You know how you can tell you’re getting old? When a band who came of age and made their splash during your teenage years gets to the point where they’ve embarked on their farewell tour.
Southern California all-female pop band The Go-Go’s who made their mark in the early 80’s and broke down plenty of barriers and stereotypes while doing do have decided to call it quits to life on the road and opened their final run of concert dates at Clearwater’s lush Capitol Theatre on Tuesday night.
But, in typical fashion, the band turned the event into a rousing party.Taking the stage promptly at 9 p.m., the five-piece ensemble appeared onstage as Grand Funk Railroad’s 1973 rock anthem “We’re An American Band” blared through the house sound system. Singing along, fist pumping and strutting to the cowbell-laden tune, it was obvious that the five ladies were geared and primed to deliver a memorable night of music and fun on their last visit to the area.
Opening their set with their cheerful, ultra-catchy 1982 smash “Vacation”, the gals wasted no time in reminding the 80’s-raised crowd of their sheer pop appeal and their boatload of sparkling, hook-filled songs. Newest member Abby Travis provided chunky, booming bass lines all night long over which melodic twin guitar riffs and Gina Schock’s steady drum beats comfortably melded. Guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Jane Wiedlin, sporting a short mop of bright blue hair, spun, sang, bopped and posed constantly resembling a modern day Peter Pan in her short white flowing dress while adding a flawless layer of power pop sheen to the performance, most notably on early album cut “How Much More”. Multi-instrumentalist and multi-talented Charlotte Caffey, clad in button-up white shirt and wielding a gorgeous green Fender Jaguar guitar looked focused and intent on delivering the good. The punky, new wave strains she added to “Tonite” helped to serve as bona fide proof of the band’s harder, grittier roots for those who might not have been in the know.
“We started in 1978…so we started when we were two!” lead chanteuse Belinda Carlisle joked. Resembling more of a mall mom than a punk rock lead singer, the always stylish vocalist dressed in flower print blouse and capri pants and held court all night while shimmying and shaking along to the tunes. Dipping back through the catalog to uncover rarely played nuggets as a parting gift for their most faithful, the band coasted through plenty of obscurities while being sure to not leave out any of their crowd-pleasing hit singles along the way. Schock, not content to stay behind her kit at the rear of the stage, made a few visits to Carlisle’s mic stand to address the adoring crowd.
“If you don’t believe we used to be a punk band, after these songs, you will” she laughed before the band ripped into some cruder, more aggressive selections from the days of playing seedy nightclubs alongside other notorious California punk rock notables. Solo material was even thrown in for good measure: Belinda’s 1986 debut solo single “Mad About You” and Jane’s 1983 duet with quirky duo Sparks “Cool Places” found their way into the vast and varied set list.
Shimmering ballads like “Fading Fast” helped to vary the pacing of the set while really showing off Carlisle’s emotive, fragile vocals. A personal highlight came in the way of a bouncy mashup of the band’s signature cut “We Got The Beat” with David Bowie’s 1974 rocker “Rebel Rebel” which worked incredibly well and drew hearty responses from the antsy crowd who was on its feet and dancing furiously all night.The 90-minute set seemed to fly by and wrapped up with some top notch encores. The back-to-back pop punch of “Get Up and Go” and “Head Over Heels” spotlighted the band’s penchant for irresistible, fun, dance tunes.
A surprising moment came in a totally straightforward, tender, acoustic reading of Miley Cyrus’s “Wrecking Ball”…and the band made it all their own. The final hurrah came with a scintillating version of “Skidmarks On My Heart” from the band’s 1981 record-breaking debut album Beauty and the Beat. With that final nod and a group bow, The Go-Go’s graced a local stage for the last time.
“We may be done…but our music will live on!” Caffey had confidently stated earlier in the night, a statement every person who filled every available seat in the theater no doubt fully agree with.
This article appears in Aug 4-11, 2016.