[…continued from last post]

I heard from my former co-worker while we had been talking that tonight’s show had DEVO closing and he was right as by 7:45 p.m. the video screen began to light up. An animated skull with a beehive [and Fred Schneider’s voice!] prepared us for the B-52’s show about to happen by admonishing us to “dance our asses off” and to “put away our cell phones!!”

The show began with the high energy title track to their “Cosmic Thing” best-selling album. A deep cut, yet entirely appropriate to herald this “Cosmic De-Evolution” tour, as it was named. I was happy to see that their band wasn’t all young hired guns as their bass player was at least my age! The interplay between Fred, Cindy, and Kate was still sharp, intense, and magical. The harmonies between the ladies were particularly adroit while Fred could only be Fred! The King Of Sprechgesang vocals, and the only deadpan male vocalist I can name from my Record Cell!

I will admit that I had adopted a blasé attitude at the notion of seeing The B-52’s for the first time in 35 years for the entire period from hearing about this to taking my seat, but they swiftly stoked the flames of my great enthusiasm with their spirited performance. I was further gobsmacked by the next song in their set, another deep cut in the title track to “Mesopotamia.” The video screen was playing animated graphics for each song and it was drawing the cover art on the screen for this one.

Then came a favorite from “Wild Planet.” It was the Cindy Wilson-led single “Give Me Back My Man.” And as much as I enjoy her sultry purr on the verses, she was really hitting the high notes of emotional intensity in the songs chorus full on. And better still, a large glockenspiel was wheeled onstage for Fred to play the haunting, crystalline refrain from the song. This show was already schooling me on how my indifference to the band [just because I was finally seeing DEVO, not to mention Lene Lovich] had been entirely wrong-footed.

Another ”Wild Planet” deep cut classic followed with “Strobe Light.” Fred used a huge, inflatable 90s model cell phone like a prop comic during the hilarious, deadpan intro to the song. The ladies upped the pressure on the hot number with their harmonies as the song, er, climaxed into a frenzied peak.

After that, the set took a turn to the easy-going bucolic sound of “Deadbeat Club” as Cindy asked the audience if anyone had ever visited Athens, Georgia, where it had all began for them. [Monk raises hand] Then the first big hit from “Cosmic Thing” followed as the top Ten hit of “Roam” worked its harmonies into our hearts and minds. With the music video playing on the background screen. I had to admit that I woke the next day with this one already playing in the mental Walkman.

With that, the easy-going, mellow lull in the set was duly over as the frenzy of the show’s second half kicked off with the zany “Party Out Of Bounds.” Cindy Wilson had bongos at the ready for her to play on this one. This had always been a favorite song from the “Wild Planet” album and I was finding this set list to have been extremely well-considered. Every song and performance was delightful and the whole show had been a flow of unbridled joy from start to finish.

Fave debut album track “Dance This Mess Around” followed and I got another chance to hear my favorite B-52 Cindy Wilson sing lead as she moved from sweetly reflective to agitated as the song progressed along its emotional arc. The video background for this song was a frenzy of B-52’s vintage footage and a highly entertaining master cut of dance footage running the gamut from Fred Astaire to Batman dancing the Batusi with Adam West at his campiest.

Next came the driving intensity of “Private Idaho” with those still eccentric Kate Pierson vocals in the distinctive intro! I still marvel at how such a song managed to sneak into the Billboard Hot 100 back in the day. The happy-making megahit “Love Shack” got a valedictory airing with a mixture of new video footage as well as clips from the music video [some uncannily in sync with the live music being sung] filing the main video screen.

The RAHB! and I were actually thrilled that the band followed “Love Shack” with a song we both treasured even more! The Spy-Fi cucumber cool concoction that is “Planet Claire.” Surf Rock played such a big part in the formation of the band but guitar riff in this one was just made for mashing up with DEVO’s cover of “Secret Agent Man!”

They ended the show with the beginning. “Rock Lobster.” The first B-52’s single that got the whole B’s train rolling along in 1978! Even though most of us became aware in 1979. I have one of these and the fundamental oddness of it hasn’t stopped it from becoming an eccentric Party Rock classic. A seven plus minute LP cut that played like an early 12” single, only better. Complete with a dancer in a giant lobster costume. Of course!

The magic of The B-52’s is down to the interplay between the three vocalists, who are still holding the line in this day and age. That Cindy and Kate can still harmonize magnificently, while Fred adds the heaping bucketfuls of the Element X that only he can provide is the secret sauce that ensures that The B-52’s are still a hugely people-pleasing phenomenon. The four piece backing band were admirably not a bunch of fresh-faced youngsters but close to peers with the band themselves. The set list provided a successful arc through their catalog with everything I needed to hear right in the sweet spot, while also providing a few surprises that I wasn’t expecting [like “Mesopotamia”] but nonetheless loved hearing.

I will admit that I looked on The B-52’s as an added bonus that didn’t hurt any at this show, but the fact of the matter was that they managed to show me the error of taking them for granted. By delivering an excellent set that just might be an even better memory than that valedictory post-“Love Shack” leg of the original “Cosmic Thing” tour that had stood for so long as my favorite B-52’s concert. I’m very happy that I got a last chance to see them strutting their funky stuff one more time.

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