Blondie & Pat Benatar Bring Rock to Bethlehem

Blondie & Pat Benatar Bring Rock to Bethlehem


By Brian Walmer, Independent Music Critic

(Professional photos from Allentown's Morning Call, Tour poster from Google Images, Stage shot of Blondie & The Donna's by Brian Walmer)



Two of the biggest names in Rock joined forces this summer to create the "Call Me Invincible Tour". Pat Benatar & Blondie along with newbies The Donna's came together for a night of classic songs near the closing of Bethlehem's annual Musikfest.




The Donna's, a 4 piece all girl rock band, opened up the show with a brief set of old songs and new including their big hit "Take It Off" before a crowd of near 5,500 at the outdoor Sands Riverplace.



After a brief set change, Pat Benatar took the stage hard with "All Fired Up" from her '88 album, "Wide Awake In Dreamland". Benatar, looking better than ever at 56 as she proudly annouced, kept the hits coming as her and her band performed "You Better Rum" and "Shadow's of The Night". Early in the set, Benatar introduced her band which includes her husband, Neil "Spyder" Giraldo. The two of them are currently celebrating their 31th year touring together. Before each song, the duo gave fans a mini history of the song's history.




Pat & Neil pulled up two stools and told everyone to take out their cell phones and wave them in the air as they performed an amazing version of 1984's "We Belong". More hits followed including "Invincible", which Benatar said is a great song from a not so great movie ("The Legend of Billie Jean") and "Hell Is For Children", a song which raises awareness about child abuse.






When it came time for "Hit Me With Your Best Shot", Benatar told the audience the only way she'd sing the song is if they sang the line she hates to sing...so partway through the mic was held out as the crowd yelled out "...so before I put another notch in my lipstick case, you better make sure you put me in my place!". Before closing out her set, Benatar's first number one & crowd favorite, "Love Is a Battlefield", became yet another sing a long. Coming back for 2 encore's, Benatar performed "Promises In The Dark" and her first big hit, "Heartbreaker" before saying her good bye's and getting the crowd hyped up for Blondie.


After a brief 20 minute intermission, the band that is Blondie came onto the stage led by front woman Deborah Harry. At 64, she is still every bit the blond bombshell she was in her heyday. She led the crowd through a rousing "Call Me" which led into "Hanging On the Telephone". Harry then performed the first single off her 2007 solo album, "Two Times Blue" then went right back into Blondie mode with the rarely performed "The Hardest Part".




Blondie, although now only consisting of 3 original members, kept the hits coming as the night went on. Whether it was their big comeback single, "Maria", or putting a "I'll Take You There" spin on "The Tide Is High", the band was tighter than ever. Harry performed another track off her "Necessary Evil" album, this one fitting the outdoor theme, "You're Too Hot". The 1980 "Rapture" proved that Ms. Harry could still rap with the best of them extending the song to include the Coolio rap from 1998's "No Exit" before leading into "One Way or Another".


Coming back for 3 encore's the band started up with a rock cover of Celine Dion's "Titantic" theme song, "My Heart Will Go On". Their trademark, "Heart of Glass", had the huge outdoor crowd up and singing along. Closing out the evening, the band performed the Michael Jackson classic, "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" and made it sound new again. The band could definitly release it today and have a hit with it. Following thank you's to the audience, the band left the stage leaving everyone talking about how amazing these rocker's have held up over the course of over 30 years.