27.03.2020 Beth Hart: Live in Paris Stream @ L’Olympia, Paris (Musicalypse Archive)

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Thanks to the COVID-19 spread around the world, more and more artists and labels are turning to streaming to spread the word. Shaking things up from a simple stream of a show, singer/songwriter Beth Hart teamed up with European cultural channel Arte to do a streamed premiere of her upcoming live DVD, which was filmed on March 1st, 2020, in L’Olympia, Paris. Musicalypse tuned in on March 27th, 2020, to check it out.

The video opens with a slower song, “Tell Her You Belong to Me,” as Hart approached the stage from through the crowd and greets the crowd as she sings into a mic, hugging various people in the audience throughout the song and making her way forward to reach the stage by the end of the song. This was followed by “Sugar Shack,” which she sang from the stage.

Being completely unfamiliar with Hart and her music, this was a great opportunity to discover something new. The show was beautifully recorded and cut and Hart shows her artistic skills from the first moment onward. Her bluesy voice easily swapped out for clear and poppy as well as funky… and about as passionate as they come. Even singing covers of SLACKWAX‘s “Close to My Fire,” Bill Withers“For My Friend,” or “I’ll Take Care of You” by Bobby “Blue” Bland, her voice comes through clear and powerful and full of emotion.

As a singer-songwriter, Hart also plays guitar and piano on and off throughout the set. While her band is there as needed, they are really there to back her up and amplify Hart‘s sound, which they did admirably. She’s captivating to watch, almost entranced by what she’s doing, fully immersed in the music. It makes the viewer feel the same, getting sucked into her performance, entranced. As well, she’s exactly the right amount of energetic for a bluesy singer. You can hear the passion in her voice and see the effort on her face as she puts herself into the music. It’s really captivating to watch.

Quite a lot of the set is made up from songs from her 2019 release, “War in My Mind,” with treats interspersed throughout from her older material, as well as her collaborations with Joe Bonamassa. There was a bit of something for everyone within the set. The show began to wind down with newer songs like “Woman Down” and “Bad Woman Blues” and the full set ended with a powerful rendition of Etta Jones‘ song, “I’d Rather Go Blind,” before she gives her farewells to the crowd.

For someone coming into this set as a blank slate, Beth Hart‘s show was a really fun experience. While it’s not as personal as having a streamed live show like many smaller bands are doing these days, this was nevertheless a nice way to unite fans and let them have a little something extra to keep them entertained during quarantine. If blues are up your alley, this may be a live show to look out for!

Setlist

1. Tell Her You Belong to Me
2. Sugar Shack
3. Close to My Fire (Slackwax cover)
4. For My Friend (Bill Withers cover)
5. Try a Little Harder
6. I’ll Take Care of You (Bobby “Blue” Bland cover)
7. Fire on the Floor
8. Rub Me for Luck
9. Jazz Man
10. Easy
11. Learning to Live
12. Isolation
13. Mama This One’s for You
14. Take it Easy on Me
15. Without Words in the Way
16. Baby Shot Me Down
17. If I Tell You I Love You (Melody Gardot cover)
18. Love Gangster
19. Spanish Lullabies
20. Woman Down
21. Bad Woman Blues
22. I’d Rather Go Blind (Etta Jones cover)

Written by Bear Wiseman
Musicalypse, 2020
OV: 2612