By: Stacy Schwartz
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| The Bangles - Photo by Steve Cohen |
In less than five seconds, it was the mid-'80s. How did I come to wear neon? Why was my hair in a side ponytail? What the… Ok, so it’s actually 2007 and I’m at First Avenue with Suzanna Hoffs, Debbie Peterson and Vickie Peterson on stage singing “Hazy Shade of Winter.” The crowd is full of mid-30s women singing at the top of their lungs. These are the same women who decades ago pranced around their bedrooms with a hairbrush microphone while listening to The Bangles. I can’t lie. I was ecstatic. I bounced, I sang, I shook my hair in my own face, I screamed “Oh my God, I love this song!” in other people’s faces.
Initially, I was frightened. Would the band I’d put on a pedestal at age 12 be good anymore? Were they going to be a sad imitation of that supergirl group I’d known and loved? I have to say The Bangles delivered. First Avenue was far from full, but those of us in attendance were given a trip back to when things were much easier; when mom made dinner and did our laundry and we had almost no responsibility.
The opener, The Bridges, brought the perfect energy to the room with their mix of pop rock. I’d never heard them before, but their country-tinged voices made me a fan—especially when lead singer Brittany Painter opened her mouth. Her voice was smooth and strong, and she garnered a lot of catcalls from the crowd. This growing buzz allowed The Bangles to push it up a notch further with a mixture of greatest hits and new arrangements of lesser-known tracks. The set was well-rehearsed, but Hoffs and the Petersons were relaxed and attentive. There was the obligatory performance of Prince’s “Manic Monday,” mixed in with the awesome Elvis Costello track, “Tear Off Your Own Head.” They played a good 90 minutes and blew through a lot of their discography in that time.
Two highlights of the night for me were “In My Room,” which has always been my favorite Bangles song, and “Walk Like An Egyptian.” Now, “Walk Like An Egyptian” is definitely cheesy, and is not one of the band’s best songs, even if it is one of the most popular. What I liked about this version is the way the girls infused Simon and Garfunkel’s “Mrs. Robinson” into the middle. It was done seamlessly and without any sort of pretense. They sang a capella and showed the crowd that their voices have aged wonderfully well. If you closed your eyes you’d swear you were 12 again, dancing around the living room. With these types of reunions, that’s what you hope for, and The Bangles were everything I wanted them to be. Talented, strong, funny, and just plain rockin'.
Set List:
Hazy Shade of Winter
Tear Off Your Own Head
Manic Monday
Live
Rain
Stealing Rosemary
Single By Choice
Tell Me
Restless
Some Dreams Come True
Go Where You Want To Go
Liverpool
If She Knew What She Wants
Be With You
Watching The Sky
Ride the Ride
In Your Room
Hero Takes A Fall
Walk Like An Egyptian
Encore:
Pushin Too Hard
Silent Treatment
Eternal Flame
Location Info:
First Avenue
Artist Info: The Bangles, The Bridges
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