Events

[ROCK] Ann Wilson built her career belting out tunes that have become etched on our collective consciousness thanks, in large part, to Classic Rock Radio. As the mighty-voiced front woman of Heart, tunes like “Barracuda” and “Magic Man” are now in their fifth decade of regular airplay. But for the last two years, Wilson has been experimenting with a solo career—something she’d been reluctant to do in prior times. Until now, her only recorded solo material came in the form of 2007’s Hope and Glory,  a treatise on themes of war and peace told mostly through cherry-picked cover choices. Rather than touring the album on her own, Wilson decided to include a few numbers on the set list for the ensuing Heart tour back then. But now, on the eve of releasing a full length follow-up to Hope and Glory entitled IMMORTAL, out September 14 on BMG, Wilson is sharing the stage with Brit guitar hero (and former Yardbird) Jeff Beck for the Stars Align Tour, which comes to Artpark on Tuesday, August 7. The concept behind IMMORTAL is in choosing songs written or performed by artists that have departed, including Bowie, Chris Cornell and Tom Petty, and Wilson’s set for these summer dates blends choices from the upcoming album with a couple of tunes she’s been singing with her band The Ann Wilson Thing for the past two years, plus maybe one or two Heart selections. Meanwhile, two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Jeff Beck was ranked #5 in Rolling Stone magazine’s “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time” list, and at 74, he still tours long and hard. Although he released a new album in 2016, Loud Hailer, his set will focus on covers culled from far and wide, including tunes by Hendrix, The Beatles, Mahavishnu Orchestra and Stevie Wonder. Between the two, Wilson and Beck are offering a skilled stroll through the annals of rock and roll, delivered by a pair of industry giants that somehow still seem like underdogs. Especially for the 40+ crowd, this is not to be missed.