Blondie entered the stage with a full brass band on the last night of their “No Principals” tour and a small, welcome act like that? How could it derail an entire set? It caused the band to move “The Tide Is High” to the end of the evening, which made them heavy up the front half of the show with 8 out of 10 little known songs from their less popular (and weaker) post- 1980s material. The set couldn’t recover.
This was especially sad because while I have never considered Blondie much of a live act, the last time I saw them (my review here), two years ago, they’d answered just about every complaint I had and any problems with Friday evening’s set had nothing to do with playing, passion or the lead singer. The problem was it was a badly put together setlist. That’s it. That’s all. Look, we are all pros over here, but don’t blame me that after mostly unknown material for 75 minutes, they played two more newbies during the encore.
There was another problem, X were the opening band and X were excellent. Everything, including Exene Cervanka who has dropped a ton of weight and looks better than she has really ever looked, was sleek, streamlined and on target. Using an aesthetic straight out of the Ramones school of rock and roll, they played one great song after another; it was like the perfect (near perfect, no “See How We Are”) gig. This was West Coast punk rock not West Coast country rock, or Americana, both genre’s the band is adept at. With Billy Zoom, thankfully fully recovered from cancer, grinning onguitar and the aptly named DJ Bonebrake on drums, the power forward rhythm backed Exene and John Doe. John was John and Exene was uber-Exene: she moved about the floor with confidence and dash, sang as well as ever, maybe better, and kept the spotlight without forcing the issue. Debbie joined the band for a concert highlight “Breathless” -Exene was just a spitfire of energy!She danced up a storm, loosening up everybody, except for Debbie who was as reticent as ever… it was still magical.
By the third song of Blondie’s set, they had dislocated “X Offender” (it would be the first song of the encore) as well as “Tide”, and the string of indifferent to good unknown music went on and on and on. This is bush league stuff, pro bands know how to put together a set and apparently Blondie completely forgot. One “Love At The Pier” would have been worth a dozen “A Rose By Any Name” -sorry, but that entire EP was a bummer, and Beth Ditto didn’t save the song. It’s not REALLY that the material is terrible, it is indifferent. The set could have withstood four newbies interspersed throughout the night, it couldn’t withstand “What I Heard” followed by “Wipe Off My Sweat” followed by “Sugar On The Side”. On one side of this three song debacle was the best moment before the encore, a superb “Atomic” and on the other side a bad “Heart Of Glass” to take us to the encore.
Have I mentioned how much I loath Roseland? It is a terrible place to see a concert and Blondie whose entire schtick is distance which feels like closeness, are not the band to fill the place with love. I have no problem at all with Debbie’s lack of sentimentality, it has kept her at the age of 68 still a sex symbol. There is nothing of the elder statesperson, of the Queen Mum, of any of that stuff. By keeping cool Harry is above it, an untouchable, she remains physically provocative and less a nostalgia act than a sex symbol and pop maestro. It is that and not the newer material which maked Blondie viable in 2013.
So what was good? “X Offender” was terrific as well as “The Tide Is High” with a big loud brass band shaking the place and it was very clear why they moved it; a natural set closer. Miss Guy from the Toilet Boys made a good foil for Miss Deborah on “Rave”, and… the band were great, Debbie looked fabulous. They still managed to lose a good chunk of an audience that was primed to give them every chance. My friend Michael Malone claimed the show was sublime. He was half right.
X – A-
Blondie – B-
No Principals – B