Napa Show 8/25

Napa was a night of glorious juxtaposition, with JP, Chrissie, and the Fairground Boys playing the sweet, sad songs, and Lucinda bringing down the house. The night was cool and the moon was big and bright; some might say there was magic in the air.

Lu came out of the gate kicking arse, with a strong, powerful voice –

1) Happy Woman Blues

2) I Just Wanted To See You So Bad

3) I Lost It (“How I feel right now”)

This next group of songs filled up your soul like going to church –

4) Something About What Happens When We Talk

5) Sweet Old World – exquisite

6) Blue – stunning – wish you were there TomT!!!

7) Fruits of My Labor

8 Copenhagen (“This is a new song on the album that will hopefully come out in October. We got a helping hand from Mr. Don Was. I wrote this song when we were on tour in Copenhagan and got word that my former manager, Frank Callari, had suddenly passed away. It was in October, but it had already snowed. I wrote this song after hearing the news”) This is the first time I’d heard this new song, it was heartbreakingly beautiful – “you have disappeared”.

Then mass was over, and we were back to the bidness of rock ‘n roll –

9) Right In Time

10) Drunken Angel – I might say I never heard Lu’s voice sound better on this song, it gave me goosebumps

11) Out of Touch – rocked hard!! It was almost unbearable to remain seated. Lu got a standing O for this.

The new album cannot come out fast enough for me, we went back to church again on the next one –
“Here are a couple other new songs, as I turn the pages of my journal” –

12) Convince Me – “that track was really cool when we recorded it. Matthew Sweet sang harmony, and Elvis Costello played guitar on a few tracks”

Val’s guitar was on fire! I thought we might have to break out the fire extinguishers. As a matter of fact, one of my Pretenders’ friends got a picture where his guitar is glowing from the heat. I’ll see if I can get that from her, to post here.

13) Seeing Black – “another song about death that I wrote after I found out Vic Chesnutt had taken his sweet life. Also Mark Linkous. It’s been really intense these last few years. Different things inspire these songs – Pineola, Lake Charles, Sweet Old World, Seeing Black. In the end I feel it’s a positive message – cause you’ve gotta deal with this shit.”

14) Real Live Bleeding Fingers – kicked, of course. By now I just couldn’t stop smiling like an idiot. 😀

15) Essence – “Val, you’re kicking ass tonight, baby!”

16) Changed The Locks – it was getting more and more difficult to stay seated. You know it’s a great night when Lu gets into growling mode in this song (always makes me think of Patsy Cline). “That’s what I’m talking about!” At that point, Val flipped his guitar pick into the audience. The gentlemen sitting on either side of me were mannerly enough to refrain from grabbing it from where it fell, smack dab in the middle of my lap. 😀

17) Honey Bee – no more sitting

18) Righteously

“I can’t say enough about Chrissie Hynde’s music and how much it has influenced me. I couldn’t believe it when I found out we’d be able to do these shows. When I heard the first Pretenders’ album when it first came out, it sent me in a whole new direction.”

Side note – pay attention to Butch every once in a while. He is hilarious – singing along, holding a drum stick in his teeth, sticking his tongue out, etc., but we the audience are so focused on everything else, we don’t even notice.

Encore –

19) Sweet Side – many of the folks by now standing and rocking in the front row had come to the show because of Chrissie, and Lu mesmerized them – the same as she’s done the rest of us. For me, watching them fall under her spell was as much fun as watching kids open Christmas presents. 

20) Joy

“Love, Peace, & Revolution, and not the Tea Party kind – the real kind!”