Heart

April 20, 2024

Greenville, SC

Bon Secours Wellness Arena

Review by Joseph Hett / Photos by Criss Cain

Heart Impresses In Royal Flush Tour Kick-Off In Greenville

Heart launched their Royal Flush Tour 2024 on Saturday night in Greenville, SC at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena. This historic tour is Heart’s first time on the road in five years. As we witnessed with this show, Heart is now back and better than ever!

A white curtain was raised while colorful flowers were laid out on the front edge of the stage. A photo retrospective played on the big screens highlighting top news stories from each particular year ranging from 1973 to current day.

Besides Ann and Nancy Wilson, the current Heart lineup includes Ryan Wariner (guitar), Ryan Waters (guitar), Paul Moak (guitar/keyboards), Tony Lucido (bass) and Sean T Lane (drums).

The curtain dropped and the band came out first for the beginning of the pounding “Bebe Le Strange.” The Wilson sisters then walked out to an eruption from the capacity crowd to get everyone rocking out of the gate. They continued with “Never” and “Love Alive.”

Before premiering their new song titled “Roll the Dice,” Ann addressed why a chair was brought out to her: “Ladies and gentleman, I just wanted to say a little something while we were just getting started here. About three months ago, I had a knee replacement, right? So I’m up and everything. I’m doing great. It’s healing just fine! But if I sit down for a second here and there tonight, don’t worry about me. I’m good!”

The classic “Magic Man” was up next and then “This Is Now” from Ann’s solo band Tripsitter.

Ann addressed Heart’s hiatus: “Now, Nancy and I have spent the last several years doing solo things. I’m sure if you have ever been in a family, you understand what it’s like to know somebody from when they were born. And then maybe 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 years into it you might want to go camping without them once. Nothing against them, I love Nancy. I love her. And that will never change. We just needed a little break. Now we’re back together. And it feels really, really, really good.”

They got back on track with “Little Queen” from the 1977 album by the same name. A funky bass line started for “Straight On.” After a brief bass solo, they transitioned into David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance.” Fog billowed out for Nancy to take over on lead vocals for “These Dreams.”

After playful banter between the sisters about the ‘80s, chairs were brought out for the rest of the band for the acoustic portion of the show. They featured “Dog & Butterfly,” “Dreamboat Annie” and Led Zeppelin’s “Going to California”. To close out the acoustic set, Nancy played a short instrumental tribute for Eddie Van Halen titled “4 Edward.”

Heart then took us on an epic journey with the lengthy “Mistral Wind.” The ‘80s hits “Alone” and “What About Love” were featured as a medley.

When the instantly recognizable aggressive guitar riff started, everyone knew it was time for the one and only “Barracuda.”

Back for the encore, Ann noted, “Yeah, this is our very first show of the tour as you might imagine. We’re by the seats of our pants here tonight. Thank you very, very much for being with us.”

After covering Led Zeppelin’s “The Ocean,” Nancy was handed an acoustic guitar to start up the timeless “Crazy on You” to close out the show.

It was a night of phenomenal musicianship – they were all spot on. Nancy’s leg kicks were plentiful while Ann’s vocals were inspiring. Just hearing Heart perform live again was enough to induce chills. The Royal Flush Tour will take Heart throughout the United States, Canada and Europe all by the end of the year.

Cheap Trick opened the evening with an hour set of fun-filled rocking tunes. They featured the fan favorites “Dream Police,” “Ain’t That a Shame,”“If You Want My Love,” “The Flame,” “I Want You to Want Me” and “Surrender.” A live performance by the legendary Cheap Trick will never disappoint.