Photo: WENN
“Chrissie and the band ask that you don’t use phones and enjoy the music in the moment”. Music to our ears before rock institution Chrissie Hynde even came on stage. She was met by an enthusiastic crowd, spilling over the tiered balconies of the venue, craning necks to get a better view.
She still radiates cool and it was hard to accept that she’s nearing 65. She looked vulnerable at first, fronting the four piece band armed just with a hand held mic. Her famous silhouette was reformed after the opening track, guitar slung over shoulder. Her trademark voice still strong, she enveloped her audience with soulful, sultry, blues infused wails.
When her voice cracked briefly during ‘977’, she laughed it off: “Oops, those vocals haven’t kicked in yet”. Hynde owns her own weaknesses and in that way she is almost beyond judgement. It’s this mix of strength and vulnerability which remains Hynde’s unique power.
Hynde’s relationship with her band was generous, calling James Walbourne the “last of a dying species: the great British guitar player”. He did an admirable job, energetic and skilled throughout. His energy was one of the clear driving forces of the performance.
Though the audience was gathered to revel in the classics, tracks from new album Stockholm were well received, proving Hynde is an ever relevant presence in rock. Some of the classics were noticeably missing and missed however, ‘Stand by you’ being one of them. Hynde generously came on for two encores, first playing the emotive, lullaby-esque ‘I Go To Sleep’.
Suitably, the final song of the evening was a festive, heart-warming send off with ‘2000 miles’.
The gig, sold as ‘An Evening with Chrissie Hynde’, was just that. Not a run of the mill performance, Hynde intermittently stopping between tracks to charm with stories: “I remember being here to see Siouxsie and the Banshees, having a drink with Sid Vicious”. She has charisma befitting of all the old legends, a real stage presence.
