An evening in the company of Beth Hart is always an immersive experience. Across her long career – and arguably never as popular in the UK as right now – this eclectic singer and musician never gives anything less than heart-on-the-sleeve full-blooded shows. A brimming Hammy Odeon had come for just that and no-one left disappointed.

Opening up with a sultry delivery of the exceedingly gallic ‘If I Tell You I Love You’, Beth Hart slipped easily into the character of the song, prowling the stage, staring down anyone who dared to catch her eye.

An immediate mood change, so typical of this artist, moved us right along to the new album and the bluesy, funky ‘Suga n My Bowl’, Jon Nichols on guitar finding a beautiful tone here, doing a fine job of emulating Eric Gales’ guest contribution on the studio cut.
Beth’s band intros came early – alongside Jon, the quartet is completed by Tom Lilley on bass/ keyboards and Bill Ransom on drums.

And the audience engagement came equally early. By tune three, the rocky ‘Face Forward’, Beth slid off the stage and cruised amongst us, down the aisles, across the walkways singing to selected punters, causing a maelstrom of clicking phone camera/video action right cross the stalls. Her husband Scott followed at a discrete distance and ushered her back on stage at the appropriate time.

‘I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know’ was a fine blues-based cover of the Blood, Sweat & Tears tune where the band worked hard and Beth held nothing back on the vocals. As if she ever would.

Tom Lilley took up the piano stool for the lightweight ‘Let’s Get Together’, working the bass from some kit the roadies hooked up to the top of the piano. There was a fair bit of equipment set up and take down throughout the set, with Beth usually giving a running commentary, sometimes for the benefit of the audience, sometimes aimed at the voices in her earpiece. It may not be the slickest show on earth, but there was never a dull moment.

‘Little Heartbreak Girl’ saw Beth take over from Tommy at the piano for the first of the night’s killer ballads, displaying the tender side of her vocal range. A beautiful solo from Jon Nichols brought the song home.

The vibrant, burlesque flavours of ‘Never Underestimate a Gal’ hid a dark lyric of relationship abuse and revenge. It’s a hallmark of Hart’s complex, twisted songwriting process. As if to emphasise the point, she looked at the setlist and said, ‘Well what I can I tell ya about this one? I just like being bad better than being good!’ And we are off on the helter-skelter of ‘Bad Woman Blues’.

‘Skin’, dedicated to her sister, is bleak and powerful. For all the wide-ranging influences and styles that Beth brings to her shows, it is these piano ballads where she is most searingly compelling and utterly convincing.

‘Drunk on Valentine’ conveys a jazz bar feel and ‘God Bless You’ was another song in memory of her sister who died when Beth was 20.

The heavyweight blues rocker ‘Trouble’ has lyrics filled with angst and anger, but the call and response section has humour, with much tittering amongst this audience on the ‘muthafucka’ line. Maybe more Weird Fish waffle present amongst this middle-class good-natured crowd rather than mucky denim and leather.

‘I Need a Hero’ ushered back the tenderest of atmospheres on a solo piano moment, although the break and re-start because of a repeated verse jarred the flow a little.
Another confessional chat ended with the introduction of her favourite karaoke song, enter John Denver’s ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads’ augmented with yet more audience participation.

The three track acoustic set worked particularly well, kicking off with the bold country wallop of ‘Wanna Be Big Bad Johnny Cash’, followed by ‘Fat Man’ where the double bass and the stripped-back drumming found an infectious groove. The front-and-centre session ended (after another technical interlude) with ‘Wonderful World’ and the lush church organ introducing soft, comfortable nuances.

Beth expressed surprise in answer to her earpiece voices that said ‘Hold Me Through the Night’ would be the last track of the set. The melodic, harmonious piano ballad from her debut album in 1996 was a fine way to end, with towering vocals and a scintillating guitar solo from Nichols.

At the encore, the stalls crowd were finally on their feet to see the band pay respects to Led Zep, with a frenetic, scrappy ‘Good Times Bad Times’ and a much better, soaring ‘Kashmir’, where Beth’s voice, so strong, cut through the swirling guitar/keys with precision and class.

Quite the show, as every Beth Hart gig is. Confident and vulnerable, complicated and straightforward, Beth is a bundle of contradictions who puts every ounce of her character and emotional past into the songs. She performs with no safety net – that role is played by her band and her crew – and it provides for thrilling, captivating entertainment. More power to her.

Review by Dave Atkinson
Photos by Manuela

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

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Power Plays w/c 24 March 2025

HARRI LARKIN Too Close To The Sun (Robot Distro)
SANDNESS Not Your Dog (Rockshots Records)
DOCTOR BLACK Drag Me Down (indie)
COHEED AND CAMBRIA Goodbye Sunshine (Virgin Music Group)
LEONI JANE KENNEDY Closer (indie)
SMALL TOWN POLITICS Red Lights (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 24 March 2025

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2024 (Singer Songwriter)

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