By Terry Marland, Rock At Night Wales
Live Review: Beth Hart with Arielle at Parr Hall, Warrington, UK-Wednesday 27th October 2021
The Beth Hart tour hit Warrington on October 27th and before the doors opened, there was a long queue of fans waiting outside eager to see her perform. First up tonight though was rising star Arielle.
Arielle
Arielle has already worked with an array of premiere artists including Graham Nash, Heart, Joan Jett and Guns and Roses so its no surprise that she performed with an accomplished and professional air. Appearing solo on stage she alternated between acoustic and a BMG Arielle guitar that she designed, built herself, and has been included in the Brian May Collection.
Arielle played numbers from her back catalogue including “Devils Diagnosis” and “Voices in my Head” as well as a captivating take on “Moon River” that fit in seamlessly into her half-hour set. It’s a testament to her performance that with only her vocals and a guitar she more than held the attention of the audience throughout her stage time and received warm applause at the end of her set. Her new album Analog Girl in a Digital World is available now. You can read Rock At Night’s review of of the album HERE and an interview HERE.
Beth Hart
Beth Hart is renowned for her dynamic stage presence, powerful vocals and insights into her personal life that have inspired her songwriting. That is what the Warrington faithful were expecting tonight and Beth Hart delivered……….and then some.
Entering the stage barefoot, dressed in a ripped and torn top, and leather trousers, she waved to the crowd before launching into the opening number, a moody “Tell Her You Belong To Me”.
Warrington’s Parr Hall, a Grade 2 listed building of Victorian heritage, provides an intimate setting that is perfect for Beth Hart’s up close and personal performance style. Commenting that “We get to be like a family in each other’s living room” she delivered powerful renditions of “Baby Shot Me Down” and “Rhymes” to loud applause from the Warrington faithful.
Just after a faultless rendition of “Good as it Gets” a member of the audience broke into song, a take of The Offspring’s “Why Don’t You Get a Job?”. When it becomes apparent he’s not going to stop anytime soon, Beth offers him a microphone and sits, laughing, crossed legged front of stage while he sings a few lines right in front of her while the crowd clap along.
The audience is involved again when Beth asks for a show of hands to indicate which song about her sister they would like to hear and is given a choice of “Skin”, or “Sister Heroine”. The audience preference was the latter by some margin.
The band, made up of Bill Ransom (drums) Jon Nicholls (guitar) and Tom Lilly (bass), was note perfect and the chemistry between the four artists were profound with Beth embracing each of them in turn after particular individual high spots in the set. One such moment came at the start of the acoustic segment with just Beth and Tom Lilly on stage for a mesmerizing take on “Without Words in the Way”
The most sensitive moment of the evening came towards the end of the main set when Beth, performing solo, delivered a passionate “St. Teresa”. Part way through and overcome with emotion she stopped. She told the audience why she was finding this so challenging and with their support she continued to the end of the song to receive a standing ovation and the loudest applause of the night.
The set finished with “Leave the Light On”, another heartfelt solo performance before an encore that concluded the evening with “Thankful”
Beth Hart’s emotionally charged performance was passionate and pulsating in equal measures and for two hours she had totally captivated the audience and delivered high quality entertainment. She has been called the Queen of the Blues and based on this performance that’s a title she richly deserves.
PHOTO GALLERY
SOCIAL MEDIA
Beth Hart
Arielle
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