Blondie, The Pretenders @Kings Park, Perth (24/10/10)

Sat 27th Nov, 2010 in Gig Reviews

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An idyllic evening in Kings Park seems a million miles away from where both The Pretenders and Blondie leaned their chops over 30 years ago.

A capacity crowd saw 2 legends of the late 70s deliver sets of solid hits that kept the several thousand in attendance singing and dancing all night long.

The Pretenders drew the short straw and Chrissie Hynde and co took the stage with an impressive command with Hynde’s voice ever-the-unique presence that made The Pretenders the band it was all those years ago. Add to this a strong selection of hits including Message of Love, Talk of the Town, a poignant Hymn to Her and Don’t Get Me Wrong all note perfect it was difficult to fault their show. Perhaps the lack of keyboards was one thing that was missed as this Pretenders set had a certain country vibe to it, made dominant by Eric Heywood’s pedal steel but the crowd certainly wasn’t in a situation to care as Chrissie and co came back to a huge roar for the inimitable Brass in Pocket as the encore.

As Debbie Harry and band graced the stage it was clear who the crowd wanted to get their disco shoes on for. Another immaculately executed set of hits with a few obscurities thrown in for good measure kept the inebriated throng of get-goers happily bopping away till the curfew struck 10:30.

Clem Burke is the powerhouse drummer of Blondie and as well as it being his birthday, he guided the band through classics as Call Me, Hanging On The Telephone, Tide is High, a highlight rendition of Rapture leading up to the set closer One Way or Another before a brief encore of Taio Cruz’s hit Break Your Heart and finally Heart of Glass.

Debbie Harry commanded the stage, her large platinum wig and sparkling Raybans for the first 3 songs (to keep the photographers happy) complimented her white dress and white curtain backdrop ensuring the entire performance was as sleek looking as it was sounding.

Two strong female-led bands delivered impeccable performances, made even more impressive by the vintage of their music.

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