Blondie at House of Vans, Brooklyn

Debbie Harry
(Clem Burke in the background)

Vocalist Debbie Harry and guitarist Chris Stein founded Blondie in New York City in 1974 and the band quickly became a pioneer in early punk and new wave music. By 1975, Blondie was a recurring headliner at Max's Kansas City and CBGB’s. After a string of hit singles from 1978 to 1980, Blondie disbanded in 1982 as Harry cared for Stein, who was diagnosed with a life-threatening autoimmune disease of the skin. Harry spottily pursued a solo career in music and film until she and Stein re-formed Blondie in 1997. Blondie has sold 40 million records worldwide and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006. The band's 11th and most recent studio album, Pollinator, was released on May 5, 2017. The band presently consists of Harry, Stein, guitarist Tommy Kessler, keyboardist Matt Katz-Bohen, bassist Leigh Foxx and longtime drummer Clem Burke.

Brooklyn’s House of Vans will be closing at the end of this summer, and so the venue is hosting a House Parties series with big name artists performing free concerts for fans who are drinking free beers. Blondie’s concert tonight with Liz Phair and SASAMI doubled as a photo exhibit for Chris Stein, showcasing prints from his forthcoming book, Point of View: Me, New York City and the Punk Scene, on the venue walls. Behind the stage, visual artist Rob Roth’s brief video mash-up of Stein’s photographs looped repeatedly before Blondie walked on stage about 10 p.m. Blondie’s performance consisted of only 12 songs, and it pivoted on the bigger hits, with only three songs from the band’s more recent catalog. While the older songs once sounded edgy, here they sounded like classic pop rock, with polished instrumental flourishes nearly drowning out any nuances in Harry’s vocals. Blondie did well at animating old songs with fresh leads by the band's newer members. Blondie’s performance provided good time music for an audience seeking exactly that, a good time; the concert wound up becoming a sing-along event mobilized by a legendary pop band.

Visit Blondie at www.blondie.net.

Setlist:

1. One Way or Another
2. Hanging on the Telephone (The Nerves cover)
3. Fun
4. Call Me
5. Gravity
6. Rapture [with a coda of the Beastie Boys’ “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party!)”]
7. The Tide Is High (The Paragons cover, with a snippet of “Groove Is in the Heart” by Dee-Lite)
8. Long Time
9. Atomic
10. Heart of Glass

Encore:

1. From Russia with Love
2. Dreaming