THE BANGLES
Dublin, Vicar Street
2/7/2008
If it's July, it must mean summer, and what better way to spend it than in the company of four beautiful California Girls as America's hottest 80s pop quartet The Bangles returned to Ireland to play an intimate gig in Dublin.
That legendary guitar riff from 'Hazy Shade of Winter' opened the show with Susanna on vocals, and set the tone for the evening. These girls were here to rock and have a good time, and over the following 90 minutes or so, we got a great show, way beyond any of our expectations
The early part of the set consisted of tracks 'from an old record' according to Vicki, who took lead on 'All About You' while Debbi sang 'Live' from All Over the Place. The set continued to run in chronological order with a trio of cuts from the Different Light album.
'We had some Guinness today and it was yummy' said Susanna, continuing with 'I married an Irish man' before giving us the much anticipated 'Manic Monday' which went down a storm, followed immediately by 'In A Different Light' and; 'This next song was written by Jules Shear, a good friend of ours' was how Vicki introduced 'If She Knew What She Wants'. This sounded fantastic live, with great vocal harmonies and a beautiful keyboard intro.
The songs came thick and fast with 'Be With You', 'Restless' and 'Some Dreams Come True' before we were given a taste of material from their most recent album Doll Revolution in the form of the ballad 'Stealing Rosemary'.
'September Gurls' was introduced by Vicki as 'a song normally sung by Michael, but Suzanna is going to give it a go'. 'No pressure then' replied Suzanna, before mastering the song with those sexy vocals of hers, while Debbi ventured out from behind the drum-kit to play acoustic guitar on a brace of songs.
'It's great to be in Dublin, the short time we've had here. Well this is a song from across the water' Debbi added before kicking into 'Going down to Liverpool' which had us all jumping around and singing along to.
The romantic 'Eternal Flame' had everyone singing along, provoking Vicki to comment afterwards 'You guys are awesome. We'll have to come back here and record this, the Dublin City Choir. Can we pack you up and bring you with us' she added, to roars of approval from the delighted crowd.
The Doll Revolution album was again well represented with both 'Ride The Ride', and 'Single By Choice' going down well, even if they sounded unfamiliar to their 80s fans, while Susanna asked the audience if it is 'pick or plectrum' we call them, before offering a front row fan a memento of one.
From Everything we got 'Watching The Sky' and 'In Your Room', and as the show neared completion, it was brilliant to hear an early recording 'Hero Takes A Fall' during which Susanna fell to her knees and plucked at Vicki's guitar during the instrumental break.
As Vicki reminded us 'there's one more song we haven't done'. Now with all four members out front and the intro to 'Walk Like An Egyptian' kicking off, Debbi, Vicki and Susanna all took lead vocals on a verse each, and during the instrumental break, they amalgamated the legendary 'Mrs Robinson' smoothly into the song creating a great sing-a-long among the ecstatic fans.
No Michael Steele anymore but 'On bass Miss Abby Travis, who's dressed tonight like a naughty school-girl' was how Vicki introduced their unofficial fourth member. I have to say Debbi was amazing on drums, Vicki faultless on guitar and they really brought out that west coast sound that we've become so familiar with on most of their albums. Susanna is still as pretty and petite as I remember her from the mid 80s, and shows no signs of that fast approaching 50th birthday next year.
As the night ended with two encores, Susanna told the crowd 'this is probably the greatest night of my life', a comment I hope that's unique for this audience. Time will tell, if it meant as much to them as it did to us. We wait with bathed breath for that promised 'live in Dublin' recording.
That legendary guitar riff from 'Hazy Shade of Winter' opened the show with Susanna on vocals, and set the tone for the evening. These girls were here to rock and have a good time, and over the following 90 minutes or so, we got a great show, way beyond any of our expectations
The early part of the set consisted of tracks 'from an old record' according to Vicki, who took lead on 'All About You' while Debbi sang 'Live' from All Over the Place. The set continued to run in chronological order with a trio of cuts from the Different Light album.
'We had some Guinness today and it was yummy' said Susanna, continuing with 'I married an Irish man' before giving us the much anticipated 'Manic Monday' which went down a storm, followed immediately by 'In A Different Light' and; 'This next song was written by Jules Shear, a good friend of ours' was how Vicki introduced 'If She Knew What She Wants'. This sounded fantastic live, with great vocal harmonies and a beautiful keyboard intro.
The songs came thick and fast with 'Be With You', 'Restless' and 'Some Dreams Come True' before we were given a taste of material from their most recent album Doll Revolution in the form of the ballad 'Stealing Rosemary'.
'September Gurls' was introduced by Vicki as 'a song normally sung by Michael, but Suzanna is going to give it a go'. 'No pressure then' replied Suzanna, before mastering the song with those sexy vocals of hers, while Debbi ventured out from behind the drum-kit to play acoustic guitar on a brace of songs.
'It's great to be in Dublin, the short time we've had here. Well this is a song from across the water' Debbi added before kicking into 'Going down to Liverpool' which had us all jumping around and singing along to.
The romantic 'Eternal Flame' had everyone singing along, provoking Vicki to comment afterwards 'You guys are awesome. We'll have to come back here and record this, the Dublin City Choir. Can we pack you up and bring you with us' she added, to roars of approval from the delighted crowd.
The Doll Revolution album was again well represented with both 'Ride The Ride', and 'Single By Choice' going down well, even if they sounded unfamiliar to their 80s fans, while Susanna asked the audience if it is 'pick or plectrum' we call them, before offering a front row fan a memento of one.
From Everything we got 'Watching The Sky' and 'In Your Room', and as the show neared completion, it was brilliant to hear an early recording 'Hero Takes A Fall' during which Susanna fell to her knees and plucked at Vicki's guitar during the instrumental break.
As Vicki reminded us 'there's one more song we haven't done'. Now with all four members out front and the intro to 'Walk Like An Egyptian' kicking off, Debbi, Vicki and Susanna all took lead vocals on a verse each, and during the instrumental break, they amalgamated the legendary 'Mrs Robinson' smoothly into the song creating a great sing-a-long among the ecstatic fans.
No Michael Steele anymore but 'On bass Miss Abby Travis, who's dressed tonight like a naughty school-girl' was how Vicki introduced their unofficial fourth member. I have to say Debbi was amazing on drums, Vicki faultless on guitar and they really brought out that west coast sound that we've become so familiar with on most of their albums. Susanna is still as pretty and petite as I remember her from the mid 80s, and shows no signs of that fast approaching 50th birthday next year.
As the night ended with two encores, Susanna told the crowd 'this is probably the greatest night of my life', a comment I hope that's unique for this audience. Time will tell, if it meant as much to them as it did to us. We wait with bathed breath for that promised 'live in Dublin' recording.
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