THE PRETENDERS – LIVE IN LONDON
“And by the way you look fantastic / In your boots of Chinese plastic”. If ever the now 58-year-old Chrissie Hynde sung a more appropriate line … well. Live in London has been produced as both a DVD and CD of the same tracks, the film footage was shot and directed by Pierre and Francois Lamoureux, and what director would do anything other than focus on the world’s sexiest and most charismatic 58-year-old front woman? Breaking no new ground in concert footage, the Lamoureux’s have used the old staple: “Our goal was to stay out of the way and capture it within the frame”. So here we have Chrissie, along with other founding member drummer Martin Chambers, in The Pretenders 2009 model churning through all you would expect, Middle of the Road, Talk of the Town, Back on the Chain Gang, Don’t Get Me Wrong … the list goes on, and as a bonus they throw in Brass in Pocket (why not in the set proper I’m unsure). The only obvious thing missing from the Best Of collection is Hymn to Her. The performances are solid, Hynde stunning to watch if not as edgy in voice, but then again this isn’t London 1979 is it? And the band has never quite re-captured their early glory after they lost James Honeyman-Scott in 1982.
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