The B-52’s

As was possibly stated previously, the entire purpose for my Vegas visit was to see the B-52’s in concert. They’re all getting a bit long in the tooth, and I can’t see them performing live for much longer. So I thought I better see them while I still could.

The good? I’m glad that I saw them.

The bad? I wish I’d seen them about 15 years ago. Or more.

While killing time at a bar at the Venetian, I ran into two older couples who were also there to see the B-52’s. And we all got to talking. The other folks had seen them at least once before and we all agreed this was probably something of a last hurrah.

I had good seats- center section of the floor, about 11 rows back.

The Venetian theater is… not bad. Having not seen other Vegas theaters, I don’t have a basis for comparison. They tried to make it look old world European- but again, like Vegas, it looks fairly cheap and fake.

At the Venetian

Meh- for a rock concert I’m sure it’s fine. Although the mics for the singers weren’t the best. The band sounded great- the singers were lost a bit in the wash, especially when there was more going on musically.

The opening act was a DJ— DJ Cummerbund. He specializes in mashups, and I loved his set. All these 70’s-80’s-90-s mashes with high energy.

Unfortunately I don’t think the crowd quite knew what to do with him. I think he was there to get everyone on their feet and jamming/dancing, but the crowd was older, mostly straight, and fairly stoic. Everyone just sat.

Concert started at 8:30 on the dot. The DJ played 30 minutes. There was perhaps 10 minutes between and then the B-52’s took the stage.

Here the crowd sort of got into it. On the floor about 2/3 the crowd go on their feet. 1/3 still just sat. This made it weird because I was standing but I also didn’t want to block the view of folks behind me.

Awkwaaaaaard.

The balcony folks just sat the entire time.

Mesopotamia

They played a lot of their older stuff. The set as I recall:

• Planet Claire
• Lava
• Mesopotamia
• 52 Girls
• Gimme Back My Man
• Dance this Mess Around
• Private Idaho
• Roam
• Deadbeat Club
• Legal Tender (encore)
• Rock Lobster (finale encore)

I think I’m missing one or two songs— maybe. The primary set was maaaaaybe an hour long. Then a 3 song encore. I was out of there by 10:30.

This was about as hyped as they got.

If you see a faded sign…

While a good set of songs, I much prefer their stuff from Whammy onward. And they did nothing from the last two albums or Bouncing off the Satellites. And no “Song for a Future generation” or “Whammy”. No “Queen of Las Vegas (a bit of a miss there).

And they didn’t do my favorite— Wig.

Energetically I was hoping for… more. They were really subdued onstage— sort of like they were just damn tired. They were vocally ok (especially Kate), but Cindy was noticeably getting rougher. and they all just sort of stood there.

Not a lot of exuberance or fun. Almost no crowd interaction. Just… flat.

Fred disappeared after the first 3 or so numbers and was gone for like 30 minutes. Then he was back for the last part of the concert.

It was sort of a weird concert. Half party, half subdued. Tinged with melancholy. Off energy. I left it feeling… I don’t know.

Am I glad I saw them? Absolutely.

Do I wish I’d seen them more in their prime? And at more of a rock venue?

Absolutely.