Hot Ticket: Journey + Heart

Two of the rockingest '80s legends grace the same stage on September 2 -- get seats while they last.
By ELIZABETH BOUGEROL
NBC NY

'Alone.' 'Don't Stop Believing.' 'Crazy on You.' 'Open Arms.' 'Barracuda.' Dismiss them as cheesy arena-rockers or power-balladeers if you must, but it's hard to imagine entire swaths of our popular culture without the existence of Journey and Heart. If not for the oeuvre of Nancy and Ann Wilson, what would rocker girls sing on American Idol? Without 'Don't Stop Believing' -- the No. 1 most-karaoke'd song in America, according to the current issue of Esquire -- what would you sing to bring the house down at 2am? 'Sweet Caroline' just doesn't do it, people.

When Journey and Heart take the stage at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center on September 2, the atmosphere is guaranteed to be electric, the nostalgia-meter cranked to 100, and the volume of hair products alone worth the price of admission.

Details:

Journey and Heart in Concert
Wednesday 9/2, 7:30PM
Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Route 50, Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
Ticket Info

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Thackerville Video

Crazy On You performed on Aug. 28 at The WinStar Casino Global Events Center in Thackerville, Oklahoma.

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Monterey Rock Fest

myspace.com/daviddrewproductions
Thanks Heart Monger Shirean for the find!

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WinStar Casino Review

(Photo from Kathy LK)
click on pic for larger view

Heart Hits WinStar Casino
McKinneyNews.net

Twenty or so minutes before the show began in earnest, John Lennon’s “She’s So Heavy,” it’s famous undulating blues groove spewing from the house speakers, anointed the evening, making sure those in attendance knew what they were in for. For those perhaps a bit musically obtuse, Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love” came next, surely solidifying the message: the Wilson sisters, Ann and Nancy, came not to preen and strut, but to rock the house down.

At precisely 9 p.m., Heart, a band made famous by two exceptionally talented singing and songwriting sisters out of Seattle some three decades ago, engaged the clutch, jammed the gear shift into first, and smoked the tires with a galloping rendition of – what else? – “Barracuda,” as the more than 2,300 (mostly balding and gray hairs) in attendance roared with appreciation. The accolades were in appreciation for what has made this band, or perhaps more succinctly, the Wilson sisters, famous: Ann’s soaring-into-the-stratosphere, armor-piercing vocal and Nancy’s churning guitar.

But the energy associated with perhaps the band’s most recognized toothy mid-to-late 70s hits (“Barracuda,” “Straight On”) soon abated as the six-piece ensemble, long absent any original members besides Ann and Nancy, moved from its more organic, rock material into the hairspray and stiletto boots of the lollipop 80s.

Read the rest of the review here.

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What About Love at Kentucky State Fair

Lorio3 from the Heart Boards found this partial video of What About Love from the Kentucky State Fair on August 21st. Thanks for the scoop! The crowd is just eating up this CLASSIC Heart song. :)

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Nancy Wilson Calls LoveLine!

As posted on Heart BBS...

Last week, Alyson "Aly" Michalka of 78violet (aka Aly & AJ) appeared on "LoveLine", a (rather risque) talk show on L.A. radio station KROQ.

While Aly was talking to her sister Amanda (AJ) on the phone, another person we all know and love called in!

http://cape-mac.org/heart/nfwaaj.mp3

It turns out that the reported support and collaboration that Nancy has been giving Aly and AJ on their new album as "78violet", has been quite extensive.

And they seem to have developed a considerable friendship!

As a result, the "Wisconsin HeartMongers" on MySpace (i.e. me) have created a MySpace Group for Mongers who also luv 78violet aka Aly & AJ:

http://groups.myspace.com/heartmongersfor78violet

-- "HeartMonger for 78violet" aka "Cheddarhead"

Thanks Cheddarhead from the Heart Boards!
Here is a little more information about Aly and AJ and their connection to Ann and Nancy Wilson.

On June 10, 2009, three extra song titles were announced from the upcoming album; being "Lovesick", "Bullet", and "The Edge." All three songs were written by Aly & AJ, Leah Haywood and Daniel James. On June 28, 2009, the duo revealed and confirmed four song titles via their official twitter account; being "Say Hello," "Damaged" (co-written with Nancy Wilson of Heart), "Civilian" and "The Next Worst Thing," which leaked on August 17, 2009, and is already receiving airplay on alternative and rock stations.

On July 8, 2009, the duo confirmed that they would be changing their name to 78violet. On July 16th, 78violet announced that their third album will be selftitled, named 78violet and that two new song titles named "Insane" (co-written with Nancy Wilson of Heart), and "The Good, the Bad, and the Boring" will be featured on the album. (wiki)

78violet talks about their album and mention their collaboration with Nancy Wilson.

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OK Gazette Interview with Nancy

Heart has pulsed for more than 30 Years, continues to rock.
By Phil Bacharach
OKGazette.com

With more than 30 Million records sold worldwide, Heart's music continues to resonate through popular culture, having penetrated everything form "American Idol" to "Guitar Hero. "

But one distinction remains surprisingly elusive: Induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

"I hope it happens, but the fact it hasn't so far is a little off-putting," she said."We've been out there since '76, and we have not been at home eating bonbons, either. We're a working rock band, and we keep creating and we keep touring. There might be a whole perception that because we don't go to a lot of affairs and rub shoulders with a lot of these people very often.

"Maybe it's kind of a boy's club we don't belong to. We're used to that."

Read the entire article here.

Heart performs at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Riverwind Casino.

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Youngstown, Ohio Pics

A few cell phone pics of Heart at the Covelli Centre in Youngstown, Ohio on August 20, 2009.

"Heart is a jaw dropping experience yet again and Ann Wilson is M-O-N-E-Y.. as usual. You know what your getting with Heart. A truly heart felt performance by the Wilson sisters. They never disappoint." - YoungJRNY from Melodic Rock Forums.

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Iowa Show Sold Out!

Journey and Heart's fair-capping show so far is this year's only sold-out Grandstand event — about 10,500 reserved seats snapped up, with another 700 or so standing-room-only tickets scheduled to go on sale at 9 a.m. Sunday at the Administration Building.

Heart has seen its song catalog reborn this century — with "Barracuda" in the video game "Guitar Hero," with its 1980s power ballad "Alone" performed on "American Idol."

Wilson, 55, who doles out the "Barracuda" riff alongside her powerhouse vocalist sister, Ann, said that she has noticed a trend in the last few years: More younger fans attending Heart concerts, pressing close to the stage.

"It's just the ultimate, coolest thing in the world to feel that somehow the fashion of pop culture didn't just move off without you and leave you in some pile of rubble," she said earlier this month while on her tour bus rolling out of Los Angeles. "There's still something about these songs that connects into the next generation."

It also doesn't hurt the band's bank account.

"When you have 'Barracuda' in a Nissan commercial or something that's a good thing," Wilson said. "That'll pay the rent for a while."

Read more here.

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Indiana State Fair Video

A few short clips of Heart performing at the Indiana State Far.

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Photobucket

I use Photobucket for a lot of my image hosting. So hang in there while I figure something out. Thanks!

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Missouri State Fair Review

Journey and Heart Kills It
by Elise
IndyConcerts.com

From the moment they took the stage, sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson rocked out, and rocked out hard. Ann can still sing a power ballad like nobody’s business…and the crowd was more than happy to sing along with her. I think one of the highlights of this show was watching Nancy Wilson flip her wild orange/red hair as she wildly jumped around the stage doing awesome rock star kicks. She is one fit lady.

Heart kicked off the show with Barracuda, and the hits kept on coming…including Never, Alone and What About Love. They did a pretty cool acoustic-ish version of These Dreams, which was awesome as well. After an hour of playing in the oppressive heat, Heart closed out their set with Crazy on You. But have no fear…the thundering crowd demanded an encore that featured Magic Man as their final song. I thought an hour and fifteen minutes with Heart was well worth it! This band, who’s experiencing a massive resurgence in popularity due to the game Guitar Hero, is a must see in my opinion.

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What About Love in Memphis Video!

Thanks to Heart Monger Kerri for this amazing scoop! See more videos from the show here.

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What About Love Still On!

Heart Monger 'songrl' has posted a review on the Heart boards and according to her What About Love is still in the set list! Songrl also said "I will share something here that I completely forgot to tell Motley Sue when she asked how I liked having What About Love in the set. I heard people singing when that song was performed. I heard them singing like I hear them singing for Alone and Magic Man and it was a beautiful thing!" Here is the complete set list as far as we know.

Barracuda
Never
Kick It Out
Straight On
Love Alive
Mistral Wind
Immigrant Song
Back to Avalon
These Dreams
What About Love
Alone
Love Reign
Crazy On You

encore

Sand
Going to California
Magic Man

What an amazing set list. Hopefully some video of this shows up!

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New Nancy Wilson Interview

“In most families, there is that disconnect between siblings. But in the case of me and Ann, it’s always been really quite together” - Nancy Wilson

Heart’s not flatlining any time soon
Rock ’n’ roll sisters keep their music current

By BRIAN MACKEY (brian.mackey@sj-r.com)
THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER

The Heart of today — which closes the Grandstand series of concerts Aug. 22 at the Illinois State Fair —has joined a lot of other bands going well beyond album sales and touring to promote themselves.

Their music has been used in commercials. They performed with Fergie last year on “American Idol.” And they have had songs in the “Guitar Hero” video game franchise.

“I don’t think it can hurt at all,” Nancy Wilson said in a recent telephone interview from her home in Topanga Canyon, in Los Angeles.

“The artistic integrity of the ’70s has completely shifted into, ‘Let’s try to keep our faces out there so people know we’re even here.’ We used to go, ‘Oh, we won’t do a commercial.’”

But then Pete Townshend of The Who licensed his music for a beer commercial, as Wilson remembers. Combine that with an ebb in the band’s popularity before they reemerged as a synth-laden power-ballad group in the mid-1980s, and suddenly going commercial seemed like a reasonable idea.

“We did a coffee commercial for the American Coffee Association in ’80 or ’82. We got paid well — we, at the time, needed to be paid for something, because we were in between peaks at the time.

She also said the band had recently worked up a new version of ‘What About Love’ that they added to the set, making it “more rock ’n’ roll” than it had been. (I need to hear this!)

Read the entire interview here.

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1980 Ann Wilson Interview

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Heart Monger Youtube Channel!

Magic Man from Heart management has posted a link to the new Heart Monger Youtube Channel! Check it out here.

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Remember Idol Gives Back?

Click on the photo for a larger view. I love the look on Ann's face while Fergie is doing her cartwheels.

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