John Lewis used to espouse making “good trouble.” The B-52s for 47 years have been simply making “good weirdness.”
The band, which formed in Athens in 1976 but seems to have emanated from a different planet (Claire perhaps?), returned home Tuesday for the last date of what the band has called its final ever concert tour before 2,000 fans at the Classic Center. This show followed three sold-out dates over the weekend at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, which is double the size of the Classic Center.
>>RELATED: PHOTO GALLERY FROM THE JANUARY 7, 2023 B-52s CONCERT AT THE FOX THEATRE
And as a thank you, the B-52s gave all the monies to local charities.
If there was any hometown pressure, the trio of original band members ― 65-year-old Cindy Wilson, 71-year-old Fred Schneider and 74-year-old Kate Pierson ― didn’t show it.
In fact, they were all in fine form, feeding off the vibrant energy of the adoring crowd, largely made up of graying Gen Xers and Boomers. Pierson, in an expectedly sparkly dress, could still shimmy and shake while Wilson provided a more regal coolness. And their vocals sounded close to peak form, whether solo or in harmony on songs like “Roam” and “Deadbeat Club.”
Schneider, sandwiched between the ladies, offered up his signature nasal monotonal vocal reads with flair and a smidge of insouciance.
Credit: John Boydston
Credit: John Boydston
The band didn’t offer up much in the way of nostalgic Athens-oriented commentary on stage though Pierson referenced the Oconee River and said “Deadbeat Club” was inspired by their early days in Athens where they’d go down to “Allen’s for a 25-cent beer and the jukebox playing real loud ‘96 Tears.’”
Instead, they simply let the music do the talking.
So over 90 tight minutes and 16 songs, the band covered the breadth of their career, plucking songs from all seven of their studio releases from 1979 (four cuts from their breakthrough album “B-52s”) to their peak commercial success in 1989 (five songs from “Cosmic Thing”) to their most recent release (two tunes from their 2008 album “Funplex”).
Over the years, their club-friendly tunes have incorporated a unique mélange of disco, funk, new wave, soul, beach music and strange sound effects. The lyrical content always veered toward the whimsical and bizarre, be it historical (”Mesopotamia”) or absurdly animalistic (”Rock Lobster”).
But a bulk of the setlist revolved around love, be it the futuristic type (”Love in the Year 3000″), out in the Georgia woods (”Love Shack”) or in the heat of passion (”Lava”).
And there was, of course, the love of dance and the band encouraged the aging crowd to stand up and dance their creaky mess around. So when Schneider implored the audience to go “down, down, down” during “Rock Lobster,” not quite everybody did ― or could― perhaps fearful they wouldn’t be able to get back up.
Credit: RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com
Credit: RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com
Credit: RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com
Credit: RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com
Credit: JOHN BOYDSTON
Credit: JOHN BOYDSTON
Their music is largely apolitical but during “Channel Z,” which laments climate change and the planet being trashed, Schneider changed a line that on the recording said “politcrats pushing dope” and switched it to “right wingers ― a bunch of dopes!” Leading into the song, Pierson said they were being “topical.” Schneider jokingly said, “Topless?” Pierson: “Topical Fred. You can go topless if you want.” Fred: “No.”
The band had fellow Athens group Love Tractor open for them but otherwise, they brought no special guests on stage for their set. (Bill Berry, who was briefly a drummer for Love Tractor before moving to R.E.M., did pop in for guitars on Love Tractor’s “Neon Lights.”)
At the end of the concert, the screen thanked the fans and acknowledged Cindy’s brother Ricky, who died of AIDS in 1985 but will always be part of the band in spirit. And Keith Strickland, an original B-52 who stopped touring a decade ago, popped up on stage for a minute to wave to the departing attendees.
While the concert had the air of finality, this isn’t the end for the B-52s live. While the band last year announced this would a final tour, they promised one-off concerts in the future and have already announced a small residency at the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas in May, August and September.
“See you in Vegas!” Schneider said before leaving the stage.
Appropriately, as the lights went up, the first post-concert song was the Beatles “All You Need is Love.”
