Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Ann Wilson's Still Got It

The other day, while browsing through the on-demand videos available with my cable television subscription, I came across a live Heart video. The video was for Crazy On You, and it was filmed in 2007. Curious to see what their current live sound was like, I flipped the video on.

It opens with the crowd roar as Nancy Wilson is picking her acoustic guitar playing the opening bars of the song. I noticed how short her fingernails were, but that made sense. Guitar players need to have short fingernails in order to play their instrument properly. However, if I recall correctly, didn’t she have lavish nails back in the 80s?

The camera pans over to Ann Wilson when she begins to sing the first verse. She still looks heavy, which as she mentioned on VH1s Behind The Music a few years ago, that doesn’t bother her and it’s a look she likes. So, while it may not appear to look like the Ann Wilson from the 70s, you know the one that was almost as thin as the microphone stand, it certainly sounded like her.

Ann’s voice was pitch perfect, note for note, and if you closed your eyes, you swore you were listening to the studio CD, not watching a live video. She hit every note, and with the exception of Crazy On You becoming Crazy On Ya, there was no difference in the vocals. I was extremely impressed. Ann Wilson’s still got it.

Heart has been around for over 30 years. Ann’s been through a lot in her life. Man, can she still sing! I didn’t go to see the Heart/Cheap Trick/Journey concert last summer, but maybe I should have. If I had known Ann sounded that good, I probably would have. Shame on me.

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Yes, Ann definitely still rocks. So does her sister. I don't know how many times I've listened to Dreamboat Annie, but it still comes alive.