THE B52's
quarter of a century
after they exploded on the downtown New York club scene in 1979.
The B's are playing a smattering of dates in support of their anthology Nude
on the Moon, and performed to a packed house filled with both Cosmic
Thing-era fans and folks who were old enough to have seen the original band
in its heyday.
Old-school aficionados were treated to guest appearances by members of B-52's
contemporaries and art rock scene-masters Talking Heads, as well as by Yoko Ono,
widow of the late Beatle John Lennon, but more significantly here as an artist
whose vocal experimentation in the '70s was an influence on the B's sound.
The band was the "Love Shack" configuration, with original members
Fred Schneider (vocals, percussion, walkie talkies), Kate Pierson (vocals and
keyboards), Cindy Wilson (vocals and percussion) and Keith Strickland (guitar)
supported by Sterling Campbell on drums, Pat Irwin on keyboards and Sara Lee on
bass, formerly of Gang of Four (founding member Ricky Wilson died in 1985). The
group put down a 90-minute, balcony-shaking, 16-song set of its classics, with
enough updated arrangements to keep it fresh for the audience and apparently fun
for the band. Yet the Immortal Truths of the B-52's live ritual remained. Every
soul drawing breath in the room sang the "Why don't you dance with
me?" portion of "Dance This Mess Around." Anyone who thought that
the subject of "Planet Claire" may be from Mars or one of the stars
had that misconception cleared up. And the band still gets the audience to
crouch down onto the ground when commanded during "Rock Lobster."
It was at that precise moment in "Rock Lobster" that 68-year-old Yoko
Ono hit the stage, to warble and screech with the rest of the band for the
show's finale. Coming immediately after "Planet Claire," when Talking
Heads (and Tom Tom Club-ers) Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz joined the band to
punctuate the Peter Gunn bass and drum line, it was an appropriately bizarre
ending for the band that made bizarre fun so many years ago.
B-52's set list: