(all photos by Shervin Lainez. Disclaimer: the band had an obscene amount of rules for shooting (way out of the ordinary) so the quality of photos does not do justice either to Shervin or to the band. C’est la vie, I guess)
Holy shit Saturday night at the 9:30 Club was amazing. Smiling from ear-to-ear, dancing elbow-to-elbow and seeing more fanny packs and trannies in neon wigs than I care to remember – THAT was how the B-52s show went down.
The B-52s managed to release three entire albums before I was even born. But that doesn’t matter. They still manage to bring down the house 30 years after they first starting making awesomely fantastic new wave. Some of my earliest musical memories revolve around my mom playing the self-titled B-52s tape and learning the words to ‘Rock Lobster.” And this show proved to be equally multi-generational – I saw a few parent-kid combos rocking out and it made me smile. This was also one of only a couple shows my mother has been so jealous of me seeing, she’s called me a bitch. That’s right, my mom called me a bitch for getting to see the B-52s. Whatever.
I managed to show up in time to see a good portion of Eagle Seagull’s opening set. I figured if they were good enough to open for the B-52s, they were definitely worth my time. I was pleasantly surprised with the six-piece band from Lincoln, Neb. It was a fantastic opportunity to get the crowd going and I ate it up. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like many other people were as into them. But their young, raw energy was great and it was a perfect opening act.
Hitting the stage just after 10 p.m., the Athens, Ga. band still impresses three decades later. Kate Pierson is covered in glitter from head to toe, her red hair swinging wildly as she trotted about on gold, platform wedges. Cindy Wilson is as platinum blonde as ever, smacking away at her little set of bongos and Keith Strickland’s pants and moves are still as tight as they were in the 80s. And then there’s Fred Schnieder - one of the best frontmen ever. He is just pure charisma and fun and everything you’d want in a frontman packaged into black and white striped pants, matching sunglasses and some hot red and black mesh Pumas.
The crowd was equally impressive. Folks flailed about with stuffed “Rock Lobster” toys and were dressed to their 80s nines. I turned around at one point to see a Mike Myers style “Coffee Talk with Linda Richman” looking cheerleader, complete with pom-poms. Seriously, the old folks stepped it up for this show.
The Bs opened up with “Pump” before moving into old favorites “Mesopotamia” and “Private Idaho.” They played a good chunk of songs from “Funplex,” the band’s first album since “Good Stuff” was released in 1992.
Party songs are, OF COURSE, their forte and they know where their bread-and-butter is with the fans. “Roam” got a nod and the Bs closed their set with “Love Shack.” But the encore was the best. We got a three songs – “Planet Claire,” “Love in the Year 3000,” a cutesy little number about how love will be in the future and “Rock Lobster.”
Everyone went bat-shit-crazy. And we got a nice, album version complete with animal sounds and everything. Oh man. And I managed to get a bit of a shock – everyone went down on cue. You know, “Rock lobster .. down .. down…” well, DC went down, got down made the night for me at that very moment.
In addition, man, can that band market themselves. Stuffed rock lobsters with little life preservers, records, shirts, hoodies and even shorts with the phrase “Pleasure Seeker” across the ass were all back at the little 9:30 merch enclave. More shit than I’ve ever seen back there actually.
It’s nearly impossible to do this band any justice in writing or by photo. They are just and experience, one I highly suggest you get in on at some point. If you missed the sold out show this go ‘round, catch them June 7 at DAR as part of the True Colors tour with Cyndi Lauper, Regina Spektor, Tegan and Sara and Carson Kressley.
red’s dress is from Bebe
i have it in another color
oh so stylish
If there was a band I could kill it would be this one (oh, and Crazytown), but the B-52s were more horrible since living outside Athens I was subjected to the cult of these untalented morons constantly.
April 28, 2008 at 2:30 pm
Fred does a killer dance party on sirius every weekend worth listening to. For once he is also the only one that doesn’t look bizarre in some odd way.
April 28, 2008 at 1:46 pm