I was supposed to take my mom to a Beth Hart concert on December 31st, but she got sick. When a few months ago I incidentally saw she and her band were doing a theater tour and were scheduled to play in Eindhoven I got us tickets. Tonight's show was sold out.
Beth looked radiant (mom noticed she gained some weight, and less looking like an addict) and was stoked to be playing. She kicked off the set with "Stinky feet", followed by "Hiding under water" and "LA Song".
She's adapted several songs to be played in an acoustic setting, and I enjoyed it. Still: it was weird to be at a seated concert, when what you really want to do is sing along and move to the music. I think Beth and the band noticed the difference, too; Beth is the kind of performer who feeds off the energy of the audience. And with a seated audience the vibe is definitely different. The audience consists of people of all ages, who prefer substance over style. Speaking of which: Beth may not be MTV-pretty, she sure knows how the catch your eye. And I think some lady lovin' ladies agree (there were plenty of those in the audience). By the way: did you know that Beth used to date this Geany character she sings about in "Get your shit together"? I remember Beth telling the audience (at another concert) that her brother was dating a woman who she thought was very wrong for him. When they broke up, she started dating her...
By the time the band started playing "Face Forward Son" the enigmatic singer had jumped off the stage and walked into the audience, before climbing onto the balcony. How cool is that? The New Year Eve concert in Amsterdam was my first time I heard them play Otis Redding's "A change is gonna come", and they played it again last night. I like me some Otis. They played some new stuff, too: "Beautiful Child" and "Congratulations". The first is about if Beth and husband Scott would start a family ("It will be in rehab by the time it's one", joked Beth) this is the lesson she would give it. The second one was written after an ordinairy fight, and basically reflects Beth's insecurities. She also shares with the audience that after more than 5 years of sobriety she fell off the wagon some 2 months ago. This is why I really like this woman: in addition to writing beautiful songs she is, above all, very human. Not pretend-perfect like Britney Spears once was, but flawed and very real.
After a short intermission, where the roadies slightly altered the set, the band came back and played in full blues/rock mode: "Good as it gets", "Sick" and "Sky full of clover" (the latter being a request of a bunch of girls Beth met before the show).
The entire show lasted about 90 minutes, but it sure didn't feel like it. And even though Beth and her band delivered, I can't wait to see her play a regular show.
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