Zeppelin Heart

The Sisters Wilson

Some people don’t know when to quit.

That sentence could apply to the continuing carousel of classic rock bands churning out the same set list of archaic hits night after night on tour after tour year after year (are you listening, Def Leppard?) It could also apply to the hordes of silver-mullet males whose female counterparts can’t quite accept that their black spandex pants and stiletto heels aren’t as sleek on now as they were a quarter-century ago. It could also apply to Ter and me—who always dressed to be comfortable and paid attention to the stage.

Yep, we did it again. We bought tickets to see a bass-thumping, guitar-crunching rock band who were hot back when we were hot … and I would not have missed it for the world.

The Wilson sisters—Ann and Nancy, collectively known as Heart—ended their “Rockin Heaven Canada” tour in Victoria last weekend and we were there. So were a few next-generation brats whose parents must have been fans because, idiotic as they were, the pair behind us knew the words to most of the songs and neither of them had been alive when the Dreamboat Annie LP was released in the 1970s. Crabbing is now complete on that score, except to add that they were still alive at the end of the show only because it was illegal to kill them.

Though Heart albums were played while I was growing up, none of them were mine. I wasn’t a fan at all, though my older sister played the debut album thin and my wee sister sang a beautiful “Dog and Butterfly” when she thought no one was listening. Ter, while unbeknownst to me, was also a fan; after we teamed up, she would occasionally play their greatest hits in our apartment at the bug palace in 1986. (The band is old enough, and successful enough, to have had a greatest hits compilation in the mid-80s.) I knew the songs and I acknowledged Ann’s rich smoke-and-whiskey voice, but I never, repeat never, listened to their stuff myself.

Until Julian. I was working on a modern-day story with him in which he frankly stated that he hunts to Heart. Um, er, ah … okaaaaaaaay … My vampire is in love with Ann Wilson. Didn’t see that coming, but what’s a scribe to do? In my case, I started listening. I had to get a feel for what Jules was saying so I could do right by him in the narrative and, through him, I discovered a genuine appreciation for her gift. I mean, that voice is a gift.

She proved it last Sunday, first by belting out a trove from her own band’s catalogue, then by ripping through a handful of Led Zeppelin songs that ended with a spine-chilling rendition of “Stairway to Heaven”. Oh—my—God! Overall the band was tight and loud and did their job easily given the treasure they support. Nancy is still a wicked guitarist. She’s also the vocal on one of my favourite tracks, “These Dreams”, the lyric of which was written by Bernie Taupin. Alas, her voice isn’t exactly what it was back when, but the star of the show—her older sister’s—is as limber and powerful as it was 40 years ago. She hit everything she aimed at and held on until the audience was gasping for breath. Because the band was so loud, some distortion interfered, but in softer moments, she was pristine. Absolutely, garment-rendingly, pristine.

I’m not a big Zep fan, either, but again, I know their songs and I know that the Wilsons idolized them, so it makes sense for Heart to drop a few Zep gems into their set. Devoting half of the whole show to them, however, and featuring Jason Bonham on big drums, made me a believer. It was so good, I’m hoping they release an album version of the Zeppelin set … though Julian just winced.

Hm. Guess he’s no Led Zep fan.