Ann Wilson of Heart Performs Alone & What About Love at Bethel Woods August 30 2025
On August 30, 2025, Heart rolled into Bethel, New York, to play a summer night show at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts—a pavilion-and-lawn venue that was buzzing hours before downbeat. The bill even listed a special guest in Todd Rundgren, setting a celebratory tone long before Ann and Nancy Wilson stepped under the lights. Showtime was slated for 7:30 p.m., a prime hour for golden-hour sing-alongs.
There’s something naturally uplifting about playing this site. Bethel Woods stands on the historic grounds of Woodstock ’69, and you can feel that heritage in the air—peace, joy, and big choruses shared by strangers on a hillside. That cultural backdrop makes any Heart show feel like a homecoming for classic rock believers.
The tour routing also added to the buzz. Heart’s 2025 “Royal Flush Tour” has been a full-throttle return to big rooms and bigger emotions, with the band leaning into career-spanning hits and a few choice covers that invite the crowd to sing as one. Bethel was one of those nights circled on fans’ calendars from the moment it appeared on the official schedule.
As twilight settled, the evening unfolded exactly as fans hoped: guitars bright, harmonies glowing, and a set list that balanced punch and poetry. Rundgren’s presence as the guest made the festivities feel like a mini-summit of rock lifers—an inspired pairing that signaled the night would celebrate melody, musicianship, and shared history.
By the time Heart took the stage, the pavilion was on its feet and the lawn was a sea of anticipation. The opening run hit that perfect cruising speed—big riffs, ringing acoustics, and the kind of dynamic swells that make you grin without noticing. It set a joyful, generous tone that held for the next hundred minutes.
Early highlights arrived in a rush: “Bebe Le Strange” swaggered, “Never” kicked clean and hard, and “Love Alive” unspooled with that radiant, chiming lift that has always suited summer nights. The roar that met “Little Queen,” then the misty glow of “These Dreams,” felt like a reminder of how deeply these songs live with people.
Heart’s affection for Led Zeppelin added color and drama. Their take on “Going to California” landed like a hush across the crowd, “The Rain Song” breathed with patient intensity, and later “The Ocean” splashed the pavilion with a celebratory stomp. Each nod felt less like imitation and more like love letters signed in their own ink.
Mid-set brought one of the evening’s most joyful surges: a two-for-one that stitched “Straight On” to “Let’s Dance,” turning the amphitheater into an open-air dance floor. It was a smart, smile-first medley that framed Heart’s funk-edged pulse against Bowie’s sleek shimmer—an irresistible one-two that made the night feel bigger than any single era.
Then came the moment so many were waiting for: “Alone / What About Love.” Woven together, the ballads rose like a single, soaring story—tension, release, and a chorus that the whole hillside carried. It was catharsis with a backbeat, balancing tenderness and power in a way only this band seems able to summon on demand.
Nancy Wilson’s “4 Edward,” a reflective instrumental nod to Eddie Van Halen, gave the show its quiet center—lyrical, warm, and grateful. Slotted among the hits, it underscored how this band threads virtuosity and vulnerability, offering listeners a breather before the final rush.
The communal sing-along spirit peaked again with “You’re the Voice,” that fist-lifting anthem made famous by John Farnham and co-written by Chris Thompson. In Bethel, it felt like a mission statement: belief in the power of one voice multiplied by thousands, ringing across a field that knows a thing or two about musical unity.
All the while, you could sense the venue’s design shaping the experience. The covered pavilion focused every harmony; the rolling lawn turned the choruses into a gentle echo. It’s a space built for nights exactly like this—intimate enough to feel close, open enough for songs to fly far.
Context matters, too. Throughout 2025, reviews have marveled at Heart’s renewed momentum, praising the vocals, the guitar fire, and the setcraft that keeps arenas and theaters wide awake. Bethel felt like another bright stamp in that passport, a joyful checkpoint on a tour that’s been reminding fans why these songs endure.
As the finish line approached, the show tightened its grip: “Magic Man” flashed its velvet-steel magnetism, and “Barracuda” finally brought the house down, all muscle and precision. It was the kind of closer that leaves you laughing with your friends on the walk out, replaying drum fills and high notes in equal measure.
Walking back to the lots, it was hard not to feel lighter. A summer night, a storied hillside, a band that still plays with heart in both senses of the word—Bethel got the best of all of it. For anyone there, “Alone” and “What About Love” were more than songs on a set list; they were shared memories, newly polished and joyously loud.
