Live Review: Beth Hart

Bounding onstage in a grey dress that bares bold upper-arm tattoos, Beth Hart self-consciously pushes back brunette locks from her face and smiles shyly at the audience. 

Nervously, she stammers a quick greeting and introduces the opening song with a dedication to her “friends left behind in mental health institutions” adding that she hopes it will raise awareness of the condition. As soon as she is seated behind her keyboard, her demure façade strips away instantly to reveal an unbelievably ferocious vocal presence on Leave The Light On.  For those familiar with Hart’s history of agoraphobia, bipolar disorder and drug and alcohol addictions, none of this is surprising. Her all-male backing band – guitarists Jon Nichols and PJ Barth, bassist Bob Marinelli and drummer Julian Rodriguez – file in from the wings to join Hart straight after for what promises to be a solid evening of blues, country rock and soul.

“Since we’re playing in this beautiful, sit-down theatre tonight, I thought we could play some nice music so you folks could just sit back and chill out – I hope you don’t mind,” Hart says after a toned down but still rambunctious first half that includes Bang Bang Boom Boom, Monkey Back, Sinner’s Prayer and Can’t Let Go. The latter, in particular, misses the knee-grovelling guitar riffs and steely vocals of legendary blues identity Joe Bonamassa, who collaborated with Hart on their 2014 Grammy-nominated album Seesaw. However, Nichols and Barth do their best to compensate and pull off a satisfactory substitution. 

Despite the formal setting, Hart still manages to elicit audience participation and we join her to sing the smooth, rollercoaster harmonies of Delicious Surprise. True to her word, Hart sprinkles the setlist with many tender ballads from her repertoire, all of which are spellbinding. Tell Her You Belong To Me nudges many to tears long after the last note resonates. Baddest Blues – a smoldering, gritty concoction that brims with spite and heartbreak – harnesses Hart’s raw vocals to devastating effect. If I Tell You I Love You brings out the sultry French chanteuse in Hart and is a refreshing breath of air. She ends the evening’s encore with a mischievous dedication of The Stinky Feet Song – a song Hart tells us she wrote, “When I was feeling down and oh, I also had PMS that time so I was really pissed too!” – to her husband.

Judging from the audience’s reception some are dying to stand up and dance freely, but this venue isn’t conducive to such behaviour. However, in this modestly sized and acoustically unrivalled venue, Hart’s gift is given access to the much-wider audience she deserves.