BETH HART played HOB/Anaheim Oct. 8 photo: Andy Ortega
Midway through Beth Hart’s performance at The House of Blues in Anaheim, the woman standing behind me couldn’t help but ask her friend a question.
“Isn’t she amazing?” she muttered. “Absolutely incredible.”
Over the course of her 90-minute set on Wednesday night, Hart was exactly that.
With the backing of her band mates–lead guitarist Jon Nichols, bassist Bob Marinelli, guitarist P.J. Barth and drummer Bill Ransom, Hart danced around the stage and serenaded the crowd with her fiery, impassioned voice.
Matt Andersen, who served as the opening act, was in a sense Hart’s male counterpart. Taking the stage with nothing more than his acoustic guitar, Andersen delivered his own robust voice to the awaiting crowd for nearly half an hour.
Just as the crowd began to grow anxious, the curtains peeled away at precisely 9 p.m. and Hart got immediately to work with a rousing rendition of “Can’t Let Go.” Hart didn’t say more than a quick ‘thank you’ to the audience in between her first few songs, almost as if she was wordlessly relaying a message to the crowd of ‘we can talk later but first check this out.’
Following her fourth song of the night “I’ll Take Care of You”, Hart’s husband Scott Guetzkow walked onto the stage and surprised his wife with a quick kiss, resulting in a thunderous applause from the crowd. Guetzkow, who also serves as his wife’s tour manager, has often been described by Hart as being a pivotal figure in helping overcome her drug addiction and sobriety.
As the concert progressed, so did Hart’s voice, gradually amplifying in a controlled yet compelling manner. Perhaps the most enjoyable aspect of witnessing Hart on stage isn’t necessarily her presence but the genuine vibe she emits. While performing is something she obviously has a special relationship with, you never get the feeling she takes herself too seriously, a problem some artists are guilty of.
All three of Hart’s guitarists complimented her voice effectively as well, understanding when and how to play in a style that never stole the stage from the front woman.
Undoubtedly the finest moments of the concert came when it was reduced to simply Hart and her piano. Beginning with “Bang Bang Boom Boom”, she launched head first into a string of her strongest and most fan friendly songs. By the time she was ready to play “Better Than Home”, Hart offered a brief word of advice to her fans.
“If you’re afraid of something…definitely do it.”
Hart’s husband made his second appearance of the night a short time later following “My California”, a song written about her complicated past with her hometown of LA.
“I always wanted to be on the road and stay away but he made me feel back in love with it again,” she told the audience while embracing her husband.
Before the audience could even get a steady chant of ‘Encore!’ going, Hart and her band mates were back on stage, less than two minutes from the final note of the concluding song of the concert.
After giving the crowd three more songs, she pointed to her father on the second floor and ended the night with a bow.
The quick stop in Orange County was one of Hart’s final shows in America before she heads off for a month-long European tour beginning in November.