Two Rock Legends Play Seaside
Last night’s Seaside Summer Concert with three bands — Pat Benatar, Blondie, and The Donnas — was a great show. Pat Benatar entered the stage at 8:25 p.m. Her late start was due to the opening band, The Donnas, who took the stage, first. During the break between Pat Benatar and Blondie, there were two ladies in sequined dresses dancing to recorded oldies.
Pat Benatar sang her famous songs and invited the audience to chime in on a few of them. The crowd sounded quite good, actually. During the performance, we were told that Pat Benatar is originally from Greenpoint, Brooklyn. With all its up and coming trendiness, there’s no venue large enough in North Brooklyn to host a concert befitting the famed Greenpoint native. Finally, the one thing that we have that they don’t have.
Pat Benatar’s live performance wasn’t as powerful as it was when her hits were all fresh, but it was still excellent for a 30-year anniversary. For her performance, the sound system seemed a little fuzzy, but that didn’t stop her from belting it out with “Love is a Battlefield” and “Hit Me With Your Best Shot”. Her voice was familiar as she hit the stupendous high note in “Hell is For Children,” while her long hair made her less recognizable compared to her short 1980’s look.
When Deborah Harry entered the stage and started singing her famous “Call Me”, the crowd — which by one eyewitness account was “not as many people” that had attended the Frankie Valli concert two weeks ago — went wild. Blondie performed about 11 songs and had people dancing, including one woman who made sure to say, “I’m 73 years old!”.
Blondie’s sound system was definitely louder and clearer than Pat’s. She sounds exactly the same as she did years ago and pretty much looks the same, too. In the middle of her performance she took off the military-style jacket, and we could see her shorts and her fancy legwork.
Finishing off her set with “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” was a nice tribute to Michael Jackson and the message echoed exactly the way everyone felt. No one wanted to stop, because with two legends performing under the summer sky — like the song she didn’t perform (“Dreaming”) says: “free” — we could have let them perform for hours.
[Once again, we need to mention that there are no photographs allowed at the Asser Levy Seaside Summer Concerts. Although law enforcement completely ignores anyone taking pictures (and smoking marijuana), we didn’t take any.]