Blondie live at The Olympia on 19th July 2011
Review: Paul Gilgunn
Photos: Natalie Byrne
An expectant crowd packed into a sold out Olympia as Blondie delivered a classy set of greatest hits and tracks from their latest album, Panic of Girls.
With the iconic Debbie Harry in fine voice, the band open with a trio of classic songs: a bristling ‘Union City Blue’, the beatific pop of ‘Dreaming’, and the mighty ‘Atomic’; the audience singing along with aplomb, as a heady party atmosphere prevailed.
While the band’s newer material was well received during the show, it was the hits that the majority of people came along to experience; consequently, when Harry playfully answers the opening ring of ‘Hanging on the Telephone’, the audience’s elated response to the song’s appearance is equaled by the band’s enthusiasm in the subsequent performance.
The revelry continues unabated — despite a fluffed vocal entry on ‘Call Me’ — the group radiating an effortless energy and verve (kudos also for the keytar solo, which Giorgio Moroder would doubtless have approved of). Another new song, ‘Love Doesn’t Frighten Me’, precedes a sing-along ‘Maria’, the vocal delivered flawlessly and the high notes on the chorus soaring, lifting the proceedings, once again.
Debbie declares to an appreciative audience: “we’re not finished with you yet” before ‘Sunday Girl’, followed up with a trio of newer songs, ‘Mirame’, the up- beat ‘Sunday Dress’, and the latest single ‘Mother’. Clem Burke’s powerhouse drumming is notably impeccable throughout, the rest of the band also play their part admirably in bringing the songs to life.
A hypnotic ‘Rapture’ is served up promptly, its coda morphing into a roof-raising rendition of ‘(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right’ from The Beastie Boys’; as the last note fades away, ‘One Way or Another’ crashes in — the band now in full flight – cue general ecstatic abandon across the venue.
Returning for a three-song encore, Blondie pay homage to their punk roots with a cover of The Damned’s ‘New Rose’ and a suitably attitudinal performance of ‘Rip Her To Shreds’, before a sublime ‘Heart of Glass’ concludes a memorable show on a high note.
Debbie Harry bids farewell to the audience, as the band exit the stage; the crowd taking a moment to catch a much-needed breath after a great night of non-stop pop kicks.