Beth Hart @ Z7 Summer Nights Open Air, Pratteln 2026
Event 23 July 2026
It was already clear from the car park that the concert was completely sold out. The weather could not have been better, and the Z7 audience gathered in excellent spirits on the square in front of the venue. As always, guests were welcomed by the very friendly security team and admitted to the site.
The evening was opened by Dan Mudd feat. Bearbeat, a blues duo from Switzerland — and not just any blues act. As winners of the Swiss Blues Challenge 2024, they represented Switzerland at the European Blues Challenge in Braga, Portugal, where they prevailed in the Solo/Duo category against participants from 21 European countries. Only a few months later, they received their next accolade with the Blues Music Award Switzerland 2025.
Singer and guitarist Dan Mudd, together with percussionist Dominik Liechti, had won the audience over from the very first note. Dan’s distinctive voice was a perfect match for the blues compositions, at times raw and at others gentle, and proved just as convincing on excursions into other genres. His richly nuanced guitar playing added further accents and impressively underlined the duo’s musical range. Their homage to Led Zeppelin ultimately became one of the highlights of the performance.
Dominik’s creative cajón playing gave the overall sound its rhythmic framework and enriched the songs with depth and expressive power. It was clear in every second how much both musicians were enjoying the evening and how much pleasure the performance gave them. That enthusiasm carried straight over to the audience, who followed the set attentively and enthusiastically from start to finish.
Dan Mudd feat. Bearbeat had prepared the Summer Nights audience perfectly for Beth Hart’s appearance.
Beth Hart’s concerts are always something special – and this evening was no exception. One got the feeling that the woman on stage is exactly the same human being away from the spotlight. Her authenticity and natural way of interacting with the audience make every performance a deeply personal experience. The fact that she took her shoes off immediately after taking the stage, and even returned barefoot for the encore, fit this effortless sincerity perfectly.
On stage, she spoke openly about her demons, about tears and anxieties, as well as how much her band has since become a family that supports and protects her. Her husband accompanied the tour and, after Beth described how much she can always rely on him, he came onto the stage for a brief kiss.
Beth Hart entered the stage alone and, after a short greeting and a few reflections on the current state of the world, opened the concert at the piano without any accompanying musicians. The almost reverent silence with which the audience followed her already hinted at the direction the evening would take. From the very beginning, her voice was at the centre of everything. After a few songs, guitarist Jon Nichols joined her on stage, and together they performed further pieces in a stripped-back acoustic setting. Gradually, bassist Tom Lilly and drummer Bill Ransom joined them too, until the full line-up was finally on stage.
Beth Hart moved effortlessly between quiet, fragile moments and powerful outbursts. With extraordinary presence, she performed her songs seated, standing, and even lying down. The setlist included well-known classics as well as tracks from her current album You Still Got Me and a handful of carefully chosen cover versions.
Again and again, she sought direct contact with the audience and even asked for the crowd to be lit a little so that she could see them better. This created an unusually intimate and personal atmosphere.
The band conveyed exactly the impression Beth Hart had described at the start: a family that gives her the support she needs on stage to follow her feelings spontaneously, even when that means changing the setlist at short notice.
The audience thanked her with complete attention and enthusiastic applause. Without relying on grand show effects, but with immense authenticity, emotion and musical class, Beth Hart once again showed why she is one of the most outstanding voices in modern blues and rock.
Anyone who was there that evening experienced a concert that will live long in the memory.
Z7 once again proved why Pratteln has held a firm place on the tour schedules of international top acts for years. The fact that world stars of this calibre regularly make their way to the Basel region is anything but a given, and it makes Z7 one of the country’s most remarkable concert venues.
