Last night, we ventured back to one of our favorite venues, The Coach House, to catch the sold out Nancy Wilson concert.  These days, Nancy is touring with a new band – Roadcase Royale – which is comprised of several members of Heart (Dan Rothchild, Chris Joyner, Ben Smith) plus a few new faces (Liv Warfield, Ryan Waters).

We arrived at the Coach House at around 7pm as we had dinner reservations (the only way to guarantee a great seat).  We ended up sitting front row, far stage left – excellent seats once again.  We ordered our food and drinks, and waited for the opening act.  For those not familiar with the food at the Coach House – I’d categorize it as “pretty decent for a small concert hall / bar”.  Remember, you’re not there for the fine dining – you’re there for the intimate venue and great music.

Olio was the opening band – they are a local band that describes themselves as a “Power-packed Rock / Funk / Pop Trio”.  They were good and damn energetic (possibly a bit too energetic for the slightly older crowd).  I especially enjoyed the songs that featured the drummer on vocals.

At about 9:15, Roadcase Royale came on stage.  Unfortunately, Nancy ended up stage right – pretty far away from where we were sitting.  That said, we had an excellent view of the rest of the band.

Not having seen Nancy play with Roadcase Royale – I was unsure if she was going to be the lead vocalist on any Heart songs that were played.  This turned out not to be the case, as Nancy and Liv shared lead vocal duties – with Liv getting the majority of the songs.

All in all, the performance was great.  Enough Heart songs to keep the fans happy (and boy were they happy) and enough new material to keep things fresh and interesting.  I especially enjoyed their cover of Colin Hay’s Hold Onto My Hand and Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb. The band was tight (remember, most of them have been playing together for years) and Liv has a fantastic, soulful voice.

Even It Up
Get Loud *
Kick It Out
Raised on You
Not Giving Up *
Hold Onto My Hand *
These Dreams
What About Love *
Insaniac *
Mind Your Business *
Straight On *
Comfortably Numb *
Cover Each Other *
Barracuda *
Silver Wheels (Nancy guitar solo)
Crazy on You *
— Encore —
Black Dog *

* Indicates Liv Warfield on lead vocals.

We’ll be seeing Nancy’s sister Ann next month when she tours with Jeff Beck and Paul Rodgers.  Here’s hoping we’ll see the two sisters back on stage together performing as Heart in the near future…