I can now say I have seen the amazing Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders perform in both of my “homes”. Having last been with them in 1980 at the Capitol Theater in Passaic, New Jersey, it was truly a thrill to reunite last night at the Dodge Theater in Phoenix—especially since my favorite “date” took me to both concerts. And while this may not technically be a transplant story, the experience was so remarkable that I feel compelled to try to recapture it in today’s column.
Chrissie Hynde, one of the greatest—if not THE greatest—female rock and roll legends of all time, is closing in on sixty years old and looks fabulous. But though she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005 as one of the original Pretenders, she somehow still remains underrated as the woman who paved the way for the many female rock stars who came after her.
But if I ever grow up, I want to be her. Besides how she looks, she sounds better than ever. You can almost hear in her richer voice the undeniably colorful life she’s led, and see it in the way she moves. She had a house full of fans up on their feet singing, dancing, cheering, clapping and having a great time. This may sound like typical rock concert behavior, but bear in mind that many of these fans were past forty. Most of them were far past forty.
And Chrissie is well aware of our mutually advancing ages. She commented that it was good to see so many old faces in the crowd, then hid her own face. There were no binoculars allowed, which is something I’d never heard of at a concert. Maybe she didn’t want us to see her too close up. And after dedicating one song to her former bandmates, the late James Honeyman-Scott and Pete Farndon, she also joked that she would be with them soon: “Open the keg”, she said, “it won’t be long now”. But she’s not exactly dipping one foot in the grave yet and is still the coolest chick ever, from her knee high black boots to her black jacket with tails to her signature long bangs.
Maybe it’s because she eats no meat? At the Pretenders’ request, none was sold at the concession stands during the show. But I can forgive that because it was Chrissie’s wish, even though hot dogs are one of my favorite foods. Fortunately I had eaten dinner before going to the theater, and ironically it was just a salad anyway. But I like to be the one who decides when I will or will not eat meat. I guess my only exception to that rule is if the Pretenders tell me otherwise. Or the Pope.
Attendants at the concert also handed out copies of “Vegetarian Starter Kit” magazine because “Chrissie wants everyone to have one”. This meant that while waiting for the show to start, everyone was reading about the nobility of chickens. But hey, if becoming a vegetarian means I can look as fit at fifty-seven as Ms. Hynde does, I may have to rethink the whole thing.
The opening band, called American Bang, was young and loud. That’s about the best I can say about them. The crowd was there for the Pretenders and the Pretenders only. During the opening act, there was lots of cell phone activity: texting, solitaire playing and checking stock quotes.
But once the Pretenders hit the stage, everything changed. The crowd was excited yet up and down in their seats at first, mostly up for the classics and down for the newer stuff. A little different than the last Pretenders concert I attended. Was it because fans in Phoenix are more reserved? I don’t think so. I think it was more the difference in the average audience member’s age--and energy level on a Wednesday. Chrissie noticed and told her audience, “You just relax, we’ll do all the work”, but predicted that “before it’s over, we’ll get you going, and I promise you won’t be bored.”
And get us going they did. Before my eyes, the crowd of baby boomers soon transformed into twenty-year-olds again. Because damn if our generation is not to be applauded for refusing to get old, and I mean that in the best possible way. Whether it’s the Pretenders or (God forbid) Country music or anything on the broad spectrum in between, we can still get passionate about our favorite artists and when we do, age no longer matters. I had the feeling I kept seeing my own attitude reflected in this show’s audience: men and women who still like to wear their hair spiky on occasion, still “getting their groove on”. We feel good and it shows. We know we won’t pass for twenty anymore and we don’t necessarily want to. But we’re not ready to be “old”, whatever that means. Not yet anyway. When we go to a concert like this, we want to have fun and forget exactly where we are for awhile.
For an hour and half, the Pretenders gave us that. We forgot about the economy, about teenagers who may be driving us crazy, and about college funds which may be shrinking. We stopped worrying about aging parents and our falling home values and our tanking 401(k)’s and that we may have to work years past what we used to think of as retirement age—if we don’t get laid off tomorrow. We didn’t care about thinning hair, failing eyesight, high cholesterol or upcoming colonoscopies. So what if our slim fit jeans now fit a little too slimly? In that moment, the years melted away and we were back in 1980 and could still rock out with the best of them.
A big thank you to Chrissie Hynde and her Pretenders for that gift.
May you stay forever young.
Comments
great article on one of my favorite people... have fun in cali my most favorite people...
Umm, Susan, as much as I do like the Pretenders, I thought I'd tell you that Bruce Springsteen is going to be in AZ on his new tour.. :) :) There's another article in the making! LOL
Ahhhh...Bruce...the ultimate Jersey Boy. I thought of you, Nicole, during his SuperBowl half-time performance. The Boss did us all proud!
Chrissie and I are the same age. Love her sound and I like to think that any of us can look good with or without chicken in our diets. Besides, chickens just aren't that cute . . .
Good column!
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