Beth Hart brings a ‘Whole Lotta Love’ to Brighton Dome

BETH HART + CONNOR SELBY – BRIGHTON DOME 21.3.23

Anticipation was high tonight for Beth Hart’s long awaited gig at the Brighton Dome. Beth Hart has a large and loyal following it seems and some of them were getting the jitters on social media last weekend as she had to cancel her first of two high profile shows at the London Palladium due to illness (just after announcing five extra tour dates in France).

She was approaching the end of her 8 date UK tour and tonight was to be her last in Blighty before taking her Blues/Rock juggernaut to Europe. Fans breathed a heavy sigh of relief on Saturday though, as Beth posted pictures of herself on her Facebook page doing Yoga on the Palladium stage, all ready for that night’s performance. The Juggernaut was well and truly back on the road and we could now sit back and relax, ready for the night ahead.

Beth Hart hails from Los Angeles and rose to fame in the late 1990’s with her hit single, ‘L.A Song (Out Of This Town)’ which went to number one in New Zealand as well as hitting the Top 10 of the Billboard charts. Her collaborations with the legendary Blues guitarist Joe Bonamassa have earned her Grammy nominations and her last album recorded with him was 2018’s ‘Black Coffee’ which enjoyed critical acclaim from her fans and critics.

She has also collaborated with Slash from Guns N Roses as well as the late Jeff Beck. Miley Cyrus once named Beth one of her favourite singers of all time, so you could say that she’s not short of admirers within the industry, as they say.

As well as owning a powerful Blues/Rock voice, Beth is also a multi instrumentalist (Piano, Guitar, Cello, Bass Guitar and Percussion). Her latest album was released in 2022 and is called ‘A Tribute To Led Zeppelin’ which pretty much speaks for itself. Expect to hear some renditions of certain Robert Plant and his merry men songs this evening along with original Beth Hart songs of her own.

It was rather busy in the city tonight and when I got to The Dome there were queues down the street leading to both entrances. There was even a big queue at Beth Hart’s merchandise table, so you could say that her fans were hungry for it tonight. There were a mixture of age groups in the room of mainly a mature variety I would say, mixed with a percentage of younger people that had been blessed by the fountain of youth like myself (Ahem).

First up tonight was Beth’s labelmate Connor Selby who has been accompanying Beth Hart and her band throughout the tour. His music is of a Blues/Soul/Folk variety and he is a self proclaimed American Roots music fan from Essex (he also spent time in Connecticut. USA). He has been nominated numerous times at the UK Blues Awards and was voted ‘Young Artist Of The Year’ for three consecutive years. He is no stranger to a large audience either as he supported The Who at Wembley Stadium in 2019 and not many people can say that.

At 7.30pm prompt, Connor Selby was at his stool, armed with his guitar alongside Joe Anderton who was providing rhythm guitar accompaniment tonight. The room was already almost full at this point and Connor immediately sprang into song with one of his own called ‘Falling In Love Again’.

It didn’t take long to realise that Connor’s guitar skills were impressive and by the end of the song his vocals reminded a bit of John Lee Hooker in the way that he sang along with the guitar line. His second song was more of a soulful number and then he played another track from his latest self-titled album, by the name of ‘If You’re Gonna Leave Me’ which seemed to go down well with the crowd.

He ended his brief set with a song called ‘Emily’ which was the catchiest song for me and a good song to end on. He thanked Beth Hart and her crew for being such good tour partners on this UK leg of the tour and offered to meet people at the merch table for chin wags and vinyl signings. During the interval, I saw a man walking down the aisle with a Connor Selby album under his arm so I imagine he made a few converts in this room tonight.

www.connorselby.com

There was half an hour to go before Beth Hart and her band were about to take to the stage so toilet breaks and refreshments were the order of the day. It was while I was in the venue’s toilet, I witnessed the annual event of someone taking a pee in the stainless steel hand washing troughs accompanied by much sniggering from us smug folk. Maybe the venue needs to put some signs up, as this is a regular albeit amusing occurrence, and also a slightly unnerving one if you find yourself washing your hands next to the perpetrator. Anyway, it was now time to take to our seats ready for tonight’s show. By this time, the venue was filling up further and by 8.30pm a pirate themed Hip Hop intro song was playing over the P.A as the lights went down and the band took to the candlelit stage.

The band broke into the intro of a Blood, Sweat And Tears song by the name of ‘I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know’ to a big cheer from the crowd. Beth’s voice suddenly came through the speakers, but there was no Beth on the stage? We were not prepared for so much confusion on a Tuesday night. Our questions were soon answered though as the unmistakable Beth Hart wandered down the aisles from the back of the room towards the stage while greeting her fans along the way. All this was going on as Beth was belting out her trademark Blues/Soul vocal to the first song of her set tonight, rounded off with her lying on the stage in front of the drumkit. What an ice breaker of an entrance, I thought to myself.

She told us that, as this was the last date of her UK tour, she had decided to dress in a conservative fashion which was in fact a one piece black body stocking of an outfit. She then said “And Yes, I do love Cher!” which got a big laugh from the audience. Her second song was one of her own called ‘Delicious Surprise’ and during the song she got the crowd to do a call and response whilst throwing us the devil horns. The next song sounded to me very similar to Tom Waits in style but it was in fact a Melody Gardot cover called ‘If I Tell You I Love You’.

Her next songs were ‘When The Levee Breaks’ and ‘Dancing Days’ from her ‘Tribute To Led Zeppelin’ album. She was worried about doing the songs justice, but she had no need to worry as the band were on top form and her vocals gave it a stamp of her own personality and style. Beth was in full flow at this point and told us that she was willing to play all night as this was the last date of the tour. She also told us that Brighton’s Mayor had presented her with flowers earlier on which she found to be very sweet.

Beth said that they would both be hitting a strip club later, but quickly changed her venue to a Karaoke one before she got herself into trouble. Beth got on the piano and played ‘Bad Woman Blues’ followed by ‘Good As It Gets’ and then a member of the audience shouted out that her bassist, ‘Tom Lilly is the man’. She replied to this by playing an improvised song about ‘Tom Lilly being a man and going fishing etc’ which was an amusing and quick reply to this well meaning heckler.

Whilst still at the piano, Beth and her band played a reggae version of ‘Bang Bang Boom Boom’ which was a pleasant but fun departure from the rest of her set so far. I was waiting to hear the song ‘Leave The Light On’ but did not expect to hear Beth singing an acapella rendition of it whilst sitting at the foot of the stage. The lyrics to this particular song are very personal and deal with a fragile and abusive upbringing and a need to learn to live and love again. The lyrics were made all the more poignant with no band playing behind them which rightfully earned her a standing ovation. Beth then grabbed an acoustic guitar and treated us to a song called ‘The Ugliest House On The Block’ which is about a semi-derelict house she spent sixteen glorious years of her life in, with her long term partner.

‘War In My Mind’ was played shortly afterwards which is one of Beth’s better known songs about dealing with your inner demons. She mentioned her enjoyment of magic mushrooms and told us if you suffer from mental illness then these could be a healthier alternative to prescription medicines for some. Beth also expressed her disdain for former President Trump which also got a cheer from the audience. Tom Lilly got on the double bass around this time and Bill Ransom set up a miniature drum set near the front of the stage to perform a more intimate segment of the show. It was approaching the end of the night’s proceedings so what better way to go out than Beth Hart’s version of Led Zeppelin’s ‘No Quarter’ and ‘Babe I’m Gonna Leave You’ which is one of my favourite songs by the band. Beth got back into the audience for this song and got up close and personal with us as she belted out this epic song.

Beth certainly gives us her all tonight and after over two hours of maximum performance you could never say that you hadn’t got your money’s worth. She told us at this point that she didn’t blame us if we were feeling tired and wanted to go home. A few people took her up on the offer, but I was going nowhere as we were about to be treated to their faithful version of Led Zep’s ‘Whole Lotta Love’ which they hadn’t played elsewhere on the tour. The crowd were on their feet and dancing in the aisles at this point and as the final notes rang out, Beth said her goodbyes as the lights went up and the cheers from the audience got louder. Just when we thought it was over, Beth came back onstage and performed the Etta James Soul standard ‘I’d Rather Go Blind’. But then, after two hours and twenty minutes, it really was over.

Beth Hart is a force to be reckoned with and tonight felt like we had experienced a little piece of L.A in our lives. She is a hard working performer with a powerhouse voice who is not scared to bare her soul to an audience and I’m glad I was there to witness it. Tonight, she made the Dome ‘The Best Looking Building In The Block’.

Beth Hart’s band tonight consisted of:
Beth Hart – vocals, piano
Jon Nichols – guitar
Tom Lilly – bass
Bill Ransom – drums

Beth Hart setlist:
‘I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know’ (Blood, Sweat & Tears cover)
‘Delicious Surprise’
‘If I Tell You I Love You’ (Melody Gardot cover)
‘When the Levee Breaks’ / ‘Dancing Days’
‘Bad Woman Blues’
‘Good as It Gets’
‘Spirit of God’
‘Bang Bang Boom Boom’ (Reggae version)
‘I Need A Hero’ (Beth alone on piano)
‘Leave The Light On’ (Sung Acapella by Beth alone)
‘The Ugliest House On The Block’ (Beth alone on acoustic guitar)
‘War In My Mind’
‘Woman Down’
‘Without Words In The Way’
‘Sugar Shack’ (acoustic band)
‘House Of Sin’ (acoustic band)
‘No Quarter’ / ‘Babe I’m Gonna Leave You’
‘Whole Lotta Love’ (Led Zeppelin cover)
(encore)
‘I’d Rather Go Blind’ (Etta James cover)

www.bethhart.com