B-52'S
&
THE PRETENDERS
AT
8/9/1998
Party Out of Bounds
The songs were not as old as the beehive hairstyles, but, they were both apparently swinging and swaying on Saturday night at Shoreline Amphitheater as the Pretenders and the B-52's performed the only bay area appearance of their latest tour. The Pretenders came on after The Royal Crown Revue, a very popular swing band. The thing is, everything is in. All the styles, all the lingo, all the music; and swing is no exception, the kids want to dance. I think this tour is great, because, right after you get grooving a little from the swing tunes; here comes Chrissie Hynde with the Pretenders, giving you a full blown rock and roll show. Then things get really turned on with the psychedelic freakshow of the B-52's; live, and in concert!!!
The Pretenders completely rocked down the house, from first song to last; I think they might have even played longer than the B-52's did. Chrissie Hynde still sounds great as she belts out her unique, power-driven style of rock-n-roll, classic to the end of time. The Pretenders did all of their timeless hits, including, Message of Love, Talk of the Town, Thin Line Between Love and Hate, Don't Get Me Wrong, My City Was Gone, Back on the Chain Gang, Middle of the Road, and Precious. Then, they came back out and did a three song encore; I'll Stand By You, Mystery Achievement, and Brass In Pocket. I think that everybody there to see the Pretenders was waiting to hear Brass In Pocket, and I'm sure nobody was disappointed when it closed out their set. She's SPECIAL, so special!!Nick RunningThe B-52's were as fabulous and freaky as ever, of course that is, if you're into that sort of thing. If you take into account, the smiles, grins and shaking bones; I'd say most of the people there were freaking out in good stead. There was a wonderful psychedelic light show and these dancers wearing neon 60's style duds on each side of the stage. The lead guitarist, who I assume was Nile Rodgers, is quite a character; he looked just like a good old country boy from Corntown, Iowa in his mostly holes straw hat. That is, if you looked past the patent leather pants and the black vest with flame trim; and to be sure, he was not playing country music on his guitar. Kate Pierson looked almost the same as she ever did, and sounded awesome too! Fred Schneider was incredibly youthful and full of that truly genuine craziness; they must have taken all his marbles away! The B-52's opened with the first song from their first album, Planet Claire and then Fred says,"Here's another nugget,"and they did Private Idahoe. They played all of their hit songs, including, Roam, Cosmic Thing and Loveshack from their comeback album of 1989, Cosmic Thing; the first album following the death of the B-52's lead guitarist Ricky Wilson in 1985. The encore was Party out of Bounds and the show came to a close with the classic eccentric hit Rock Lobster. Thanks for reading and we'll see ya at the shows.
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