REVIEW: It Happened in Cleveland
Three voices, Two nights, One town
The Grog Shop in Coventry Village was atwitter on the night of Wed 10/6, anticipating the imminent show by JP, Chrissie and the Fairground Boys. Especially since the act was framed as a radical new statement from Chrissie Hynde. Wait, do you mean Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders? Playing in a bar?
Chrissie Hynde has made a career of sharing her romantic hits and misses, her frustrations and yearnings, spattered onto a hard rock canvas. For thirty years her fans have lapped it up, and with good reason; Hynde can be introspective, brutal and vulnerable all in the same breath. So now comes the giddy news that she has finally found everything she wants and needs, all wrapped up in one fellow – this Welshman, JP Jones, right here in the band. The two of them are actually singing love songs they have written for each other, up there on stage in front of everyone! If you thought the lyrics sounded like vows, you could be forgiven. What is this?! Where is the familiar tension and desire that is at the crux of so much great rock and roll music? We’re not used to hearing cries of fulfilled love flying around the dance floor.
This is a little disarming. But as broad-minded, evolving humans, we may be able to accept the idea, like vegetarianism or animal rights. Besides, when was the last time you saw Chrissie Hynde so happy?
OK, so what about the music: was it as good as the Pretenders? Uh, no. Mostly they sounded like a good bar band. By the end of the night they sounded like a very good bar band. The group, (three guitars, bass and drums), took a while to find its footing, which was unfortunate since many of the better songs were front-loaded on the program. But gradually they got their bearings, and as the lead guitarist started injecting more of his own divergent licks into the mix, things heated up into a mild frenzy. By the time they closed the night, the place was cooking. And Hynde’s own sound man (he works for the Pretenders, too), made the place sound like a concert stage, not a punk club.
They played one extended set of almost exclusively new material: hers, his and theirs. His songs were no match for hers, though, nor was his voice. They closed the night with a blistering cover of Moby Grape’s “Murder in my Heart for the Judge.”
But nothing here matched the tight, polished raunch that has made the Pretenders a mainstay of concert stages worldwide. Much of the songwriting was pure Chrissie Hynde, and if brought to the professional machine that is the Pretenders, it could stand up with her better work. If you came for rock and roll, you should have left happy. But still, a nagging question hangs in the smokeless Cleveland ambiance:
Is this the end of the Pretenders?
Whether the Fairground Boys represent a new direction, a side project or a brief flash of inspiration remains to be seen. The Pretenders have a tour of Australia coming up in a few weeks. Hynde would do well, both musically and financially, not to quit the blue-chip brand she as built up over the years with the Pretenders. But this new project is a forward-looking one, which in itself lends a breath of fresh air. Hynde is not afraid to take a risk, and that, as much as unrequited lust, is an essential ingredient in the mortar that makes up rock and roll.
Two other veteran women singer-songwriters graced Cleveland’s stages last week:
Suzanne Vega brought new arrangements of old tunes to her fans at the Ohio Theatre on Thu 10/7. Looking over her shoulder, Vega is recasting the legacy of her story-song catalogue that reaches back almost as far as Hynde’s. With an attentive lead guitarist and bassist in tow, the new soundscapes supported Vega’s bright, frail voice like a mountain valley holds a crystal pond.
And, on the same night, at the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Patti Smith and her band held court with a private set served up for a congregation of museum directors. She delivered a well-burnished offering of hits, early material, tales from her career, musical tangents, laughs, and a version of the Rolling Stones’ “Playing With Fire,” which book-ended an extended poetic trance excursion.
Band mates included the stalwart Lenny Kaye and Tony Shanahan (who have both worked with Suzanne Vega), and Jack Petruzzelli from the Fab Faux.
Although the playlist covered the full breadth of her work, it never came off as an oldies indulgence. The High Priestess of Punk is a mesmerizing presence, and brings a lifetime of trials and epiphanies to her fans with a voice — as can also be said of Hynde’s and Vega’s — seemingly untouched by time.
This was a performance neither nostalgic nor groundbreaking, but rather one that was both rooted right in the moment and soaring out of reach at the very same time. Which is another redemptive, exhilarating quality that the best of rock and roll can offer.
From Cool Cleveland correspondent Jordan Davis.