Respectable Crowd For Rock Hall Three For All

Concert Review
Heart
Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
Cheap Trick
Darien Lake PAC
Darien Center, NY
Wednesday July 27, 2016
Review/Photos: Joseph Suto

The old saying goes “two out of three ain’t bad”. The Rock Hall Three For All tour rolled into Darien Lake Wednesday evening featuring Heart, Joan Jett and Cheap Trick. While all three have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame over the past few years, after seeing the show, this left for debate as to which band should go on and in which order. It was a very decent sized crowd for a mid week show out at the PAC.

Cheap Trick started the night off with a bang as they usually do by tearing into their traditional opener “Hello There”. The band never fails to generate enthusiasm as they blazed through an hour of delicacies from their hefty seventeen album catalog.

Singer Robin Zander was joined by original cohorts guitarist Rick Nielsen and bassist Tom Petersson. Drummer Daxx Nielsen rounded out the band. Not only did they play the songs you expect to hear (The Flame, I Want You To Want Me, Surrender) they also managed to play a few songs for their diehards (“Lookin’ Out For Number One, Heaven Tonight”).

These guys never appear to be bored performing and how can they when they mix up the set every single show so you just never know what song may come up next. For a band who has been around for over forty years these guys keep getting better like a fine wine.

Which leads us to Joan Jett who was up next. I wasn’t too impressed and neither was the majority of the crowd who sat down for most of the uninspiring set. It wasn’t until she broke into the song that opened the door for her “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” that people finally got out of their seats. That song topped the charts in 1982. The next song “Crimson and Clover”, the Tommy James and the Shondells cover also proved to be a highlight of her set as well. I have seen Jett before but this time proved to be an ordinary performance almost as if she was going through the motions.

Sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson and their band Heart closed out the night on a more positive note. Heart kicked things off with “Wild Child” a song the band recently added back in after a few years of not playing it. A quick run through “Magic Man” led to the top 10 smash “What About Love” both of which are still in heavy rotation on classic rock radio today.

Speaking of Heart today, the band currently consists of longtime drummer Ben Smith, guitarists Craig Bartock and Dan Rothchild, as well as Chris Joyner on keys. This lineup has been together for about two years and they sounded amazing.

The band recently released a new studio album entitled Beautiful Broken which features a few new songs and some reinterpretations of some older songs from their career.

The highlights included the Nancy Wilson lead vocal on “These Dreams”, “Crazy On You”. The band encored with a pair of Led Zeppelin covers, “Immigrant Song” and “Stairway To Heaven” both performed to perfection as usual with the strong voice on Ann Wilson leading the way.

Overall a solid night of rock and roll with just a little speed bump in the middle. What Joan Jett lacked on this night Heart and Cheap Trick more than made up for and then some.

Cheap Trick
Hello There
California Man
Lookin’ Out For Number One
No Direction Home
Heaven Tonight
I’m Waiting for the Man
The Flame
I Want You To Want Me
Dream Police
Surrender
Gonna Raise Hell

Joan Jett
Bad Reputation
Cherry Bomb
Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)
TMI
You Drive Me Wild
Light Of Day
Make It Back
Love Is Pain
The French Song
Any Weather
I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll
Crimson & Clover
I Hate Myself For Loving You
Encore
Everyday People