Beth Hart Announces Live Release , ‘Beth Hart - Live At The Royal Albert Hall’ 

Beth Hart makes one hell of an entrance. It’s May 4th, 2018, and the Royal Albert Hall is in blackout. As a sell-out crowd holds its breath in the darkness, a lone figure appears from the shadows and purrs the opening line of As Long As I Have A Song in that unmistakable burnt-honey voice (“Walk into the bar and shake off my coat…”). Taking her time, followed by the spotlight, the Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter picks her way between the aisles of this iconic London venue, delivering the languid jazz vocal entirely acapella, while shaking the outstretched hands of fans who can’t quite believe what they’re witnessing.

In the age of autotune, lip-sync and backing tracks, it might just be the bravest opening to a concert you’ve ever seen. But then, Hart has always been an artist who thrives without a safety net, laying herself utterly bare on the stage and in the studio. It’s an approach that has paid dividends amongst fans clamouring for ‘real’ music, with recent years seeing Hart fill venues from the Ryman Auditorium to Hampton Court Palace – and hold every one of them in the palm of her hand.

Given her special relationship with British fans – who have sent her albums rocketing up the charts in recent years – it’s no surprise to learn this wasn’t Hart’s first appearance at the Royal Albert Hall. But when the singer hit the stage in May to film her much-anticipated live DVD, she was plainly still awestruck to be headlining the institution that has hosted everyone from Cream to Led Zeppelin since its grand opening in 1871. “Can you believe this place?” she whoops, all wide eyes and tousled hair. “Unbelievable!”

It takes a special talent to command that historic stage. But for the next two hours and 23 songs, Live At The Royal Albert Hall will hold you spellbound, as the singer whispers and hollers her hopes, fears and deepest secrets in your ear, making this massive venue feel like a nose-to-nose club show. Darting between the microphone, piano, guitar and bass, with every movement captured by pin-sharp production values, it’s a show that traces her fascinating quarter-century career and reacts to the crowd’s changing energy. “I spent three months working on this setlist,” she tells us of her impulsive song choices. “But since I’ve been up here, I’ve changed the whole thing.”