Words and Pictures: Louise Phillips \ (C) Louise Phillips Photography
Beth Hart is one fearless woman who has built her career not just on her incredibly rich southern blues voice and her own unique brand of dirty blues, but on the relationship that she has with her fans. Beths fans are literally evangelical about her and it’s easy to see why! She is a woman who ‘owns her shit’, exquisitely raw, gritty and real! She’s not afraid to share her own mental health struggles with brutal and fearless honesty and tonight was no different! And this was never more evident, then when later on in the show Beth talked about her own battle with menopause before she shared the beautiful ‘You Still Got Me’ written by her husband Scotty about supporting her through this time. As she sat at the piano alone, her emotion was clear to see! Beth shared that on a dark day, Scotty had asked her if she needed a hug and she replied that she had, “nothing left inside to love”, Beth cried and we all cried. It was one of those beautiful moments that will stay with her fans forever and it was made even more moving when Scotty came on at the end and wrapped his arms around his beautiful wife. Absolutely heartwarming!
But before we get to that, lets talk about Beth’s entrance, where as is customary at a Beth Hart show, Beth strutted down the aisle enroute to the stage as the audience leapt to their feet, arms outstretched to their heroine and Beth took their hands and fist bumped them as she sang the opening line to ‘I Believe’ and believe they did!
As this breathtaking evening of musical mastery continued, it became clear that whilst Beth is undoubtedly the star of the show, for her, her band aren’t just a backing band, hired guns who stay in the background and do their job, this is a family and the warmth that she feels for not just her husband Scotty, but the entire band was clear to see and they obviously adore her too!
The setlist for the night was beautifully thought out. A heady combination of much of Beths most loved tracks together with plenty of her newer material and the crowd were definitely in their happy place! One of the best tracks of the night was the funky and damn right sexy ‘Sugar Shack’! Where Bill Ransom created a dark southern vibe on the bongos and the brilliant Jon Nichols took to the double bass, with its hypnotic rhythm, it was absolutely mesmerising!
‘Machine Gun Vibrato’ was another massive highlight of the show, where Beth told the audience that there are more guns in America than people, before singing, “baby shot me down”!
The incredible music just kept coming as Beth moved between her beloved piano and sitting on the edge of the stage, looking so relaxed and at home, that it all felt like a very intimate experience. Almost like we were all at Beth and Scotty’s house, if Beth and Scotty’s house had several hundred other friends hanging out too!
Now whilst Beth’s set was bursting with emotion, there was also plenty of humour! The funniest moment of which was when Beth talked about how she wanted to be a big bad arse Johnny cash after seeing him pull a sink out of the wall before launching into ‘Big Bad Johnny Cash’ as she prowled amongst the audience, absolutely killing the sassy track”
‘War in My Mind’ with its haunting piano was simply superb! Beths vocals were truly incredible and ‘As Good As It Gets’ went down an absolute storm with the already ecstatic audience!! And just when the audience thought it couldn’t get any better, Beth and her band closed this incredible night with the stunning ‘Thankful’, and you really got the feeling that Beth and her band were just that! And as the audience leapt to their feet once again in rapturous applause, there was a feeling that we’d all witnessed something so special that we’d never forget it!
To connect to the band and to find out about upcoming tour dates visit www.bethhart.com
About Author
