Great night at CBGB at the next to last show. I have not seen Walter Lure perform in years. Interesting that his band is mostly Japanese. Performed some Heartbreakers stuff like "One Track Mind" and had his guitarist do "Chinese Rocks". He also did a Stones song which I don't remember. Good opening for the event.

Afterwards I went to the bar to get a beer, and an older woman commented that she liked my Dictators' shirt. Now keep in mind that I am 47 years old but she was a good looking woman older than me. We started talking and she told me that she was always at CBGB. We talked about some common experiences and it turns out she was Linda Stein who was the wife of Seymour Stein who was prominently featured in the book, "Please Kill Me" and who was the President of Sire Records. She was there with her daughter and some friends, one of whom was 58 years old and was never at CBGB. Absolutely delightful woman.

Debbie Harry comes out with Chris Stein who has an electric guitar and two other members of her band, one of whom has an acoustic guitar. Up front one could tell the difference between the Blondie and Dictators fans. The Dictators fans (me being one of them) are a motley crew and honestly are not as good looking as the Blondie fans. Lots of folks carrying fan magazines and clearly younger.

For me Blondie was always a mediocre live band at best. Last time I saw them was at Tramps when they decided to reunite at the Joey Ramone Birthday Bash in 1997 with the drummer of Luscious Jackson on drums. I remember seeing them at the Palladium several times and once at the Dr. Pepper festival. The problem with them is that Debbie's voice always had limited range live and the band just never had that...well, you know what I mean when a band has it.

Debbie is wearing a gorgeous dress and looks incredible and she is around 58 years old. I can't see any lines on her faces other than some around her lips and her forehead looks frozen as if she overdosed on botox. But she still has an amazing waistline. Setlist which was about 10 songs included, "One Way or Another", "Tide is High", "Please, Please Me" (Beatles cover), a cover of a Gun Club song, "Rip Her to Shreds", "Hanging On A Telephone" and the encore being "Heart of Gold".

I found her to be a bit tentative at first but when she warmed up, she took control of the performance. The best way I can describe the performance is a cabaret version of Blondie songs. Her range is still limited but but she has developed a good control of her voice. The crowd treated her as if she was the returning Queen. Would have been good to have Tish and Snooky perform with her. When Debbie went off stage, her fans left with her as the crowd became noticably smaller.

The Dictators were on fire last night. As good as the first night was, it was a rehearsal for this evening. The set list was the same but with the addition of Loyola, Savage Beat and Haircut and Attitude taking the place of a couple of songs including What's Up With That. Keith Streng of the Fleshtones and his wife was right next to me at the front of the stage. I have seen the Dictators well over 20 times over the last 30 years and this may have been Ross' best performance yet. He was simply incredible. Scott still looked nervous (keep in mind that he has only done three gigs with them since 2001) but Ross was on a different level. Richard's voice was terrific and the band was amazing. Richard kept on referring to Andy being his new best friend so hopefully the guys will perform more regularly now.

Tommy Ramone was sitting by the side of the stage all night so it was not surprising that he came on stage to do vocals for Blitzreig Bop. All in all an amazing weekend and a fantastic way to lead up to the final night with Patti which I will not be attending as I have seen her billions of times and really cannot afford to get home at 3 in the morning on a Sunday night. Should be a great show.

Wow!....Debbie Harry acutally looks really hot in that pic

One correction-Debbie did not do Heart of Gold (what was I thinking) but Heart of Glass. She also did a cover of the Ramones' "I Want To Be Your Boyfriend".

A really great night!! The Waldos were absolutely fantastic and Blondie was very enjoyable. I now regret leaving early a bit into the Dictators set. What time did the Dictators end?

The Dics finished around 2:15.

Debbie Harry is 61.

Anyone know what time the show tonight is actually starting? Is anyone opening or is it just Patti Smith and her crew?

Patti Smith makes Roger Waters look pro-American. Be sure and check out her Guantanamo Bay and Israel bashing songs.

Adam is right - Ross the Boss was unreal. Totally amazing.

As someone who was there to see Blondie, I was very happy with the evening. I thought her voice was so clear. She warmed up to be charming and bold and shy all at once. She looked great and how she carried herself had nothing to do with age, lack of wrinkles or waistline...it had to do with being a performer who is still able to do what she did...and knows it.

I stayed to enjoy the Dictators much more than my boyfriend suspected I might. I was so impressed with the energy. Both from the Dictators and the crowd. I cant belive I went so long without seeing them, and I feel lucky to have seen such a special performance...and Lucky to be in NY.

Here's a video I took of the 2nd half of Who Will Save Rock and Roll from last night.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=liIJTTRm1tY

Debbie resembles Jenny Lewis in that picture.

For those of you who were there that night, I was the guy i the knit hat standing next to Tommy Ramone for the entire length of The Dictators' set. He seemed to be taking in the night, visibily moving to the music at times, as he seemd genuinely into the performance. He was also visibly annoyed by a few persistent people who would not leave him alone to enjoy the show. Out of respect, I left him alone, only patting him on the back a couple of times we smiled at each other. Him singing Blitzkrieg was awesome, he was really into it.

Funny thing was, when he first sat next to me, I didnt relaize who he was at that moment untilI commented to him "Best seat in the house, huh," to which he laughed "Yup." It was then I realized that I partying next to one of the guys who made it all possible.

Thanks to everyone there for being awesome and for an unforgettable night.

Walter Lure's Stones cover was "The Last Time"; he also did Ray Charles' "Busted." Debbie & co. did "Please Please Me."

What a night.

Does anyone know what Gun Club song Blondie covered? Or did they actually play "Under the Gun", their tribute to Jeffrey Lee Pierce, which appeared on their reunion album No Exit? Nice review in any case, Adam.

Jefferson G

-dude, that is a great photo of debbie harry, on of ony three women in my life to be lucky enough to appear as a poster on my teen-age bedroom wall

can i see more?

both nights were great..........I cant imagine leaving in the middle of the dictators set.you must have been sick ? sick fucks were entertaining and sounded like a band you could get into....bullys ok also....I was there to see the dictators so the band that caught my attention was the sick fucks.....other than that I didnt pay much mind...........although I heard blondie and decided not to pay her any mind either just a weak performance.music like that is better off being heard the way it was played on the radio. I was never big on blondie although I always thought she was a pretty girl who could sing some. Much respect to her though. The dictators were better than I could wish for..the first time (2 nights) I had seen them and to me was one of the greatest shows on many levels........the band has all it needs I must see them again...........

both nights were great..........I cant imagine leaving in the middle of the dictators set.you must have been sick ? sick fucks were entertaining and sounded like a band you could get into....bullys ok also....I was there to see the dictators so the band that caught my attention was the sick fucks.....other than that I didnt pay much mind...........although I heard blondie and decided not to pay her any mind either just a weak performance.music like that is better off being heard the way it was played on the radio. I was never big on blondie although I always thought she was a pretty girl who could sing some. Much respect to her though. The dictators were better than I could wish for..the first time (2 nights) I had seen them and to me was one of the greatest shows on many levels........the band has all it needs I must see them again...........

The Gun Club cover that Blondie did is called Mother of Earth.

What are the guys names who played with Walter in the Waldos that night? They rocked!

not too bad

What are the guys names who played with Walter in the Waldos that night? They rocked!