The Pretenders @ Roseland Ballroom, NYC - pics & setlist

photos by Natasha Ryan

Chrissie Hynde has done it again.
Over the past three decades, she has often reinvented The Pretenders - sometimes to suit her changing tastes, sometimes out of tragic necessity. The current incarnation of The Pretenders, the ones behind last year's standout album "Break Up the Concrete," may be the most potent lineup since the original one.
This quintet - Hynde, longtime drummer Martin Chambers, guitarist James Walbourne and pedal steel guitarist Eric Heywood, and bassist Nick Wilkinson - is rooted more in Americana than British rock, but that doesn't mean Hynde has left her punk roots behind. They've actually forged a new sound on this tour, revving up some of the "Concrete" tracks and prettifying some of the poppier songs from the Pretenders catalog.
Some songs, like the new "Boots of Chinese Plastic" and "Don't Cut Your Hair," clocked in faster and more intense than their recorded versions. The classic "Thumbelina" seemed like it could catch fire as it rocketed to a cowpunk ending, while "Don't Get Me Wrong" sped up and got drenched in reverb.... [Newsday]