon made it obvious she had not lost any of her power and control of her incredible voice. On ‘Your Heart Is as Black as Night’, she gave us a tantalising glimpse of what was to come, and during a slower solo stint, I thought she was going to bust the lights with ‘Caught Out In The Rain’, even laid flat on her back! Then towards the end of it, sat on the end of the stage, she let it all go, absolutely amazing, spine tingling. To follow that with a very emotional ‘St. Teresa’, just with guitar, wow. This is the Beth we know and love.

I have to admit it wasn’t my favourite Beth performance, only for the reason that the setlist was a little too slow for us as I/we prefer Beth at full blast, but it’s a preference thing. We’d all like to write the setlist wouldn’t we? We were sent into the night very happy with a barn storming version of Led Zeps ‘Good Times Bad Times’, which of course she covered on her Led Zeppelin cover album. Again, wow. Notwithstanding preferences, it was absolutely fantastic to have Beth Hart, who still is one of the best vocalists out there, back on stage where she belongs. Hurry up back Beth please.

Photo & Review by Geoff & Jenny Griffe