Beth Hart embarked on the first official stop of her Fire on the Floor 2017 North American Tour at Atlanta’s Center Stage on Saturday, February 11 for a dynamic bluesy filled night with Rachael Sage in support. I love powerful, strong women who tell stories. Not just about love, betrayal or heartache, but songs that are political – that make a statement about the world we live in, and that’s is exactly what Rachael Sage does, especially with her brand new song “This Darkness” it’s a song about the trials and tribulations of what the people at Standing Rock are enduring. Both Rachael and Beth are fierce women with fire running through their veins.
Beth feels more like the living embodiment of Janis Joplin mixed with a splash of Billie Holiday and a dash of Etta James, simply speaking Hart is utter undiluted rawness. Hart is out in support of eighth solo studio album, Fire on the Floor, which made its North America release debut on February 3. The 13-track album illuminates Hart’s bluesy rock, jazz infused funk that is filled with heart, compassion and empathy – and that is exactly what you get when you see her perform live. First and foremost, you get honesty blended with the joy of love and all the perils of heartache to match.
Center Stage was the perfect place to host an intimate Beth Hart experience, as she performed a collection of songs that transcended her career, from “Rhymes” to “One Eyed Chicken” to the sensual as hell “Close to My Fire” and of course no Beth Hart show would be complete without “La Song,” the song that put her on the map in the late 90s. From compassion to pure blues, the set felt like a love letter to the past, while still embracing the now with “Jazz Man” and “No Place Like Home.” Hart divulges pieces of her soul, not only through her lush smoke-infused golden voice, but each night she gets on stage to perform, she let’s out all her demons and gives a hell of a performance.
Seriously this woman is one of my all-time favorite artists. Beth is fierce, unafraid at the depths at which she rawly exposes her flaws and embraces them as truth; not only on stage but in real life as well, with a fire-lit performance that leaves you wanting more, yet thoroughly sated by the knowledge that you’ve spent an evening with greatness. And that is exactly what Beth Hart is, she is the embodiment of passion, with a brazen heartache and redemption all rolled together. From playing in Los Angeles clubs in the early 90s to traveling around the world to sold out shows with greats like Joe Bonamassa, this is a woman who is finally comfortable in her own skin. And there is nothing more glorious, than to see an artist fully come into their own.
Beth Hart is an artist you need to see, she will set your blood on fire with pure saturated goodness. Her voice is honey-tinted shades of bits of heaven as she mesmerizes you with pain, love and the journey of life. How this singer-songwriter expresses herself through her music breath-taking, and a must see. Don’t miss out on The Fire on the Floor 2017 Tour, it runs through March 25, ending at The Chicago Theatre.