7 NIGHTS

Sunday Mail – 19th November 2017

Pages 48 & 49

BLONDIE
SSE HYDRO 14.11

One way or another, we’re gonna get ya

Blondie can still do no wrong as they blow fans away with potent mix of old classics and new material

It would be the easiest thing in the world for Blondie to turn into another heritage act, but they’ve never been ones to do the obvious.

Sure, they’ve got more stone-cold classics than most bands, but even back in the early days of the CBGB’s scene, they’ve always done things their own way, for themselves and nobody else.

When punk was happening, they went pop. When hip hop was being born, they embraced it before anyone.

Now, when they could be forgiven for rolling out the hits, they’re pushing themselves on with another new album, full of great new songs.

What was really great about their Hydro show was how well those songs went down too. After bursting out the traps with old-school classics One Way Or Another and Hanging On The Telephone (both stellar), Blondie hit us up with the aptly-titled Fun, a disco-infused banger and the first of several from new album Pollinator.

Gravity, written by Charli XCX no less, was another winner, with Debbie Harry’s vocals powering over the top of its spiky, but euphoric melody, while Long Time and Too Much more than held their own with the classics. Atomic, The Tide Is High, Union City Blue – they just keep coming. They weren’t slavish with them either. Rapture, propelled along by Clem Burke’s peerless drums, was as sublime as ever, before incorporating a blast of The Beastie Boys’ Fight For Your Right, just as Heart Of Glass morphed into a cover of Donna Summer’s I Feel Love.

Awesome from start to finish.

JULES BOYLE