Friday, November 07, 2014

Chrissie Hynde at the Beacon Theatre: Not Just Another Night in My Veins


Saw Chrissie Hynde's "solo" show at the gorgeously renovated Beacon on Wednesday, spur-of-the-moment via StubHub. As I started to write my recap, I realized this email exchange with my friend I ran into at the venue said everything I wanted to say ...


Him: Why do you think she didn't play Brass in Pocket? I was over the moon to hear The Message [sic]*, Tattooed Love Boys, and Precious. Crowd didn't seem to be as excited as I was, though. 
Me: She's pulled that before -- also skipped two of her other biggest, Middle of the Road and I'll Stand by You, not that I minded as much. But no Message of Love either! To her credit it was still riveting. I agree that the audience did not appreciate the stuff from debut as they should have. Pack It Up was a pleasant surprise from Pretenders II!!

Him: And I guess it was a little early in the season for 2000 Miles. She's always been on my list of Five Coolest People on the Planet (Bryan Ferry's on there, too--not sure who else, though, to be honest), but seeing her live just put her at the top. She's just effortless with that cool thing. Aside from the true punk heritage and the amazing music, it must be the confidence/doesn't-give-a-fuck thing which she wears so well. 
Me: Yep. Or as I said afterward, Debbie who?

Him: WoW. If you said that...

Me: Ha ha. Debbie is cool in her awkward way. But like you said, Chrissie just embodies that "I don't give a fuck" attitude that is so effortless that it's truly remarkable.

Him: Chrissie is my new Spirit Animal that I'm going to try and emulate from here on out.


Didn't write down the set list, but I remember she did a lot of her great new solo album, plus "My City Was Gone" followed by "Downtown (Akron)," "Biker" (random), "Don't Lose Faith in Me" (random again), "I Go to Sleep," "Back on the Chain Gang," "Don't Get Me Wrong," "Night in My Veins" and "Talk of the Town" and "Kid." I've seen her a half-dozen times -- which is why I wasn't going to go this time -- but I have to say she sure seemed to be enjoying herself more than in years past. Maybe time isn't the avenger after all.

Favorite moment: When she stopped singing mid-song and stared down someone who was taking flash photos of her and said, "Ya gonna keep doing that all night?" ... then later stood at the edge of the stage "posing" for photos.


* "The Message" being "The Phone Call," of course :-)

2 comments:

SSSDC1 said...

This show wasn't on my radar somehow. She played the Lincoln Theatre in DC tonight and I ran into friends who had just come from the show and loved it. (Like you, last minute cheap Stubhub tickets.) $#%@%$# I really need to hear "Tattooed Love Boys" live before I die. One of the all-time legendary B-side/album cuts.

Anonymous said...

Great show at the Beacon. Great mix of new and older tunes that satisfied audience and Chrissie as well I would say. She is so cool and sexy as hell. A true original and so true to herself, unwavering.