March 15, 1979 review: The B-52s at McVan's

 


Weird and powerful, right from the get-go.

March 15, 1979

Compelling, Energetic B-52s

Bombard Area Rock Fans

          Just when it seemed like we’d seen the last New Wave rock sensation, the B-52s have come along to keep the spirit alive.

          Mobbing the quintet for their first appearance here Wednesday night at McVan’s were about 200 fans – most likely all the same people who bought out their single, “Rock Lobster,” at the local underground record stores.

          It was the usual vivid New Wave crowd, plenty of leather jackets, earrings and other strikingly sleazy fashions. Among those present were the Vores, singer Fred Mann of the Enemies and singer Mark Freeland, who was distributing homemade Electroman badges.

          None of them, however, were quite as weird as the B-52s themselves, a most improbable ensemble of three front singers and two instrumentalists.

          Though two of the singers were women, this was hardly a New Wave Fleetwood Mac. Dressed in icky ‘60s pink and electric blue, topped with bouffant hair, they sang duets so atonal they made Patti Smith sound like mood music.

          “I think we’ve found the ladies from Venus,” one bystander remarked.

          Common melodies were only a passing concern during the B-52s’ hour-long set. With the crowd pressing tightly all around them, they ripped through a series of highly energetic modal numbers built on astringent guitar riffs (there was no bass), powerhouse drumming and vocals that were shouted or shrieked.

          That it all held together was a tribute to the guitarist and drummer. It was compelling, to be sure. The effect was that of the Talking Heads gone tacky – somewhere between the Shangri-Las and the Velvet Underground.

          With the crowd jumping and dancing, certain numbers had a magnetic intensity. “The Devil’s in My Car” was one. Another was a ditty called “Private Idaho.” Best, of course, was “Rock Lobster,” which earned them an encore.

          Buffalo’s own Jumpers opened with one of their better rough-and-ready recalls of the raw ‘60s rock club sound. Oddly, the crowd didn’t respond to their fury – despite a finale of the new single, “Sick Girls,” and the ‘60s hit, “Nervous Breakdown” – and singer Terry Sullivan rewarded them with a well-deserved cursing.

* * * * *

IN THE PHOTO: 1979 B-52s concert poster.

* * * * *

FOOTNOTE: Nothing from any of those early 1979 club dates on setlist.fm. Here's what they did when they got to a club in Amsterdam in the Netherlands in July:

 

Planet Claire

52 Girls

6060-842

Devil in My Car

Lava

Hero Worship

There's a Moon the the Sky (Called the Moon)

Dance This Mess Around

Runnin' Around

Rock Lobster

Private Idaho

Strobe Light

 

 

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