Now for a good part of that time it wasn’t necessarily all that cool to be a fan of Heart – partly due to the fact that punk and indie-rock and grunge and any number of other genres and sub-genres that came and went in that time, seemed to preclude being a fan of a classic rock band like Heart. And partly, I have to admit, the band did test my patience a little when the released a string of power ballads that got them to the top of the charts but lacked the soul of those early albums. But while my candle may have flickered from time to time, it never went out and every now and then I’d re-affirm the faith by playing a selection of the lesser known songs from Dog and Butterfly or Bebe le Strange or Private Audition that would remind me why I’d invested such faith in this band as a  vinyl buying teenager.

Those recordings always had another function. Whenever I was trying to explain to a female rock singer, what was required to be a ‘great’ female rock singer I’d inevitably end up compiling them a selection of Heart songs – things like Rockin’ Heaven Down, Crazy On You and their monumental cover of Zepplin’s Rock N Roll, to use as their template.

But despite all these years as an evangelist (and sometime apologist) for this band it wasn’t until tonight that I got to see them play live. They had never been to Australian before the current tour with Def Leppard and strangely in my time living overseas they never were touring in the places I was. It was one of those ‘bucket list’ things that I was destined not to check box.

So, although the circumstances were less than perfect, I was happy to right that wrong tonight. Ideally they wouldn’t have been playing at Rod Laver Arena, ideally they would not have been opening for Def Leppard and ideally they would have had more than an hour to ply their trade.

And judging by the crowds reaction (a crowd primarily there to see Def Leppard), there’s little doubt that had Heart been playing their won headline shows at venues like the Palais is would have been a definite sell-out.

With limited time on their hands Heart fired a few big rockets early in the set – They opened with Kick It Out before launching into Magic Man. From there the hits keep coming including What About Love, These Dreams, Alone, Crazy on You and Barracuda, along with Straight On, which was actually the song that found the band really hitting their stride. They performed their version of You’re The Voice which was probably unnecessary, given they had many of their own songs they could have done.

Ann didn’t disappoint anyone who had held her up as the example of a great female rock singer. The powerful, soaring, passionate delivery was still there, and on songs like Alone and the closer Love, Reign O’er Me, she was supreme. The last song, a cover of the Who’s Quadrophenia track was a surprise selection.

However it was Nancy Wilson who almost stole the show. Can someone explain to me how she can be such a vital performer as he approached her late fifties? These got more sass, more attitude and cooler moves than rockers (male or female) half her age and she really is one of the most under-rated stars in that genre. There’s something incredibly ‘true’ about the way she goes about her business that suggests that the fire still burns for her. Amazing.

For me, obviously I would have loved to hear them delve into deeper album cuts and some more obscure material – and some songs from their new album Red Velvet Car, which is a great return to top form, but realistically I wasn’t going to get that tonight. Hopefully now the ice has finally been broken with Australian audiences they will return for a headline tour in more sympathetic surroundings.

I mean, Mojo Album of the Year, right?

As punts go this one was better than a few of the horses I’ve been backing lately.

I didn’t get around to buying the album prior to the show, so I really didn’t know what to expect, even in terms of line-up. As it turns out Grant played with another multi-instrumentalist Casey Chandler (a very adept one at that) and they both largely played keyboards of various types and in some cases Grant sang with just a simple piano backing.

He was a fascinating performer. I remember about a decade ago a world respected record producer said to me “Always remember, Billy Joel is the enemy”. Well, if that is the case then as far as a man playing piano and singing is concerned then John Grant can be our friend. He plays and writes songs that are moody and melancholic but also have the playfulness of showtunes.

One of the songs lyrics consists entirely of the names of ice cream flavours! (I Wanna Go To Marz). He has a ear for melody that sometimes reminded me of Brian Wilson and at other times he has tendencies towards Bacharach & David. There was even a couple of moments when he almost seemed like a precursor to the Van Dyke Parks show coming to the same venue next month.  There’s a even a hint of Randy Newman in some of his material.

Now all these people I’ve mentioned have two things in common – an orchestral approach to their writing and a hint of eccentricity that prevents even the more gorgeous of melodies from becoming too cheesy. Yes, even Bacharach.

Grant exudes an unusual stage presence. He’s kinda nervy, but then he’ll come out with a brutally honest piece of self assessment that is confronting and has you wondering, “did he just say that?” Maybe its the years of self admitted cocaine abuse that brings out the brunt self assessments.

He’s also an exceptional singer, with a golden baritone voice from which he wrings every last bit of emotion and pathos, most notably on the albums title track. As this was Grants first tour of Australia he played several songs from his previous band The Czars and these will have sent a few fans scurrying to find albums by that band.

OK – so since I’ve been to the show, I’ve downloaded Queen of Denmark and it’s basically the same experience as the live show, except the addition layers of instrumentation push it into even more eccentric ground. It’s a brilliant piece of recording, and I can see where Mojo was coming from, but I’m actually glad I discovered Grant in the order I did. The stripped back two-man show will resonate with me for a long time.

Those who weren’t there, missed out.

The first half of the Little Feat set was amazing, showcasing almost perfectly played blues based rock music. The opening song Let It Roll was almost worth the price of admission by itself with the guitars of Paul Barrere and Fred Tackett and the keyboards of Bill Payne blending in a surging, euphoric triumph of a song that can only emerge from brilliant players understanding each other implicitly.

They could have walked off the stage then and left the crowd satisfied. The set probably never quite reached that level again, strangely enough, although, throughout, the playing was impeccable. Towards the end they perhaps suffered from trying to fit a few crowd favorites into the set and thus songs like Fat Man In A Bathtub and Willin’ were interrupted by other songs in a kind of medley approach that was a little frustrating. Still no –one will complain about hearing Time Loves A Hero and Dixie Chicken played in the manner that made them legendary – it’s just that there’s probably some audience members who were looking forward to, say, Feats Don’t Fail Me Now or Sailin’ Shoes just as much.

Overall though the sheer quality of the musicianship of this band, which is clearly undiminished by time, was a treat that I was happy to experience.

Leon Russell also offered a set that would have left some people scratching their heads. For a songwriter who has written so many amazing songs himself, he seemed very keen to play tribute to other artists. Hence we found ourselves listening to him and his crack band (which for overseas readers means a really talented band, not a band on crack!) playing songs such as Wild Horses (Rolling Stones), Hard Rains a Gonna Fall (Bob Dylan), Great Balls of Fire (Jerry Lee Lewis) and Roll Over Beethoven (Chuck Berry). Now don’t get me wrong, each of these versions was well worth hearing and performed with enthusiasm and verve, but you had to find yourself wishing for some more of Leon’s own incredible catalogue. The other disappointment was that he made no reference at all to his new album of duets with Elton John, released earlier this year. It’s a great album and a couple of songs from that would have been welcome additions.

But the fact is a little bit of research could have revealed that this is pretty much the set that Leon and this band have been playing for several years now, and we probably couldn’t have expected him to change it just for this tour.

Having said that though, he opened with Delta Lady and (like Little Feats set) the opener was worth buying a ticket for by itself.

Leon Russell is in good voice still, and his distinctive piano playing, remains unchallenged. He’s a great musician, who probably still seems to under appreciate his own greatness.

It wasn’t an entirely fulfilling concert but it was a honour to see him play live.

Eddie Vedder’s

No-one knew exactly what to expect from the show – other than it was going to be solo, largely acoustic and, certainly, a lot different to a Pearl Jam concert. And while it was all of those things, it was also a lot more.

The very nature of Pearl Jam as a stadium rock act means that everything about their show needs to be big, bombastic and large scale. It was obvious that an Eddie Vedder solo show wasn’t going to be any of these things but he gives attention to the small details to ensure that the difference is striking. The stage set is akin to a quirky lounge room. He’s seated on a stool, on a round rug, and surrounded by a selection of guitars, ukuleles, mandolins and vintage amps. There’s a beer carton with a kick drum pedal attached that serves as percussion (although not frequently), along with a miked up wooden plank that does the same job more often. Yet, despite the relatively detailed production that this involves, he tries to give the impression that you’ve wandered in to a public bar in a pub at Ocean Grove on a winters night, and stumbled upon the local surfer/muso playing covers for beer money and a counter meal.

There’s a lot of thought gone into making it look and feel like there’s not a lot of thought gone into it.

What separated Vedder from an acoustic strummer in a coastal bar were two main things – the eclectic selection of material and that voice.

As you will note from the setlist below – found the next morning on www.setlist.fm (so I can’t vouch for its absolute accuracy) – Vedder manages to strike a balance between re-imagined Pearl Jam songs, songs that have a personal history attached to him and songs that he obviously just likes. It’s a far ranging and yet remarkably well balanced set that keeps the concert interesting, even to audience members that are not hardcore devotees of his band.

He plays for two hours and the time seems to fly, which is quite an achievement for a solo performer who doesn’t have a massive catalogue of solo albums to draw from.

His vocal delivery is just superb – to be honest, while I respect the achievements, longevity and depth of quality of Pearl Jam, I’ve never realized the extent of Vedder’s raw talent until I’d seen this show.  I mean, I knew he was a good singer but…

The other aspect of this artist that this show bought home was his real integrity as a performer. With stadium rock shows the level of planning and professionalism is such that things rarely go wrong. In the more intimate and stripped back environment that artist is more exposed and more vulnerable. Thus when the loop machine fails to function properly Vedder can do no more than offer an apology and soldier on. When he choses to do a song spontaneously and then can’t find the lyrics, leading him to fling the whole folder of lyrics down on stage in frustration, then you know this isn’t a well oiled machine going through the motions. The show is all the more appealing for it. You get the sense that he was sailing kinda close to the rocks, which is something you don’t get very often at a stadium rock concert.

Vedder is a very generous performer and he gave opening act Evil J (better known to some as Eliza Jane Barnes) plenty of stage time in the encore which was highlighted by their cover of the John Doe song Golden State. Later EJ, her partner St.Cecilia and EJ’s dad Jim, joined Vedder for a raucous rendition of Neil Young’s Rockin’ In The Free World, perhaps a slightly predicable choice, but a completely euphoric moment.

At times the concert took on an almost religious zeal. Clearly the hardcore Pearl Jam fans were near ecstatic to see their man up close and personal like this, and that excitement showed in their response, but his performance transcended his fame and the status of his band. He certainly impressed me far more than I had expected.

1.         Don’t Be Shy (Cat Stevens cover)

2.         Around the Bend (Pearl Jam)

3.         Hurt (Nine Inch Nails cover)

4.         Brain Damage (Pink Floyd cover)

5.         Sometimes (Pearl Jam)

6.         I Am Mine (Pearl Jam)

7.         Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town (Pearl Jam)

8.         Just Breathe (Pearl Jam)

9.         Sleeping By Myself

10.       Without You

11.       No Ceiling

12.       Society (Jerry Hannan cover)

13.       Far Behind

14.       Guaranteed

15.       Rise

16.       You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away  (The Beatles cover)

17.       Unthought Known (Pearl Jam)

18.       Porch (Pearl Jam)

19.       Tonight You Belong To Me (Steve Martin cover) (with EJ Barnes)

20.       You Can Close Your Eyes (James Taylor cover) (with EJ Barnes)

21.       The Golden State (John Doe cover) (with EJ Barnes)

22.       Better Man (Pearl Jam)

23.       Wishlist (Pearl Jam)

24.       Dead Man (Pearl Jam)

25.       The End (Pearl Jam)

26.       Arc  (Pearl Jam) (partial)

27.       Immortality

28.       Better Days

29.       Rockin’ In The Free World (Neil Young cover) (with EJ Barnes) (also feat.      Jimmy Barnes & Cecilia Herbert)

30.       Hard Sun  (Indio cover) (with EJ Barnes) (also feat. Cecilia Herbert)

Joe Pug

While Pug’s outstanding debut album Messenger casts him as a latter day cross between Steve Earle and Steve Forbert, as a solo live act he comes across more in the Dylan mold. Now, don’t go thinking I’m labeling him, ‘the new Dylan’ – that’s been done too many times with too many dudes who walk on stage with an acoustic guitar and a harmonica – but he is very, very impressive.

He’s an interesting presence on stage – he manages to be both chillingly intense and ‘aw shucks’ casual at the same time. He inspires rapt attention, and at times he seems almost taken aback by the focus he receives from the audience. Two of the quieter songs that had the audience absolutely entranced were Not So Sure and Disguised As Someone Else, and on these you could literally hear a pin drop. (I dropped a pin to check this theory and fifteen people looked around at me accusingly)

Pug is an arresting vocalist and that’s a great place to start for a really significant new artist. He sings with such clarity and precision and wrings every last nuance from his songs. He puts the singer back into ‘singer-songwriter’.

Other highlights of the set included Bury Me Far (From My Uniform) and Speak Plainly, Diana – the latter receiving a raucous response from the audience. On the album this song is coloured by raw Crazy Horse styled electric guitar but it works equally well in a powerfully played acoustic mode.

Pug has recently relocated to Austin Tx. and he offers a cover of a local writer Tex Thomas as well as a couple of duets with his opening act Chris Altman, including an impromptu reading of Gram Parsons’ Hickory Wind. Appropriate.

It will be interesting to see where Joe Pug evolves to from here. If talent and attitude are indicators of success, then he’s in for a long, long career.

The second group of fans know that earlier work and in many cases know it in an encyclopedic fashion. These are the fans for whom Roxy Music are a band that merges art with rock and who are an English equivalent of, say, the Velvet Underground, in terms of their artistic credibility and influence. The bands self-titled first album was recorded in 1972, and at the time was seen as a wildly experimental, avant garde statement of intent.

Perhaps there is also a third group of fans – those who think that Bryan Ferry is the only important member of this band and who came along wondering what else he would play other than Lets Stick Together. This group may have been represented by the bloke in the urinal after the show loudly bemoaning the absence of The Price of Love from the setlist.

On this tour, the happiest subset of fans will have been the second group. This is clearly how it should be. After all, this line-up, with one notable exception, was the band that created that debut album and its successors For Your Pleasure, Stranded, Country Life, Siren and Manifesto. Drummer Paul Thompson departed prior to the Flesh & Blood and Avalon albums that were the ones that contained the most prominent of the hit singles.

So…given that this tour was intended to be a real and meaningful retrospective of the music of Roxy Music there was always going to be some songs that left portions of the audience a little bewildered.

The set opened with The Main Thing (from Avalon), allowing the audience to take in the spectacle, which included a full backdrop video screen that would later feature some excellent vision that really enhanced many of the songs, and two interpretive go-go dancers who couldn’t be faulted in terms of either aesthetic or technical prowess.

The songlist then took a loose stroll through the catalogue with no particular theme in mind. Ferry was in fine voice, particularly on the more atmospheric songs like the still-chilling In Every Dream Home A Heartache, while guitarist Phil Manzanera frequently contributed parts that remind you that he’s a seriously great player who probably doesn’t get the recognition he deserves.

Paul Thompson received support from a percussionist although that hardly seemed necessary while saxophonist Andy Mackay also had a sidekick sharing his duties, although his featured parts were perfectly blended and tasteful.

This was an outstanding musical concert that reflected the bands history very well. They seemed comfortable with the more brazen tracks like Street Life, the glam sounding Prairie Rose (supported by a great Texan video montage), Editions Of You and the show-stopper Do The Strand. A surprising inclusion was a cover of Like A Hurricane that had appeared on the 1990 Heart Still Beating compilation.

The other surprise was the Ferry solo hit Let’s Stick Together – perhaps performed as a concession to the less deeply connected fans. Along with Love Is The Drug this was the song that got the biggest crowd reaction, a situation that perhaps reflects reality, but not necessarily the most heartening situation for the band.

While this concert was immensely satisfying for serious fans of the band, one can only speculate how good it would have been in a more suitable venue. Rod Laver Arena works well for many shows but this show required something more intimate and, well, ornate. I’m sure the economics don’t work but I can only imagine how good this would be in the classic surrounds of the Palais or even (in a fantasy world) at a room like The Forum.

As it was Roxy Music walked away from this show with their reputation enhanced. Ferry’s effortless cool and Manzanera’s startling guitar playing were the obvious touchstones, but really the whole presentation was first rate.

Setlist

The Main Thing

Street Life

Pyjamarama

Prairie Rose

If There Is Something

More Than This

Jealous Guy

Like a Hurricane

2HB

In Every Dream Home A Heartache

Tara

Bitter-Sweet

Same Old Scene

My Only Love

Virginia Plain

Love Is The Drug

Editions Of You

Do The Strand

Avalon

Let’s Stick Together

For Your Pleasure

Everything about the album was admirable – the songs were strong, the production was impeccable, the lyrics were intriguing and the vocals of lead vocalist Matt Berninger, suggested he was a genuine singer. I’d read enough about them to know that they were valuable creative citizens, contributing to multiple worthwhile musical/social projects.

I actually had allocated them a spot in my musical catalogue alongside The Triffids, who I immediately found myself comparing them to – both sonically and aesthetically.  That’s high praise in itself, but I still hadn’t quite crossed the line from admirer to card carrying fan.

The National concert at the Palais this week (the second of two nights) found me crossing that line.

They were nothing short of outstanding. Musically they offered a much more muscular sound than on record, but it wasn’t a flexing of muscle at the expense of musical dexterity. Rather they took their recorded sound and went somewhere thrilling and intelligently creative with it.  You can only do this when you play like a band that hasn’t forgotten that they are a band first and foremost, and a “performing machine” second. What this means is that The National are actually more excited by the fact that people are digging their music than the fact that they are becoming rapidly more popular. It’s a subtle distinction but an important one and its one that the audience instinctively responds to.

Now it did occur to me that The National are possibly only a couple of hit singles away from turning into Coldplay, such was the ease with which they commanded the stage – you could actually imagine this band making the same connection with a stadium sized audience as they did in this theatre of devotees.  But I suspect that even if that happens they might be able to do it on their terms. And to me that’s something that distinguishes them from their apparent peers like The Arcade Fire, The Decemberists and Band of Horses, none of which I could imagine making the leap to stadia.

Whether The National even have that ambition is questionable anyway, and in a way it’s not even important. What is vital knowledge right now is the vitality with which they play.  The High Violet songs were the ones that leapt out at me, although I’m sure fans of longer standing were equally as excited by older favorites. Bloodbuzz Ohio, Terrible Love and Runaway were examples of very exciting music, but perhaps Afraid of Everyone was the song that made me realize just how good this band is. And the brave and effective semi- acapella (which is of course a contradiction, so sue me) show-closer Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks was a stunning way to round out the show.

It will be really interesting to chart this bands progress from here – they will be faced with a dilemma regarding their own trajectory at some point if it hasn’t happened already. I get the impression that they will work out a solution. They seem to be well equipped to deal with it.

The Pretenders and Blondie are alternating the ‘headline’ spot across this Australian tour and tonight Blondie went on first.

Debbie Harry looked amazing at 65 and after sorting out a couple of initial sound problems she seemed happy to be there, after a long absence from Australia. They opened with a new song called D Day, which was just as well as the audience was more intent on checking out Harry and her attitude than reacting to a hit song. Satisfied that she was “switched on” and not going to be a shadow of her former self, the audience then became putty in her hands.

Songs like Hangin’ On The Telephone, Union City Blues and The Hardest Part showed that they were going to dig a little deeper into their catalogue than just the really big hit singles and the emphasis seemed to be on reclaiming their punk and new wave roots rather than celebrating their chart success. While songs like Rapture, Heart of Glass and the Tide Is High all were played and well received but for me it was One Way Or Another , Maria and Atomic that were the highlights. Somewhere along the way Call Me went completely askew and it was the one song of the big hits that failed to recapture its magic.

Special mention must be made of original drummer Clem Burke. His playing was just outstanding and I was reminded just how important he was to their original sound. He remains one of the great, (relatively) unsung heroes of the new wave scene.

A more bizarre contribution came from the keyboard player who had the world’s most ludicrous mullet and a really annoying disengaged look. He was such a throwback to the bad days of new wave that you have to assume he was deliberately trying to be ironic.

Sure there were songs that didn’t get played that I would have loved to have heard (Denis, Rip Her To Shreds and of course In The Flesh) but no-one could complain about the songs that were played and the motivations that guided the selection of the set. Debbie Harry and Blondie have certainly reclaimed their rightful place and the audiences response was reflective of both their enthusiasm and a little bit of relief.

The Pretenders have never really lost their place in the upper echelon of rock acts.

While their set was less raucously received than Blondie’s, it was equally respectful. Chrissie Hynde remains a commanding stage presence and her vocals were impeccable. On the stunning Hymm To Her, she showed that she had lost nothing, delivering the song with both emotion and power.

The rest of the set consisted on a great selection of hits and a few unexpected surprises. One of these was the pre-Brass In Pocket single, Ray Davies’ Stop Your Sobbing while Talk Of The Town, Day After Day and Message Of Love from Pretenders II were personal highlights for me. Learning To Crawl was represented by Middle Of The Road, Back On The Chain Gang and 2000 Miles, all of which sounded as good as ever, perhaps better in the case of the latter due to some additional textures provided by the pedal steel..

Two songs that were definite crowd favorites were I’ll Stand By You and the set closer Brass In Pocket.

But the quality of this performance went far beyond the setlist. This was a great band playing great rock music with dexterity and passion. While Chrissie has been known to describe the last 20 years of Pretenders as “looking like a tribute band”, this line-up certainly doesn’t play like that. The inclusion of pedal steel player Eric Heywood has added a nice texture to some of the songs and his presence frees Chrissie up to engage more with the audience. And in what was turning out to be a great night for veteran drummers, Martin Chambers showed that Clem Burke wasn’t the only sticksman with his chops completely undiminished. James Walbourne contributed some sizzling lead guitar that had the audience convinced of his importance in this line-up.

Chrissie Hynde probably had less to prove than Debbie Harry but that shouldn’t cause us to under-rate her performance. She truly is one of the greats.

Seven Songs

Each artist was to perform a their first song, a song to share, a Leonard Cohen song, a song they coveted (ie that they wished they had written), two songs of their own and a song to leave behind.

The artists agreeing to take this challenge were an enticing assortment – Sinead O’Connor, Rickie Lee Jones, Gurrumul Yunipingu, Meshell Ndegeocello, John Cale and the Black Arm Band (which included Dan Sultan, Shellie Morris, Leah Flanagan and Ursula Yovich).

 To be honest which songs fitted which categories became a bit blurred – except for the obvious Cohen covers – and none of the artists other than O’Connor felt the need to explain the reasons fort their chooses or even how they interpreted the meaning of the categories.

This wasn’t a shortcoming though – in fact it added to the spontaneity and unpredictability of the show. Some artists did mini-sets within the show but it wasn’t a programme where one artist did their seven songs and then the next did seven songs and so on. Rather they seemed to come and go almost randomly. For example O’Connor appeared early in the show to perform the song she coveted – the brutal female punk anthem Shitlist (originally performed by radical femme punks L7) , bu then she wasn’t seen again until quite late in the show.

All the artists were backed by Orchestra Victoria who performed a diverse range of material with sympathy and creativity – a fine effort from them which really added to the show as a whole.

The highlights were many and varied and interestingly came from just about all the categories. Yunipingu opened the show playfully with surf instrumental Wipeout which was an amusing choice for an artist whose voice is so rightly revered. Ndegeocello version of Cohen’s Chelsea Hotel No.2 was hypnotic as was her take on Pop Life and she was the nights most enthusiastic contributor frequently guesting as bass player on a number of other performances.     

Sinead O’Connor’s song to leave behind was a stark, and memorable rendition of her big hit, Prince’s Nothing Compares 2 U while her cover of Dylan’s Serve Somebody was ironic and confronting.  John Cale’s collection of songs seemed least obviously tied to the criteria but his strange and discordant reworking of Heartbreak Hotel was apt.

The Black Arm Band collective performance of Paul Simon’s Boy In The Bubble was uplifting while Dan Sultan confirmed his fast rising star with Cohen’s If It Be Your Will.

But perhaps two of the most stunning moments of the night was provided by Rickie Lee Jones. Firstly her duet with the absent Archie Roach on Somewhere (There’s A Place For Us) was touching and poignant and contrasted with the exuberance of her rendition of Gangsta’s Paradise, her song to covet. As she showed on her relatively recent tour Rickie Lee Jones remains a surprisingly and creatively monumental artist.

Perhaps predictably, but fittingly Cale led the entire cast through an encore of Cohen’s Hallelujah to close the evening.

It was a magical and inspiring evening of music delivered with class and taste by a brilliantly selected group of great artists. I just wish it had been a few degrees warmer at the Myer Music Bowl!

Where the success of Paul Weller’s show had nothing to do with nostalgia there was no suggestion of anyone trying to do anything else than mine their legacy in tonight’s show.

Pat Benatar is 58 years old, her husband and guitarist Neil ‘Spyder’ Giraldo must be close to mid 60’s. Whatever it is that they sprinkle on their wheaties, I want some.  Benatar sounds amazing; she’d sound amazing if she was 28, let alone 58. She really is an exceptional female rock singer and even if a couple of her big hits sound a teeny bit dated now she still stands head and shoulders above most of her contemporaries in terms of her vocal endurance. Perhaps only Ann Wilson has lasted equally well as a singer.

Her set opened with All Fired Up and what was immediately noticeably was that the stage was sparce and unadorned. Just the four players, just as it had been when she was starting out, they even resisted the need to have a keyboard player or a row of backing vocalists. There was a couple of musical parts that appeared out of thin air but the suggestion being made strongly was that this was a real rock n’ roll band.

I would say the set varies little from night to night and I’d even suggest that the between song patter is well rehearsed, especially the repartee between Benatar and Giraldo which is the kind of exchange you’d expect from a thirty year married couple at a dinner party rather than two rockers on stage. But here’s the thing – they are not trying to be anything they are not. Giraldo is a great player and his contributions to his wife’s career as a producer and songwriter are huge. Drummer Myron Grombacher is an outstanding, flamboyant rock drummer and Benatar delivers vocally on every song.

The hits are all present and accounted for. We Belong, Hell Is 4 Children, Hit Me With Your Best Shot and Love Is A Battlefield are all in the main set while Heartbreaker features in the encore. Others such as You Better Run and the title track of the Shadows In The Night album are confirmed crowd favourites. Memorable songs played and sung really well – there’s not much more you can ask than that. I was secretly hoping for We Live For Love but you cant get everything you want!

Prior to Benatar’s set The Bangles jingle jangled their way through a set of their own greatest hits and one new song that was almost indistinguishable from their old hits. The Peterson sisters and Suzanna Hoffs were full of fizz and bubble and played the songs in a way that was light on substance but big on fun.

The Bangles are an interesting case study. They started life as an almost underground art school band that effortlessly stormed the pop charts. These days the whole act is a little Las Vegas for me but there’s no denying that there are some gems in their setlist. Songs like Hero Takes A Fall (the loosest and best song of their set) and Going Down To Liverpool are beautifully constructed guitar pop songs while Jules Shear’s If She Knew What She Wants is also impeccable. Prince’s Manic Monday went down a treat while Walk Like An Egyptian re-claimed part of its relevance as they segued in and out of The Who’s Magic Bus.

Personally I would love to see Hoffs perform her two albums of brilliantly chosen cover versions with Matthew Sweet but that might have to wait for another time and place. For tonight The Bangles provided a cheerful warm-up for the excellent Pat Benatar show that followed.