For a show like Blondie and Pat Benatar, there is no doubt that it was devised as a nostalgia act, no matter how much of a badass each front woman may be. When it comes to playing shows at Atlanta’s Chastain Park Amphitheater, every band that plays the here has a battle to wage on the audience. Blondie, Pat Benatar, and The Donnas were no exception at Sunday night show.
Chastain is not the typical venue. Imagine 6,700 40-somethings, half of them season ticket holders in khaki sipping wine looking like they were settling in to watch “Law and Order” reruns rather than a rock show while the other half (on this particular night, at least) is modeling the worst of 80’s fashion. The sticky 90-degree weather didn’t help the mood or the teased hair.
When the Donnas took the stage at 7:00PM in full daylight the crowd was less than receptive. The first of three slots is always a blessing and a curse; tonight it was more of a curse. With the exception of the few scattered groups of fans who were more than happy to dance and sing along to “Fall Behind Me”, Take It Off”, and the rest of the 20 minute set, the crowd seemingly ignored the band.
It was still daylight as Pat Benatar took the stage singing “Shadows of the Night”. She and husband Neil “Spyder” Giraldo banged out hits “Invincible”, “You Better Run”, and “We Belong” to an almost completely seated crowd. It wasn’t until 2/3 through her 12 songs set that she finally kicked the crowd in the ass and made them move. By the time she had reached the first chorus of “Hit Me With Your Best Shot”, it felt like the whole audience had taken over on lead vocals. Benatar kept her hold on the crowd through the rest of her set with classics, “Hell is for Children”, “Love is a Battlefield”, and show closer “Heartbreaker”.
As for Blondie’s performance, there was a bit of CBGB’s in the sticky air and every girl in the place still wanted to be Debbie Harry. Appropriately enough Clem Burke, one of three original members with Chris Stein and Debbie, sported a sleeveless CBGB’s shirt as he banged away on the drums.
Unlike Benetar, Blondie had the crowd from the first note of opener “Call Me” in front of a spray painted logo ripped from the video for “Rapture”. For the whole of their 75 minute set, much of the crowd danced but everyone was singing along as Blondie churned out most of their hits, including “Hanging on the Telephone”, “Maria”, “Atomic”, “Tide is High”, “Rapture”, “One Way or Another”, and “Heart of Glass” mixed up with Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough.”
In the end, the gathering of bad ass rock chicks worked their magic on a crowd of aging yuppies and beat the amphitheater into submission to make it into a rock club, if only for a moment.
The Donnas: website | myspace
Pet Benatar: website | myspace
Blondie: website | myspace
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