At age 66, he remains a formidable drummer, even injecting a sense of humor in the drum solo that led into an excellent version of “Middle of the Road.” If Chambers feels any lingering animosity from his dismissal, he clearly channels it into his performance. Beyond being the primary songwriter, she also dictates the band’s lineup, even firing original drummer Martin Chambers in the mid-‘80s and bringing him back several years later. Likewise, “Down Wrong Way” from Chrissie Hynde’s 2014 solo album Stockholm felt perfectly at home, even as it reiterated the question of what distinguishes a solo album by Hynde from a Pretenders album.Īs the lead singer, Hynde was always the focal point for audiences, but since the deaths of founding members Pete Farndon and James Honeyman-Scott - to whom she dedicated the song “Kid” - the Pretenders has clearly been her band. Where many established bands seem hesitant to spotlight new material, the Pretenders incorporated the more recent songs throughout the set, with the captivating “Let’s Get Lost” being one of the highlights. That included a significant portion of their latest album, 2016’s Alone. More significantly, the setlist included material from seven of the band’s ten albums, making the performance as good a representation of the band’s work as 90 minutes could accommodate. As forceful or as restrained as the music called for, they made songs from their first album as dynamic as they were nearly 40 years ago. As they’ve done with many aspects of rock music, Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders give that question a good kicking on their current tour.ĭuring their recent concert at the Filmore in Silver Spring, Maryland, founding members Chrissie Hynde and Martin Chambers and the rest of the group were everything you want a rock band to be. In any event, concert tickets are too pricey to throw money at someone who should have stopped a long time ago. Rock music may not be “the sound of young America” the way it once was, but the association with youth remains indelible thanks in large measure to a certain Pete Townshend lyric. That may not be the most rock n’ roll question, but it’s undeniably sensible. Any time you see a band or artist for which your fandom can be measured in decades play live, it’s natural to wonder whether they’ve still got it.
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