Gig Review

Blondie
Little Fish
Southend, Cliffs Pavilion
29th June 2010
 
          
Blondie                           Little Fish
     
Okay, Blondie playing at the Cliffs Pavilion in my home town? Not what I was expecting! Blondie have always been an iconic band that everybody knows and the Cliffs Pavilion is a venue a couple of miles from my house that even I performed at as a kid, I never would have put two and two together. However, my first thought was, brilliant; an amazing band and close by without the horrible train journey!

So we made our way into the Cliffs, a place very familiar to me but it actually felt unfamiliar. I have always been used to playing there myself or seeing pantomimes there as a kid, so it was the first time I had ever seen the place with the seats taken out and with a very different crowd, mainly middle aged, some a bit punky, a few with youngish kids and a handful of people in their 20s, which actually surprised me as I was expecting more youngsters in the audience. So we went and got ourselves a drink and stood on the terrace as we waited for Little Fish.

Just before Little Fish began I looked around and thought how empty the place was. It felt a bit sterile and I thought it had sold out! Little Fish began, highly energetic, jumping up and down, very upbeat and I quite liked it! Although, I had looked at the bands myspace before the gig and there were 2 members in the band… I saw 3 members and I swear I heard bass but saw no bass so I was feeling a little confused, but oh well, I stood back and watched. The songs were catchy and musically they were tight but I found it was getting a little repetitive. I think the crowd didn’t help much either, quite small and very static so it definitely lacked atmosphere, but they are a band with potential and originality, I just think if they embraced their originality a bit more, kept just 2 members and had their music a bit more stripped back it would have been better. Once they had finished the venue had started to fill up a little more so we went out and got ourselves another drink before heading back in for Blondie.

So there I was out on the terrace having a good old chat and realised it seemed a little empty, Blondie had started! So I rushed in and caught the end of her first song ‘D Day’. First thing I thought was, Debbie Harry can’t be in her mid 60s surely! Her voice was amazing, it hadn’t changed from her music in her heyday, she had the look, the moves and iconic blonde hair. If I hadn’t of known any better I would have said she was in her 20s from where I was stood. Her second song was the cover of The Nerves’ – ‘Hanging on the Telephone’ and one of my favourites. It just has that catchy, retro and upbeat sound to it and the crowd were loving it. The venue had most definitely filled out now and people were starting to move about a bit more and sing along. The atmosphere had picked up. The band were stood in front of a monochrome Bridget Riley style Blondie backdrop. It was nice but a bit hard to read, but I guess that didn’t matter – everyone knew who they were! Their first song to really get the crowd going was the massive hit ‘Atomic’. The crowd were clapping and singing along and Debbie Harry reached her mic out to the crowd for everyone to chant “ATOMIC”. Soon after you heard an offbeat, tropically, ska style melody which could only mean one thing, ‘The Tide is High’ that soon got everyone on their feet, dancing about and having a sing song, especially once a few beers were down them!

‘One way or Another’ was another one of my favourites, It had a great atmosphere to go with it, I think it was because it was a bit more rock n roll and catchy. Plus it’s been heard everywhere including the Rugrats movie where Angelica loses her doll Cynthia if anyone remembers that! Or Sabrina the Teenage Witch in the battle of the bands episode, it was the theme song to the channel 4 show Sugar Rush. It’s a song where you seem to know the words whether you like it or not. Other songs include the rocky ‘Call Me’ which for some reason, always reminds me of Greenday! If you took Debbie Harry out and put Billie Joe in, I swear you would see what I mean. Another big favourite of mine was the 80s classic ‘Rapture’, You have got to love that funky sound which is like James Brown meets Donna Summer with massive hair and shoulder pads or something like that! I love it, the venue was filled with that 80s funkyness and for me it was the highlight and a highlight for a lot of people. You just can’t seem to stay still with music like that.

The gig was coming to an end and suddenly where had Blondie gone?! Of course they were coming back for an encore and one thing was running through my mind and probably everyone else’s including you, what about her massive most famous hit, the first Blondie song everyone knows, played at every wedding reception, cheesy club and staff Christmas do? ‘Heart of Glass’ of course, well soon enough that clicky sound began to play and it went on for a while but then the tune came in. I don’t really know the words and I’m guessing a lot of people don’t but everyone sings along to it, you just mumble high pitched and sound a bit dopey and you’re there, But what a brilliant ending. A gig well worth seeing, the only let down was the stage show, there was a backdrop and that was about it. There was no funky lighting or effects, I know they are massive, iconic and they don’t really need any gimmicks, but a few would have been nice!

Little Fish – 3/5
Blondie - 4.5/5

Review By Charlotte Richards

 Blondie


Deborah Harry
Chris Stein
Clem Burke
Leigh Foxx
Matt Katz-Bohen
Tommy Kessler
Jimmy Destri

 Little Fish


Juju
Nez

 Band Related Links
Blondie Myspace
Little Fish Myspace
 Review Score Code
- Top Cheese
- Brilliant
- Pretty damn good
- Ok I guess
- What Was That?