 
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
|
