In my continued attempts to educate my youngest daughter, 14-year-old Miss Hissy, I took her to the Wednesday night gig, where 59-year-old Chrissie Hynde and 65-year-old Deborah Harry led the charge for baby-boomer rock and roll.
The Enmore is an intimate venue in Sydney's inner-west, where you can get up close to the stage. Because the punters, except for Miss Hissy, were in the 50s-plus demographic, it wasn't hard (we just kicked the Zimmer frames and sticks out of our way).
Because old people shrink, Miss Hissy (I will call her The Hiss from now on) had a birds-eye-view of both bands. The Pretenders were up first and, as much as oldies can go wild, the room went OFF.
Hynde has charisma in spades and still looks and moves like a 20-year-old (but I am a bit blind). Her voice is stronger than ever. Drummer Martin Chambers is the only other original band member, and he is phenomenal.
I'm not saying that a band that's been around forever should regurgitate all their old hits, but let's face it - that's why the crowd was there. When the band launched into Precious and Message of Love, a roar went up. Everyone swayed like lovesick-teenagers to Stop Your Sobbing and Talk of the Town. The 75-minute set finished with Brass in Pocket. I was in heaven and so was The Hiss.
From then on, it just got better. Like Hynde, Harry has an amazing stage presence. She's still beautiful - good bone structure is so important. And all those years living a nocturnal existence have preserved her skin, which is flawless.
Highlights for The Hiss and I were original band member Clem Burke on drums and the classics such as Hanging on the Telephone, One Way or Another, Atomic (stunning), In the Flesh, Union City Blue, Call Me, The Tide is High (which became an audience sing-a-long), Rapture (with Harry's amazing rap) and Heart of Glass (they saved that for last).
When, towards the end, Harry tore off her tulle skirt to reveal teensy shorts underneath, a couple of blokes in the audience had minor heart attacks. Age is a state of mind.
Afterwards, The Hiss said "Thanks Mum". It was a night to remember.
3 comments:
Sounds like it was a really good Mum/daughter night, Shayne.
Hi Anita,
It was pretty cool. I was surprised there weren't more teenagers there, though there was a sprinkling of 20s and 30s, mostly chicks.
I guess they're spending it all on the festivals, hip-hop and female 'novelty' performers like the freakish Lady GaGa.
Shayne
Yay for having a fantastic evening and introducing your daughter to some legends.
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