Brighton Beach Memories

Yesterday was one of those days that's filled with unexpected pleasures, which are always the best kind. Michael and I -- along with various other friends -- have been contemplating for weeks schlepping out to the Brooklyn for the free Blondie/Pat Benatar show (with the Donnas opening!). Thursday finally arrived and it was damp and rainy when I went out for lunch, then Michael informed me that he needed to make an appearance at a work function that evening (read: solo). Out of nowhere, my friend Scooter -- with whom we hadn't discussed the concert at all -- sends me a text to see if I'm going. I was, then I wasn't (my bf suddenly ditching me and all) and before I knew it, I was in a cab to the East Village to meet up with Scooter and his pal Christopher. In the two seconds that this whole plan was hatched, Scooter got in touch with two friends -- Sloan and Michael -- and found out they were already at the venue staking out a spot. The gig was on!

So we get there and we decide we HAVE to stop for a quick bite to eat at Nathan's Original (you can't go to Coney Island without getting a hot dog). It was deelish (the fries blew, though) and then we caught up with Sloan, who had a huge just-purchased blanket laid out and everything's falling into place. Now the concert is free, but as my friend Lynn -- a Brooklyn native -- warned me, you may not have to pay any money to see the show, but the price you pay is listening to 100 local politicians yammer on and on forever. (She knows what she's talking about. The borough president, Marty Markowitz, is apparently famous for keeping these free concerts up and running -- voters have repaid him over the years -- including the one at which Curtis Mayfield was nearly killed in a freak accident back in 1990).

Finally, after nearly every person in Brooklyn got up to say a few words, the Donnas came on and played a really short set, which the crowd seemed to really enjoy. (I normally don't ask for longer sets by opening acts, but these gals could have been afforded 10 extra minutes -- especially if it had kept Marty quiet during the time.)

Finally, the moment we'd all been waiting for came -- Pat Benatar. (Or should I say Neil Giraldo and that woman who backs him up -- does that guy EVER stop trying to put his name on her work now???) She started with "All Fired Up," which I like but could have been a new song as far as the crowd was concerned. She followed it up with the bigger "Shadows of the Night" (the crowd loved it), then it was "You Better Run" (the second video ever played on this new cable channel -- MTV!), "Somebody's Baby" (big mistake during such a short set, from the flop album "Gravity's Rainbow"), "Invincible (Theme from "The Legend of Billie Jean"), "We Belong" (her other biggest single -- the crowd went WILD!), "Hell Is for Children" (not my fave -- "What's the Matter Here?" by 10,000 Maniacs is already my FAVORITE child abuse anthem -- but the guys I was with sang along and it suddenly seemed like campy fun!), "Hit Me With You Best Shot" (she annoyed me by saying how she always tries to talk Neil out of having to do this one to which I say, GET OUT IT, Pat! Like it or not, it's your "signature" song and your fans wanna hear it) and "Love Is a Battlefield" -- which, as I will get into more in a second, is actually tied for her "biggest" hit. (Scooter had the dance moves from the video down to a T!). She left briefly then did "Promises in the Dark" and finished it off with "Heartbreaker," which about brought the house down. All in all, an enjoyable little set. (As I have mentioned, the only other time I've seen Pat live was on the "True Love" tour in 1991 in Los Angeles, so this was my first time hearing her do her hits.) My only complaint would be that it was way too light on the first three albums -- which are indisputably her best. What's ironic is that she was considered a rocker then, so her singles weren't charting as high on the Billboard 100 back then "Heartbreaker" peaked at No. 23, "You Better Run" stalled at 43!), but those albums were HUGE ("Crimes of Passion" went to No. 2 and "Precious Time" hit No. 1, her ONLY anything to top the main charts). But as MTV took hold, her style became more mainstream and suddenly her singles were all over the Top 10, which I guess explains why songs I consider to be secondary are technically her "biggest." (Scooter and I were crushed that she didn't do "I'm Gonna Follow You" -- swoon -- so opted to perform it ourselves in what I consider to be the highlight of the night.)

What happened next would have seemed unimaginable even a few years ago, but Blondie finally came out (after we'd made a quick trip to see Mister Softee -- pot bellies are all the rage in Brooklyn, you know -- and to pee in public), starting off strong with "Call Me" then launching into another telecom-related song, "Hanging on the Telephone." Next up was "Two Times Blue," a song from Debbie's underwhelming 2007 solo album, "Necessary Evil" (it wasn't a bad version, but why they were doing solo stuff during an abbreviated set was annoying).

She quickly redeemed herself by doing a spot-on version of "The Hardest Part," an underrated (and actually Top 40) single from "Eat to the Beat," which I had NEVER heard them do live. (It was fantastic -- Sloan sang along word for word with me!) "Maria" was next, followed by a kind of off version of the wonderful "Atomic." "The Tide Is High," was next, which was kinda cool because Deb mixed the refrain from "I'll Take You There" by the Staples Singers into it, then they did YET ANOTHER solo song, this time "You're Too Hot." (WHY????) Deb nailed "Rapture," but as she was finishing the rap portion my gang announced that they wanted to leave to avoid the traffic jam on the subway. I would have liked to have stayed, but everyone in our group -- myself included -- admitted that we'd seen Deb and Blondie a million times (not to mention at the corner store periodically), and that Pat was the reason we'd bothered to ride the subway to the end of the line. So off we went, as I heard "One Way or Another" blaring in the distance. I honestly didn't know I had it in me to be this strong, but as Debbie started mangling the song (I HATE when she improvises, it really isn't her forte), I realized it was time to call it a night. Later, on the subway platform I think I heard them covering "My Heart Will Go On," the Celine Dion song that the Go-Go's already tackled a couple years ago (and others have mentioned "Fade Away and Radiate" was on the list, although I did hear that on the "Parallel Lines" tour in 2008).


My only regret was that we missed what I believe was the encore, "Heart of Glass" which I understand then segued into "Don't Stop Till You Get Enough." I found it sweet, and telling that even Hall of Fame "pioneers" of the New Wave would want to pay tribute to Michael Jackson. Lucky for us all, a fellow fan recorded it. (Check it out, above.)