Blondie, or at least Clem Burke and Debbie H, played The Piece Hall last night. It rained – a lot – from the minute the excellent support band The K’s finished their set. I was a bit concerned prior to going, having seen The BBC’s recording of Blondie’s recent turn at Glastonbury, which left me unimpressed.
BUT… Last night was fabulous. Yes, a 78-year-old’s voice is never going to sound like a 32-year old’s and perhaps this was why ‘Denis’ only appeared as a sprechstimme quote between two songs from the eponymous debut album. ‘In the Flesh’ was note perfect and – if I am being honest, while the arrangements made sure Debbie Harry stayed within her limits, the ‘bangers’ you and we all know and love were fantastic. ‘Maria’ was amazingly good. The band were excellent. Clem Burke’s drumming was punchy and punky, while the guitar players were loud and just the right side of punk themselves. The bass player had the groove nailed.
The light show/visuals was/were excellent: Warhol-ian clips, 50’s b-movie schlock-ery, old stills of the band at CBGB’s. Some Archie comic-strip stylings formed a backdrop to ‘Picture This’ in a particularly neat touch. However, the ‘Heart of Glass’ holographic display was high art, indeed
I wonder if they’ll ever play ‘Attack of the Giant Ants’ live again. There was a still from ‘Them!‘ in one of the photo collages. Everything means something, to somebody, no?
Well worth seeing, despite the rain. Don’t forget, Dreaming IS free.
Ewan Lawrie, Writer 