The Giant Panther

It's mid May and the weather is ever so slowly starting to break in Boston. Please Come To Boston for the springtime as Dave Loggins once crooned. I live in the Northeast because I enjoy humidity free weather. It's my exact favorite weather here, all things considered, between late April and June 1st and from mid September until November 1st. Those are my twelve weeks. After that it's central air or bust. Certain bands represent the summer for me and The B-52's are one of those bands. They played The House of Blues next to Fenway Park last night and I had no designs on attending. I spent the afternoon trying to help a friend of mine's son with his Little League game. As a result I was invited over for dinner. During that stay I got a call offering me free tickets to the show. I'm really glad I accepted. Six or seven friends of mine and I enjoyed a great show.

It's kind of an eye opener, not that I need an eye opener when it comes to this, when you see these performers carrying on into their sixties still performing. I go to see new bands and old bands alike, but you see some folks at these shows, the way they behave as if they haven't been out in years, and you realize you are getting up there. I don't feel particularly old, but my peer group would seem to indicate otherwise. If you were in college between 1978 and 1982 chances are you loved The B-52's. There has never been anyone like them. Some folks consider them a novelty act. I know The Giant Panther isn't very high on them, but I've always been a big fan. I think I've seen them roughly half a dozen times without doing any fact checking. It's more of a social thing for me. Women love them and men love women (most of the time I guess I should add in the name of Fred Schneider). They're kitchy, funny and danceable. If I had never heard a note of Cosmic Thing I would still be a big fan. I love Lava, Dance This Mess Around, 52 Girls, Planet Claire, Dirty Back Road, 53 Miles West of Venus, Give Me Back My Man, Strobe Light, Quiche Lorraine, Devil in My Car, Mesopotamia, Whammy Kiss, Private Idaho...heck even Rock Lobster even though I've heard it a nauseating number of times. Make no mistake, they have some shaky material on the market. They've had their down time, but this band has always had my respect. I wasn't expecting much last night to be honest, but they were a blast as always. Everyone was friendly and dancing and the vibe was a lot of fun. If you know jaded Boston you know that is not always the case. Everyone at the show feels like they're in on the joke and they think it's funny. There are worse ways to spend $36 (face value ticket price) even if you could care less if you EVER hear Love Shack again. Good luck with that...

This Athens, Georgia band was mixed in the New Wave genre, but they were their own sound. Fred Schneider is sometimes closer to a tongue in cheek comedian that a true lead singer. Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson take turns with Fred manning the microphone and their voices have always blended tremendously. The crowd ate it up last night. Capacity for this venue is in the 2500 range and it was fairly full. They ran through all their hits including most of their smash Cosmic Thing plus a handful of new tracks from the underrated Funplex. It's pretty amazing they could take a 16 year hiatus and their first song back (Funplex) is right where they left off. I never looked at these entertainers as favorites or even take them very seriously, but that doesn't mean they aren't damn good at what they do. I've supported them for years and I'm glad they seem to still be having fun because I know the crowd is. I didn't need to see them again, but I'm happy I went because it was good clean fun and I had a good time. That's what The B-52's are; a good time. If you've never seen them you should. If you have seen them before don't be afraid to see them again on this tour this summer for fun. They still sound letter perfect and deliver their own particular brand of the goods. I ain't no student, of ancient culture, before I talk, I should read a book, but there's one thing I do know, there's a lot of ruins in Mesopotamia...