Heart Proves It's Still Magic, Man With Latest Show At Hard Rock Live In Hollywood, Florida
- Joanie Cox Henry
- Jun 29
- 4 min read
By Joanie Cox Henry
There's something almost mythological about watching Ann and Nancy Wilson tear through a setlist that reads like a roadmap through rock's most sacred territories. Last night's Heart performance at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Florida, wasn't just a concert—it was a humble reminder that when rock and roll is done right, it doesn't just move your body, it rewrites your DNA.
The evening began with a historical homage video flashing significant moments over the past 50 years. Peter Gabriel's "The Feeling Begins" washed over the crowd like some kind of spiritual preparation as the video played. When the band launched into "Bebe Le Strange," it was immediately clear that this was Heart in full flight, decades of experience crystallized into something both familiar and comforting, like a well-worn tour t-shirt, and yet a vibe of something startlingly fresh.
Widely praised among the greatest singers in the history of rock, Ann Wilson's extraordinarily powerful voice has been sending chills down her audience's collective spine for over five decades. But watching her command the stage last night carried an even bigger beckoning for respect and awe—this is a woman who faced down cancer in 2024, underwent surgery to remove a cancerous presence from her body, endured chemotherapy, and came back swinging and singing her Heart out.
"I absolutely plan to be back on stage in 2025," she declared in a statement she issued during treatment. "This is merely a pause." What kind of warrior speaks with such certainty while staring down the void? The kind who transforms pain into power, silence into song, and mortality into transcendence. And there she was... doing exactly what she said she would do. I get goosebumps just thinking about it.
Longtime Nancy Wilson fan and South Florida bass icon Fernando Santomaggio captured something essential about Heart's recent Hollywood show. "Being so close to Ann and Nancy for this show made it seem more 'real'...There was a palpable sense of humility," he described. "Like, they appreciate doing it as much, if not more, than the audience does!" And damn if he isn't right. There's something almost religious about watching performers who've reached the mountaintop still climb it like they're proving something to themselves.
The deep cuts hit differently in this setting. "Little Queen" thundered with the kind of authority that only comes from bands who know exactly who they are, while their take on "You're The Voice" became something wholly their own—a tune which demonstrates Heart's ability to inhabit any song and make it bleed their particular brand of magic.
But let's talk about what also mattered here—the flawless flow. This wasn't just a greatest hits parade. It was a carefully constructed journey through emotional and sonic terrain. The transition from "Straight On" into Bowie's "Let's Dance" was pure alchemy, the kind of moment that reminds you why rock and roll heals our souls.
Drummer Sean T. Lane's sonic exploration before "Magic Man"? Pure theater, the kind of beautiful absurdity that separates the wheat from the chaff in this business.
The Led Zeppelin trilogy—"Going to California," "The Rain Song," and "The Ocean"—could have been pure tribute band territory in lesser hands. Instead, the Wilson sisters treated these sacred texts with the reverence they deserve while making them unmistakably Heart. Nancy's acoustic work on "Going to California" was an aural pleasure session in restraint and power, every note carved from experience and delivered with precision.
Santomaggio also nailed something crucial about the evening's emotional architecture. "Linking 'Alone' and 'What About Love,' by joining the two guitar solos was brilliant," he explains. "This wasn't just clever sequencing—it was compositional genius—two of Heart's most emotionally devastating songs welded together into something that felt both inevitable and surprising."
The Lovemongers' "Sand" served as a perfect palate cleanser before the evening's crushing finale, a reminder that the Wilson sisters' artistic curiosity has never been confined to the hard rock box the world tried to shove them in. It's that restless creativity that's kept them vital through decades when most of their peers were perfectly content to phone it in.
And then came "Barracuda"—preceded by not one but two guitar solos that built anticipation to almost unbearable levels. This is what rock and roll is supposed to sound like—dangerous, beautiful, and absolutely essential.
But perhaps what struck me most about this performance wasn't the technical proficiency or even the emotional weight of the material (though every song felt like it mattered). It was the joy. After all these years, after all the industry hurdles and heartache, the Wilson sisters still look like they can't believe they get to do this for a living.
Ultimate Heart fan Carol Chinquina, who has been to more than 35 Heart performances over the years and has met Ann and Nancy Wilson seven times, was blown away by Heart's June 28, 2025, performance. "Ann sounded amazing, especially considering all she's been through," Chinquina shares. "It was also amazing watching Nancy bounce around that stage at 71 years old when I can barely get up a flight of stairs at 60!"
Heart reminds us that great rock and roll isn't about looking back—it's about carrying the fire forward and keeping the flame and "Love Alive" for the next generation of believers.
While we're being marinated in an unsavory stew of artificial intelligence and fake filtered great pretenders, Ann and Nancy Wilson remain the real deal—love, passion, and rock and roll in its purest form coming "Straight On" for you, with every note from the Heart.
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