Straight from the Heart: Ann & Nancy Wilson shine in classic-rock show in Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH ― Artistically speaking, maybe the Wilson sisters needed the time apart from each other.

The Wilsons certainly sounded enthused and inspired Thursday in Pittsburgh as part of their classic-rock band Heart's first tour since 2019.

A PPG Paints Arena crowd witnessed a Heart performance that might have exceeded many expectations, kind of like the Eric Clapton show there last September. As with then, the older, seated crowd Thursday was knowledgeable, behaved and open-minded, even showering Heart with well-deserved applause when the sisters each did a song from their solo projects of the past few years.

Heart started with "Bebe Le Strange" then sailed into the melodic and buoyant "Never" (that 1985 hit that begins "Hey baby, I'm talkin' to you"), as Ann demonstrated her sturdy voice remains a force of nature.

Five songs in came "This Is Now," Ann's hard-driving, tempo-switching 2023 song with her band Tripsitter; given a "Heart-shape," sound on this tour, noted sister Nancy, who insisted they add it to the setlist. With several upper bowl sections closed, an audience of maybe 11,000, predominantly old enough to remember Heart's 1970s-1980s heyday, cheered it loudly.

But the hits are what fans craved, and they got them all, including "Straight On," which in a surprise twist morphed cohesively into David Bowie's "Let's Dance."

The '80s power ballad era got represented well by "These Dreams," with Nancy on mandolin, with band members Ryan Waters (guitars), Paul Moak (guitar and keys) and Sean Lane (drums) striking the proper potency and nuance.

The moment Nancy strummed the acoustic guitar opening to "Crazy on You," you could feel the crowd's energy level elevate. The combo of Nancy's exciting six-string strokes and Ann's voice − commanding, and when necessary, pretty − was goosebumps worthy, and earned a partial standing ovation.

An enjoyable mid-set acoustic segment brought early Heart material "Dog & Butterfly" and "Dreamboat Annie," with its nice midtempo gait and flute playing from Ann. The band stayed acoustic for a cover of Led Zeppelin's "Going to California," where Ann's voice evoked a bit of grizzle on the normally high "I might be sinking" line.

Still armed with an acoustic guitar, Nancy then did her solo project selection "4 Edward," a lovely, West Coast-vibed instrumental tribute to her friend and long-ago tourmate, the late-Eddie Van Halen. Nancy said she gave Eddie his first-ever acoustic guitar, and he was so excited he phoned her the next day to play a solo piece he had written on it. Nancy wishes she had a recording of that Van Halen piece, but said "4 Edward" sounds similar, to the best of her recollection.

Chatting briefly with the crowd, Ann said one of Heart's reasons for success was the band typically ignored music trends. She cited the examples of 1980s adult contemporary tunes "Alone" and "What About Love," which the band packaged together.

Of course, Heart knew to end strongly, with the guitar and synth heavy "Magic Man" sounding as glorious as ever.

An encore of Led Zeppelin's "The Ocean" then "Barracuda," with Nancy's ferocious guitar intro, capped off a great set.

Fellow classic-rockers Cheap Trick delivered an hour-long warmup performance. Unlike Heart, their sound was muddy and overamplified, but it was still fun watching and listening to guitarist Rick Nielsen squeeze monstrous riffs out of his guitars, including double-necked and quintuple-necked axes.

Cheap Trick singer Robin Zander hit some uneven patches vocally but nailed the highest part of 1988 chart-topper "The Flame."

Anyone who played to death "Cheap Trick at Budokan" had to be bobbing their head or smiling at least internally as the band ripped and roared through "Ain't That a Shame," "I Want You to Want Me" and "Surrender," which got modernized by a few decades with the "we're all alright" vocal ending from TV's "That '70s Show" theme.

Scott Tady is entertainment editor at the Times and easy to reach at stady@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Ask Pittsburgh fans: The rock and roll of Heart is still beating