On May 11, 2024, Heart, one of rock’s most enduring bands, graced the stage at Spectrum in Charlotte, North Carolina, delivering a performance that encapsulated their legendary status. The Greg Perry YouTube channel captured the concert’s highlights, providing fans around the world a glimpse into the live magic that Heart continues to create on their ‘Royal Flush’ Spring 2024 tour.
The band’s setlist was a rich tapestry woven with classics from their illustrious career, alongside tracks from Ann and Nancy Wilson’s solo projects. Heart has always been defined by their powerful lyrics and captivating music, with performances that resonate on a profound level with their audience. This concert in Charlotte was no exception and the setlist designed for that night testified to their artistic range and musical prowess.
Here is what the fans in Charlotte experienced, as documented by Setlist.fm:
1. Bebe Le Strange
2. Never
3. Love Alive
4. Little Queen
5. This Is Now (ANN WILSON & TRIPSITTER cover)
6. Straight On / Let’s Dance
7. These Dreams
8. Crazy On You
9. Dog & Butterfly (acoustic)
10. Dreamboat Annie (acoustic)
11. Going To California (LED ZEPPELIN cover) (acoustic)
12. 4 Edward (Nancy Wilson song)
13. Mistral Wind
14. Alone / What About Love
15. Magic Man
Encore:
16. The Ocean (LED ZEPPELIN cover)
17. Barracuda
This tour follows Heart’s return to the stage after a hiatus, with their first performance in over four years taking place last December in various locations including Highland, California and Seattle, Washington. The band’s last show before this recent series was in October 2019 in St. Paul, Minnesota. The tour has not only been a reunion for the band members but also a revival of their connection with fans.
Tour Collaborations and Future Music Endeavors
The ‘Royal Flush’ tour not only showcases Heart in various cities across North America but also features notable acts amplifying the excitement. Cheap Trick joins as support for most of the North American leg. When touring in Europe, Squeeze will open for a few of Heart’s summer dates. Furthermore, Heart will also appear alongside rock giants Def Leppard and Journey for several stadium shows in cities like Cleveland, Toronto, and Boston.
Since its formation in the early 1970s, Heart has sold 35 million albums, which includes seven Top 10 hits, and has notched 20 Top 40 singles. Their profound impact on rock music was officially recognized in 2013 when they were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.
In a recent dialogue with Billboard, Ann and Nancy Wilson shed light on their future endeavors and their aspirations for new music. “The thing that we really hope to achieve is to maybe write some more stuff together,” Ann said. She revealed that there are no immediate plans, emphasizing a non-calculative approach towards their craft: “We don’t really plan too far in the future; we’re just gonna do this tour and see what comes. But I think if a song comes out of a situation, it’ll be a real good one, ’cause it’ll be authentic. It’s just a matter of me and Nancy getting our heads around that.”
Nancy also spoke about revisiting some of Heart’s unfinished works. She is particularly enthusiastic about the track ‘Sweet Deceiver,’ which never saw a proper recording due to incomplete lyrics. “There’s one really, really cool song called ‘Sweet Deceiver’, but the words were never right, so we never recorded it properly. I think I might want to finish that song; I’ve been trying to think of new chorus lyrics ever since I heard the demo. I would love to write some new stuff, too,” Nancy elucidated. She acknowledges the modern approach to music release but still holds a special fondness for full albums: “If we have a song or two that comes out of HEART, that would be really great. These days, it’s kind of like one song at a time, but you can still do a whole album, which is cool. I love albums,” she added. “When I can put on an album in its entirety, in the sequence it was intended, that’s the best to me.”