Photo by Criss Cain
Rock legends Heart brought their “Royal Flush” tour to Boston University’s Agganis Arena on April 13th, with support from Lucinda Williams. The original tour had been slated to arrive in Boston back in 2024, but had to be postponed while Heart’s Ann Wilson successfully underwent treatment for cancer. Now reunited and healthy, the veteran lineup drew in a wide range of fans for a night of classic hits from across five decades of work.
Lucinda Williams, a country rock icon in her own right, began the evening. Walking on stage to rumbling applause, whistles, and cheers, she addressed the arena crowd simply with a big smile, wave, and a “Hey everybody!” as she cruised into her roughly hour-long opening set. She began with “Rock N Roll Heart,” a selection from her 2023 album Stories from a Rock N Roll Heart, before going back 20 years to her 2003 album World Without Tears with “Real Live Bleeding Fingers and Broken Guitar Strings.” Her setlist ultimately spanned 7 albums and included tributes to Memphis Minnie, Tom Petty, and The Beatles. The tributes simultaneously were and were not exactly throwbacks, as much of her prolific recording since 2020 has been focused on tribute and cover albums, including a 2024 album of The Beatles’ songs recorded in the original Abbey Road Studios.
One would be mistaken to say that the set was light on her own work however, and Williams’ hit some of her key highlights with “Fruits of My Labor,” “Essence,” “Change The Locks,” and “Joy.” In spite of her many accolades as a 3-time Grammy winner and a genre-defining figure in Americana music, Williams displayed a remarkable humility, commenting “I’m not used to playing these big places like this,” even as the arena buzzed with audible approval. Lucinda Williams departed the stage in similarly egoless fashion to her entrance with another smile and the parting words “Peace and love, y’all. Don’t give up the fight that’s still going on.”
Where Lucinda Williams simply emerged on stage for her set, Heart established more fanfare with their introduction. A giant, stage-encompassing curtain displayed a projected montage that chronicled a hodgepodge of historical events and cultural moments to herald Heart’s imminent arrival. From the 1973 passing of the Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, and from the 1974 “Rumble in the Jungle” boxing championship match to the 2022 Will Smith Academy Awards slap, the montage sent the message “Since the beginning of Heart, we’ve seen a lot together. Some things you never forget.” The video mishmash concluded with the words “As for 2025…” and the curtain dropped to reveal the band as they opened with “Bebe Le Strange.”
Lead vocalist Ann Wilson performed within the confines of a wheelchair for the duration of the show, the result of an unfortunately-timed broken elbow prior to the start of the tour, but of course the show did go on and Wilson proudly declared, “We’re Heart. We’re back!” The setlist was a string of classics ranging across the decades and various eras of the band’s history, from their folk-twinged 1975 debut album Dreamboat Annie to their arena rock 1987 release Bad Animals. Crowd-pleasing selections from Little Queen, Dog & Butterfly, and Heart were supplemented with covers of David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” and two Led Zeppelin covers, “Going to California” and “The Ocean.” The set even featured “Sand,” a song from the Wilson sisters’ 1990s-era side project The Lovemongers, and “4 Edward,” a song from Nancy Wilson’s 2021 solo album You and Me. An undeniably standout moment of the night was the inevitable performance of “Crazy On You.” The transition from Nancy Wilson’s acoustic solo intro into a full gallop drew an arena-wide roar of excitement as the rest of the band joined in with the song’s iconic riff.
Another highlight was the other inevitable performance of Heart’s best-known power ballad “Alone.” It was a reminder that even at 74 years old and even with a bit more gritty texture to her vocals, Ann Wilson retains much of her legendary vocal faculties. Throughout the show Nancy Wilson not only joined her sister in glorious vocal harmonies, but also demonstrated the mastery of guitar that once garnered the backhanded praise “you’re a really good acoustic guitar player for a girl,” from Eddie Van Halen. The concert concluded with the downright essential “Barracuda,” and by then it was clear that Heart is not a band to lazily rest on their laurels. They delivered a great show worthy of their legacy: a show that was of course, all Heart.