Blondie

It was Gay Pride in Providence, RI but that didn't stop a gaggle of gays and other assorted people from going to see their favorite bleached blonde Deborah Harry front her immortal band Blondie this past Saturday night. And even though the seats were only three-quarters full at the South Shore Music Circus in Cohasset, MA, the enthusiastic crowd still cheered on one of their music heroes.

Dressed in a tight, black and white clingy dress with matching gloves, Deborah Harry looked like she stepped right out of the cover of Blondie's 1978 landmark album "Parallel Lines." It just so happens that was the reason they were on tour: that hit-making album put Blondie on the map and is celebrating its 30th anniversary. The post-punk sound of "Parallel Lines" was in full-force Saturday night, and Blondie performed the entire thing from start to finish without missing a single beat.

Sounding eerily similar to the recorded versions, Harry, musical partner Chris Stein, and original drummer Clem Burke (along with 3 other band touring members) ripped through "Parallel Lines" as if it had just been released. It was a thrill to hear the band perform songs they hadn't done since 1978 such as "Pretty Baby", "11:59", "Fade Away and Radiate", and "Will Anything Happen." The band could have performed the album's huge hits "One Way or Another" and the timeless "Heart of Glass" (a Number One smash) with their eyes closed. But Harry's eyes glanced down at her lyrics monitor a few times on other songs, such as "I Know But I Don't Know". She also pranced the stage in her now infamous robotic, un-choreographed dance moves. It's as though Harry knows she can't dance but uses it to her advantage.

After "Parallel Lines" was done being featured, the band kicked it into overdrive and to prove it, Harry took off her red pumps and threw them into the audience. It was out with the old and in with the new, as Blondie did a rare thing: they did 2 of Harry's solo songs from her 2007 release "Necessary Evil." It made sense, as "Whiteout" and the title track sound just like Blondie songs anyway. The 90-minute show ended with the band's 3 other number hits "Rapture", "Call Me", and "The Tide Is High". The latter was the perfect summer song to end a nostalgic summer night.