Pat Benatar
August 19th, 2007
Loudoun Summer Music Fest
Ashburn, Virginia
As my wife and I were making our one-hour trek over to the Belmont Country Club, home of the Loudoun Summer Music Fest since the summer of 2004, I was wondering what size crowd Pat Benatar was capable of drawing for this type of show. She has not put out a new album since 2003's Go, and her star has certainly faded significantly since her '80s heyday, so I was only expecting a rather modest turnout this night. Let's just say that my expectations were a little off.
As we pulled off the Route 7 exit towards the festival parking entrance, we were met with long lines of cars converging from all directions. At the Black Crowes' show, just two weeks prior, we were able to drive right into the parking "pasture" without even stopping - and they drew a very respectable sized crowd. Pat Benatar nearly doubled that.
The last time I saw Pat in concert was during her Wide Awake In Dreamland tour of 1988. Since then, I had not really followed her career much, until I stumbled across her excellent Live - Summer Vacation Tour DVD of 2002, and was completely blown away by what great live performers she and husband/guitarist Neil Giraldo still were. Ever since, I vowed to see them live once again, and on this rainy August 19th night at the Loudoun Summer Music Fest, I finally got that chance.
Neil and Pat hit the stage around 7:30, tearing into what is perhaps the best song in their catalog to open a show with, "All Fired Up". Joining them on stage for this tour were Mick Mahan on bass, and Chris Rallas on drums. Just as with the Black Crowes concert, the ominous skies above were threatening to unleash a torrential downpour at any minute, but we were blessed enough to only get a few moments of drizzle the entire night.
The set list included at least one song from each of Benatar's studio albums, with the only exceptions being Gravity's Rainbow and her most recent album Go. I was especially surprised about the Go snub, since I thought it was an excellent album deserving of more recognition. You can see four songs from that album performed on the Summer Vacation Tour DVD, and they held up quite nicely beside the classics. I guess I shouldn't complain since I got to hear so many of the big hits, but I always like to hear what an artist is up to lately.
Article comments
1 - Bill
what a great review and I agree, GO was an excellent cd and when she performs the title song, she blows the roof off of the place.
2 - Paul Roy
Thanks Bill. I really enjoyed the Go songs they played on the DVD. I hear she and Neil are working on a new acoustic album. Should be interesting.
3 - Steve
Go was a disappointment. Did nothing but make me want to shut it off. From the lack of sales, I'm not alone in this. Love Pat but Go was flatter than flat and was sung equally as flat and its lyrics sounded as if an 8th grader wrote them. Working with Neil maybe a plus in one way for our girl but its a thorn in another way. He doesn't stretch her enough. Or maybe she's just too tired to tear away from the old tunes and rock again. After numerous yrs. wouldn't you think she'd be tired of singing those same songs nite after nite? NO offense however, this duo is in need of a fresh producer. Go, took 5yrs?-overkill.