{"id":232,"date":"2011-02-20T11:29:43","date_gmt":"2011-02-20T16:29:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/?p=232"},"modified":"2011-02-21T00:14:54","modified_gmt":"2011-02-21T05:14:54","slug":"aging-well-or-maybe-not-at-all-with-the-b-52s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/2011\/02\/20\/aging-well-or-maybe-not-at-all-with-the-b-52s\/","title":{"rendered":"Aging well &#8212; or maybe not at all &#8212; with The B-52s"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"e26b170012445c56d240655bdd03f7bf\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: left; margin: 10px 10px 10px 0;\">\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\"><!--\r\ngoogle_ad_client = \"ca-pub-5595881567027133\";\r\n\/* Medium Rectangle *\/\r\ngoogle_ad_slot = \"8584504377\";\r\ngoogle_ad_width = 300;\r\ngoogle_ad_height = 250;\r\n\/\/-->\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\"\r\nsrc=\"http:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/show_ads.js\">\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"237\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/2011\/02\/20\/aging-well-or-maybe-not-at-all-with-the-b-52s\/screen-shot-2011-02-21-at-12-13-21-am-2\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/Screen-shot-2011-02-21-at-12.13.21-AM1.png?fit=720%2C462\" data-orig-size=\"720,462\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Screen shot 2011-02-21 at 12.13.21 AM\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/Screen-shot-2011-02-21-at-12.13.21-AM1.png?fit=300%2C192\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/Screen-shot-2011-02-21-at-12.13.21-AM1.png?fit=594%2C381\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/Screen-shot-2011-02-21-at-12.13.21-AM1.png?resize=300%2C192\" alt=\"\" title=\"Screen shot 2011-02-21 at 12.13.21 AM\" width=\"300\" height=\"192\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-237\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/Screen-shot-2011-02-21-at-12.13.21-AM1.png?resize=300%2C192 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/Screen-shot-2011-02-21-at-12.13.21-AM1.png?w=720 720w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/>I had never seen The B-52s live, so what better time than a benefit for the Georgia Theatre and what better place than in their hometown of Athens, Ga.?<\/p>\n<p>The 35-year old band played the Classic Center and obviously sold out the 2000 or so seats. And those seats were filled with all sorts flashy clothes, campy wigs, over-the-top jewelry &#8212; all being worn by a lot of happy, happy people.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"234\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/2011\/02\/20\/aging-well-or-maybe-not-at-all-with-the-b-52s\/screen-shot-2011-02-20-at-10-40-37-am\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/Screen-shot-2011-02-20-at-10.40.37-AM.png?fit=601%2C453\" data-orig-size=\"601,453\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Screen shot 2011-02-20 at 10.40.37 AM\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/Screen-shot-2011-02-20-at-10.40.37-AM.png?fit=300%2C226\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/Screen-shot-2011-02-20-at-10.40.37-AM.png?fit=594%2C448\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/Screen-shot-2011-02-20-at-10.40.37-AM.png?resize=300%2C226\" alt=\"\" title=\"Screen shot 2011-02-20 at 10.40.37 AM\" width=\"300\" height=\"226\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-234\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/Screen-shot-2011-02-20-at-10.40.37-AM.png?resize=300%2C226 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/Screen-shot-2011-02-20-at-10.40.37-AM.png?w=601 601w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The B-52s still sound great, with the trio of lead singers &#8212; Cindy Wilson, Kate Pierson, and Fred Schneider &#8212; somehow managing to keep their voices crisp and pure. The campy, upbeat, psychedelic embrace of the music is as alluring as it was decades ago &#8212; at least to those of us who first heard it decades ago. Granted, the 60-ish rockers don&#8217;t move on stage with the same manic energy that they once could.<\/p>\n<p>It was obvious that The B-52s are still on their game early on in the show when they ripped into and through &#8220;Private Idaho,&#8221; which sounded an awful lot like the version right here, from way back: <iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" width=\"500\" height=\"405\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/n7t7cGwN7_0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>We were seated back in KK (great seats), but I pushed up to the stage for &#8220;Roam,&#8221; with its dazzling pop opening:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Boy mercury shootin through every degree<br \/>\noh girl dancin down those DIRTY and DUSTY trails<br \/>\ntake it hip to hip rock it through the wilderness<br \/>\naround the world the trip begins with a kiss<\/p>\n<p>roam if you want to<br \/>\nroam around the world<br \/>\nroam if you want to<br \/>\nwithout anything but the love we feel<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The B-52s are a great party band, for sure, but I have always thought that songs like &#8220;Roam&#8221; and &#8220;Love Shack&#8221; tap into something deeper and broader. They&#8217;re mythic songs that promise utopia just around the corner, just below the surface. In reality, that love shack back in the woods is probably a pretty crappy spot, but in the telling and the singing, The B-52s give it urgent life:<br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" width=\"500\" height=\"405\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/leohcvmf8kM\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>After a few minutes in the aisle near the stage, we were gently pointed back to our seats by security (who seemed to be having a pretty good time all night too). There were two encores, finishing with &#8220;Rock Lobster,&#8221; of course:<br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" width=\"500\" height=\"405\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/szhJzX0UgDM\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s a ridiculous song, and ridiculously fun, but it&#8217;s mythic too:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Underneath the waves<br \/>\nMermaids wavin&#8217;<br \/>\nWavin&#8217; to mermen<br \/>\nWavin&#8217; sea fans<br \/>\nSea horses sailin&#8217;<br \/>\nDolphins wailin&#8217; <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The opening act <a href=\"http:\/\/www.casperfandango.com\/\">Casper &#038; the Cookies<\/a> is a young Athens band with some similar elements to The B-52s. They did what they needed to do to get the crowd in the mood, but the three primary singers haven&#8217;t mastered the interconnected vocals that make The B-52s so special. I&#8217;d love to see Casper &#038; the Cookies in a smaller venue sometime.<\/p>\n<!--CusAds0-->\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I had never seen The B-52s live, so what better time than a benefit for the Georgia Theatre and what better place than in their hometown of Athens, Ga.? The 35-year old band played the Classic Center and obviously sold&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link-p\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/2011\/02\/20\/aging-well-or-maybe-not-at-all-with-the-b-52s\/\">Read more &rarr;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1gN9R-3K","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.billdawers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}