Blondie - Live at the NYS Fair [Wednesday, 8/22/18] [Review]

I never would have thought that I would ever get the opportunity to see an artist as legendary as Blondie for only a dollar, yet here I am, two days after having done just that. (If someone had told me last year or even just a few months ago that this would be happening, that I would be seeing Blondie live for nothing more than a crisp George Washington, then I would have likely laughed in that person's face.) Blondie, a rock band which made its debut forty-two years ago with its eponymous debut album in 1976, has, over the span of decades, boasted hits such as "Heart of Glass," "The Tide is High," "Call Me," "Maria," and so forth. Even today, with frontwoman Debbie Harry at the fresh and young age of seventy-three, Blondie is still going on tour and even recording new music. (The band, in fact, played five songs from its most recent album, Pollinator, at this particular show.) While some would likely argue that I saw Debbie Harry and her gang well past their prime, I would retort that even though the band members might not be spring chickens anymore, they still put on an amazing show; I am so thrilled that I got the opportunity to see such an iconic band that I have been listening to for approximately fifteen years, and as I said, not only did I get to see Blondie, I got to see them for only a dollar, as entrance into the New York State Fair was a dollar, and the concert itself was free.

Shortly after finding out that I would be attending this concert, I looked at recent Blondie setlists and discovered at the show that the band was sticking to that setlist, as they didn't make a single change to it. The setlist was as follows:

1. One Way or Another
2. Hanging on the Telephone
3. Fun
4. Call Me
5. Gravity
6. Rapture
7. Fragments
8. Maria
9. The Tide Is High
10. Too Much
11. Long Time
12. Atomic
13. Heart of Glass
14. From Russia with Love [encore]
15. Dreaming [encore]

I am, for the most part, happy with the setlist, as they played classics but also, as aforementioned, threw in a handful of new songs from the new album titled Pollinator (which, although a great album, is mixed a bit strangely, as the vocals are - at least in my opinion - too quiet). I would have liked to have heard "Rip Her to Shreds" and "In the Flesh," but beggars can't be choosers, and I, as I said, am happy with the setlist overall. At 8:00 p.m., I was met with two pleasant surprises: (1) There was no opening band, and (2) Blondie began promptly at 8:00 p.m., which was a nice surprise because whenever I see a show, the first band rarely starts when it is supposed to start. Harry wore a white cape over her outfit, a cape which declared in block letters: STOP FUCKING THE PLANET. (Pollinator is intended to be a statement about the bee population gradually decreasing, and Harry said something to this effect later in the show, telling the crowd to "leave the fucking bees alone.") Underneath the cape, Debbie Harry (as pictured below; photo taken by Warren Linhart for http://www.syracuse.com) sported a pink and white shirt sort of like a kimono. (She later removed that to reveal a long sleeve pink shirt with a black belt around the waist.) I was pleased to see Blondie's drummer, Clem Burke, wearing a CGBG shirt because CBGB is basically where the band started.

I found Blondie at its best not during its performance of a classic but during its performance of "Fragments," a new song. It was one of several songs during which Harry was very interactive with the crowd. I have seen some bands (such as Weezer) that seemed to have very little energy and did not interact with the audience much if at all, but Harry frequently told stories and cracked jokes, and she seemed genuinely happy to be performing. She also had a lot of energy, especially for someone in her seventies. Highlights of the show included the aforementioned "Fragments," "The Tide Is High" (during which the crowd was probably most excited, which is honestly a bit sad because even though it's one of the band's biggest hits, it's actually a cover of a song from 1966), and "Atomic" (which featured a killer guitar solo). Many of the band's more pop-oriented songs (such as "The Tide Is High") got a rock treatment, which made the experience even fresher. The show also featured excellent sound quality. I have been to many shows at which the instruments were louder than the singer, and when the singer addressed the audience in between songs, it was difficult to understand what was being said. Debbie Harry's voice, however, was crystal clear both during her speeches and during the songs. Even though some performances (such as "Maria," which was sung in too low of a register but was probably the best that Harry could do at this point) were weaker than others, this was, overall, an incredible show, and I am so glad that I had the opportunity to attend it.