PRETENDERS@SXSW

Stubb's BBQ
March 18, 2006

By David Pyndus

The blues chanteuse strolls onstage, blowing into a harmonica. It's anybody’s guess where Chrissie Hynde’s moaning harp might lead, but then she pauses to exclaim: “You guys are the pits of the world!” And she and her Pretenders shred the rocker “Pack It Up” from their heyday a short quarter century ago. “Pack It Up” is a young woman’s song, a telling kissoff to a boyfriend with an “insipid record collection” and, as the band’s set opener, it sets the evening's tone.

The ominously piercing guitar lines are embellished by Adam Seymour, who’s served loyally as Hynde’s guitar foil for more than a dozen years. “That’s showbiz, big boy,” she sings against the clatter, “you’ve got to be cruel to be kind.” Drummer Martin Chambers keeps a mighty beat along with new bassist named Nick Wilkinson, who pushes and pulls with Chambers like they’ve been playing together for years. The unmistakable bass riff of “Kid” – as always, dedicated “to Pete Farndon and James Honeyman-Scott” – comes next, as tribute to the two original Pretenders whose premature deaths forever changed the nature of the band.

“We’re gonna play songs for the die-hards,” she announces to the overflow crowd, and accentuates that statement with two songs from a nearly forgotten 1990 album--Packed!--that remains the Pretenders' nadir. Yet “Hold A Candle To This” and “Never Do That” rock hard, meaning they serve their purpose. (There were no Kinks ballads or nostalgic sign of ex-husband Ray Davies, who made an appearance at the SXSW Music Festival the previous afternoon to promote his own album.)

The irony of playing a barbeque restaurant with a large outdoor patio was not lost on the longtime PETA member, who said she knew she was in “cattle country” and inquired if anyone had visited a slaughterhouse. A scattering of hands rose, and Hynde retreated from center stage as if to prepare rebuttal, but instead simply removed her white jacket, revealing a gaudy T-shirt emblazoned with a red, white and blue cow skull.

Hynde appeared genuinely relaxed and displayed good behavior during the band’s first show promoting the new Rhino retrospective box, Pirate Radio (never mentioning it from stage), and it was a pleasant surprise when she offered “The English Roses” instead of a tirade against brisket. One of the few ballads on the band’s second album, “English Roses” was transformed into a wall of sound in its new incarnation. Then her punchline: “Seen any good bands lately?”

The Pretenders played a smattering of radio cuts (“Back On The Chain Gang,” “Don’t Get Me Wrong,” and “Night In My Veins”) but the 19-song set was weighed with tunes from the band’s heady days as the toast of a London rock scene dominated by big guitar bands like The Clash and The Jam. A highlight was the soaring “Day After Day” with pounding rhythms courtesy of Chambers, who beat his drum kit behind a Plexiglas wall; Hynde’s lyric “round and round and round we go, just like yesterday” will make anyone smile now. Even a casual line like “you’re going grey, my baby” carries impetus, though Hynde offered more obscurities for longtime fans.

A spiky “Porcelain”/“Cuban Slide” to close out the main set were choice selections for the fellow musicians, teenage girls and industry reps who had scant room to dance (even if their feet would let them).

When the band returned it focused on 1980, with an always-swaggering “Precious” and “Tattooed Love Boys” among the encores, and Hynde strumming on an industrial-looking metallic guitar. The band should have been spent, and Chambers looked like a man leaving a slow cooker when he emerged from his drum booth to wave goodbye. After a few minutes, the quartet returned again for a bittersweet “Talk Of The Town” and a joyfully wacky “Mystery Achievement,” a tuneful blend of swinging pop ambition and punk beat. “You know me, I got no tears on my ice cream,” cooed Hynde, “…I love pretending.”

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