Legendary rock duo have finally warmed to Las Vegas
Nancy Wilson calls in from a Seattle area code, so you immediately ask if she is calling from that city.
“No, we live in Santa Rosa, California. It’s Seattle-ish,” says the co-founder of Heart with her sister, Ann Wilson. “It’s kind of Seattle, but California and less rain.”
This is the city famous as the hometown of “Peanuts” creator Charles M. Schulz. “You see a bunch of Peanuts characters at the airport, and various corners all around town,” Wilson says. She likes that this is a city that smiles.
“I would fly in here from L.A., and people would smile at you,” the rock legend says, “and you’d be like, ‘OK. What is the ulterior motive going on here (laughs)?’ Smiles are really good idea in general, in the world right now.”
The Heart siblings return to Las Vegas this week in high spirits, playing Fontainebleau’s BleauLive Theater at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. The shows continue Heart’s “Royal Flush” U.S. tour.
During the band’s most recent appearance in February, vocalist Ann Wilson performed in a wheelchair and her left arm in a sling, resting on a pillow (which she called “Suzy”). Wilson had fractured her elbow in a fall during rehearsals. Prior to that incident, Wilson beat back a cancer scare that postponed several 2024 dates.
The band, which formed in Seattle in 1973, is touring with newfound zeal.
“It’s more exciting than before, especially since we had the postponement due to Anne’s health concerns last year, when she kicked the ass of cancer came back really strong,” Nancy Wilson says. “We’ve been out again for a while now, and it’s just sweeter than ever.”
The Wilsons are supported in the current Heart lineup by Ryan Wariner (lead and rhythm guitar), Ryan Waters (lead and rhythm guitar), Paul Moak (lead and rhythm guitar, keyboards, mandolin, banjo and backing vocals), Tony Lucido (bass and backing vocals), and Sean T. Lane (drums and “The Bike,” a percussion instrument with bells, rods and wheels mounted on a bicycle frame).
The “must-play” classics “Magic Man,” “Barracuda,” “Crazy on You” and “These Dreams” are forecast in the Vegas set list. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013.
In the February stop at BleauLive Theater, Wilson referred to Las Vegas as “pretty weird” during Heart’s hitmaking days in the ’70s. But she added that the city is certified “cool,” by this rock star saying, “Thanks for being such a cool place, Las Vegas, finally.”
Wilson elaborated, “In the ’70s and stuff, it was kind of like ‘Oh no, know anything but Vegas,’ especially if you were an authentic rock band. But now you’re got all these amazing, beautiful rooms to play, that sound really good … It’s a good time for us now to be there, it’s like, ‘Victory is ours.’”
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.
