My column for this coming week focuses on the motivations and meaning of the Go-Go’s concert I saw last week. That will post on Tuesday. I wanted to talk a little here about the actual show, which was also blogged about here.
- It is kind of a shame that they didn’t fill the Hershey Theatre. I’m not sure of the marketing for the concert. I know there were some local newspaper stories, but can’t attest to what else happened since I’m an hour away and not on their mailing list. Not sure how much the Memorial Day weekend had to do with it.
- That said, the theatre is stunning, and I thought the acoustics were good.
- If you want to go cougar or MILF hunting, a Go-Go’s show is your territory.
- I ordered “a lager” at the bar. The guy asked me “Yuengling or Sam Adams.” Really? In central PA?
- The main thing I will always take from this show was how the quintet simply looked happy. The joy of performing together came through the music even if it wasn’t the most rambunctious audience. They didn’t look like they considered playing 30-year-old songs a burden. I hate when bands find their legacy tiresome. That’s not to say everything was perfect about their performance, but I had fun. That’s all that matters to me.
- The set list included a few cool additions – a cover of Mother’s Little Helper by the Rolling Stones and nods to the solo careers of Belinda Carlisle (Mad About You) and Jane Wiedlin (Cool Places).
- Because of my third-row seat, I was probably no more than 25-30 feet from Charlotte Caffey and Kathy Valentine as they stood side-by-sde and played the iconic middle eight of “We Got the Beat.” A chill-worthy moment for a geek like me.
- They changed the arrangement of a couple of songs (Automatic and Fading Fast)to put Caffey on electric keyboard instead of guitar. It worked pretty well.
- And the set list itself with links to the few videos which have popped up on Youtube (they were pretty vigilant about stopping people from filming): Vacation, Tonight, How Much More, Get Up and Go, Mad About You, Lust for Love, Mother’s Little Helper, Automatic, Fading Fast, Cool Places, This Town, Unforgiven, Stuck in My Car, The WHole World Has Lost Its Head, Our Lips are Sealed, Skidmarks on My Heart, We Got the Beat; ENCORE 1: Surfing and Spying/Beatnik Beach, Head Over Heels; ENCORE 2: Fun With Ropes.