Let's be honest there'd be no Spice Girls or dare I say it Pussy Riot if it hadn't have been for Belinda,Jane,Gina,Charlotte and Kathy and the blue print for every all female group since 1982 was "Beauty And The Beat"
When I heard the Go Go's were coming to The Keswick I quickly set aside my dislike of the venue to see them,don't get me wrong I think The Keswick is a great venue for certain types of bands but my concern w/ seated venues for bands is if you want to get up and dance to is you give the audiance the option of sitting and if you happen to be in front of someone who prefers to sit then the whole "can you sit down please" debate kicks off,personally if I wanted to sit and listen to the Go Go's I could stay home and listen to the cds{that said while listening to their "Greatest Hits" cd on Wedneday lunch time I found it very difficult to sit still!!},seriously what's the point of having the beat if you can't dance to it????
Prior to the tour I was disappointed to hear Kathy Valentine was no longer w/ the band,I always liked Kathy and I have a fondness for redheads and a weakness for female bass players{Patricia Morrisson.....need I say more....thought not!} so imagine my delight to see Abby Travis filling in as bass player on this tour....I won't say I was heaven but I swear St Peter and the angel Gabriel were in the row next to me!!!!!!
W/ a thundering drum intro The Go Go's kicked off their set w/"Get Up And Go" and while that only got a handful of the audiance on their feet "Vacation" had alot more folks up and dancing....including the women behind me{Sex Dwarf anytime ladies??}so I didn't have to worry about them asking me to sit down.....!
"Tonite" and "How Much More" followed b4 "Mad About You" a Belinda cover,the first of a few.....
"Automatic" and "Fading Fast" continued the "Beauty And The Beat" celebration.nine of the eleven songs on the album made it onto tonites set list.
I recognised the intro to "Paint It Black" the Stones classic right away and was pleasently taken aback at how good of a cover version the Go Go's performed which then lead to an in band discussion about the merits of Mick and company and their ability to cover the song
''Cool Places" the Sparks written song w/ Jane Wiedlen followed.....eventually after the band stopped mid way through,Abby had begun the song in the wrong key...hey she's the new girl cut her some slack!,it did however give creedence to what Charlotte had said on the introduction to "Fading Fast" "what you see is what you get w/ the Go Go's,live music,no tapes etc" which Gina then backed up w/ her comment about them being 100% live and being happy to play for the auidance.
Another cover,"Cool Jerk" followed w/ the band inviting some members of the crowd up on stage to dance w/ them,looking at the tiny girl dressed in a Go Go's t shirt as she danced on the stage probably oblivious to the magnatude of how cool it was to be on stage w/ the Go Go's I couldn't help but think that as an "elder statesman" of the 80's it's my responsibility to help keep this great music alive for the generations that follow,I was lucky to not only love the 80's but live it also,and making sure that the generations to come who didn't live it w/ me can still enjoy the music.
"This Town" began to crank up the hits as the set drew to a close,"Unforgiven" was the lone "God Bless The Go Go's" number of the nite.
"Skidmarks On My Heart" served as a chance for some of the still seated to get up and dance,by the time the set closed w/ two Go Go's classics "Our Lips Are Sealed" and "We Got The Beat'' which segued nicly w/ the Kiss classic "Rock N Roll All Nite" it seemed like the whole crowd was finally up and dancing.
"Lust To Love" and "Head Over Heals" served as the encore and sadly the end of the show,I'd have loved to have heard "Girl Of 100 Lists" but in concerts as in life we don't always get what we want,if that were true I'd have Abby Travis's phone number.......
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