(Live Review) THE PRETENDERS - Milwaukee, 7/29/24

By

The Beard & Little Johnny

Greetings friends’ fans and followers, it is your dynamic reviewing duo the Beard and Little Johnny and we are reporting from Milwaukee, Wisconsin where we attended show #43 and band #156 of our 2024 year featuring The Pretenders. 

Now, the Beard was young once and indeed he too had a “first concert” back in days long gone by. That first concert was in 1983, and that band was The Pretenders. When I told Little Johnny it had been forty-one years since seeing Chrissie Hynde and her gang of early 80’s punk/new wave rockers, the lad replied, “I wasn’t even born that long ago Beard.”

Hynde does have a pedigree in the punk rock scene, having worked in the mid 70’s with Sid Vicious and Mick Jones along with the core musicians that would eventually form The Damned. Hynde broke from that because she wanted to be a full-time lead singer, and she formed The Pretenders in 1978. Her first successful track was covering the Kinks “Stop your Sobbing” which eventually reached #14 in the US. Their self-titled debut Pretenders I went platinum in the US and reached #1 in the UK. Their style was a precursor to the alt/new wave synth movement that would follow and featured such hits as "Brass in Pocket", "Precious", "Mystery Achiever" and "Kid".

Their second album, Pretenders II was also a success (reaching #10 in the US and going gold), but this was to be the last release with the original lineup. After the drug related deaths in 1982 of two original members, Pete Famdon (heroin) & James Scott (cocaine), the band had to retool themselves. (Ed: ... and detox.)

After one more successful album Learning to Crawl which reached #5 in the US and again went Platinum, The Pretenders began a revolving door of musicians with Hynde remaining the only constant. Their fourth album, and last of the 1980’s Get Close went Gold and produced a few of their highest charting singles including “Don’t get me Wrong”, “Hymn to Her”, and “When I Change My Life.”

Three albums in the 1990’s and two more in the 2000’s produced only one gold record, and most were only mid-level success, (although there was a brief resurgence in 2005 when the band was voted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.) 2016 saw their tenth studio album Alone after an unsuccessful Hynde solo release, but this album also failed to chart despite a tour with Stevie Nicks.

In 2020 they released their eleventh album and were slated to tour with Journey before COVID ended most live music that year. Hate for Sale received positive reviews partially for the return of original member Martin Chambers, (who had been out of the band since 2002), to the drumstool. With the remaining two original members reunited, the Pretenders re-gained a bit of their 1970’s-80’s swagger.

Here in 2024, they are touring behind the twelfth and latest release Relentless. One could say The Pretenders are a band that had their time and now are simply an act whose lead singer decided it was better to fade away than burn out. (Ed: Yes, some would say that, Beard!) A valid perspective perhaps, but the Beard is here tonight to both remember that feeling of his first “live” rock show and hear some of those songs from the person who wrote them, as well as to see if, at age 72, Chrissie Hynde walks in the steps of other female lead singers from eras gone by.

The nostalgic Beard is intrigued. Little Johnny however sighed deeply and said, “Beard, it sounds like another old broad band night to me.” (Ed: Amen Johnny, amen.)

THE PRETENDERS      

A rather small set up here at Riverside Theater. It sort of reminded me of something you would see at a Beatles tribute act. Still, the Beard confessed to a few nostalgic butterflies when the 72-year-old Chrissie Hynde (clad in pink jacket) took the stage with “Losing My Sense of Taste” from their latest release.

It did not take Hynde long to show she still possessed her surly punk attitude telling people to “put their phones down” after just one song, then stripping down to her sleeveless t-shirt and growling at the applause “Thanks, but that’s unnecessary”, before delivering “A Love” also from 2024’s Relentless.

Songs three and four came from Hate for Sale. These songs were unfamiliar to me, but did serve to show that even at 72, Hynde had held onto that unique tonality that has defined her voice these last forty plus years. It is a touch rougher, but in a way that actually works for her.

After dedicating “Kid” to deceased original members James Scott & Pete Famdon, it was back to the Hate for Sale release for two more tracks “The Buzz” & “Junkie Walk,” (which I quite enjoyed). Hynde referenced the band Moby Grape as an influence for both those songs and her band in general. After that she hit the apex of the set with the next three tracks.

“My City was Gone” had a really great solo by guitarist James Walbourne and brought back memories of hearing that song when it was brand new four decades ago. In a departure from her normal set list (and to the Beard's ecstatic delight) Chrissie performed “Hymn to Her” and dedicated it to deceased novelist Edna O’Brien. That song (along with “When I Change My Life” are my two favorite ballad style songs from this band. Very blessed that for the first time in this current tour she chose to sing that one. Finally, “Thumbalina” was a reworked exercise in rockabilly that reached a fevered pace by the end, including some great one/two guitar leads from Walbourne and Hynde.

Celebrating the city of Milwaukee, and reflecting on her age, Hynde led the crowd in the Blatz beer theme song. I found it funny that the audience actually knew the words, clearly showing the median age of attendees. The next four tracks mixed hits & brand new material as Hynde delivered “Domestic Silence” from Relentless, then “Back on the Chain Gang” from Learning to Crawl, then “I Think About You Daily” from Relentless before breaking out big hit “Don’t Get Me Wrong” where Chrissie allowed herself to smile, laugh and strike a few poses showing a cute, but sassy side that belied her age.

After “Stop all your Sobbing,” it was time for one more from Relentless with “Merry Widow.” Hynde did completely flub a verse on early career hit “Bad Boys Get Spanked” but recovered well and got right back on it like the professional she is. She finished the initial set with “Let the Sun Come In,” her sixth track from the new album tonight.

Knowing we would receive an encore, Hynde and her crew obliged, dedicating “I’ll Stand by You” to America (which got a rousing response as she cleverly did not choose a political side and hey, everybody in Wisconsin is pro America.) Then the band blasted out a great “Middle of the Road” with Walbournes hottest solo work of the evening. In a surprise, the band, after sustained crowd applause, returned to the stage a second time where Hynde announced they were past time, but would do one more before rolling through “Mystery Achiever” and sending the crowd home with something a little extra.

I have to say a twenty-two-song set was impressive. Hynde got plenty of new stuff in packaged nicely with many great hits. While I would have nostalgically preferred “Brass in Pocket” or “Precious” to six new tracks, I get that The Pretenders want to embrace their past, but not to the extent they shortchange their now. This collection of songs showed that Chrissie Hynde certainly does NOT consider herself or her band even slightly retired or just a greatest hit act. They are making and performing contemporary music that fits their style, and the two original members have melded nicely with the three newbies to make a band that is fun to watch and listen to for both the then and the now audiences.

The Beard will indeed crack a cold one, (hey anybody got a Blatz?) to both celebrate The Pretenders I watched in 1983 and The Pretenders I just watched tonight. Calling this set a 91/100.

Although not overwhelmed, Little Johnny acknowledged that, once again, age does not mean old, and he said the set was a fun couple of hours.

Hopefully, you have had a fun couple minutes reading the latest Beard & Little Johnny concert review. Remember we are live and new every Wednesday right here on Chris Tighe's great Mighty Decibel site, and station where you can always get the latest in new releases, classic remembrances, and concert reviews.

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For one more night, that is it from your reviewing metal hosts, so go forth and remember ... Stay Heavy & Horns Up!!!!