The B-52’s had just rolled through 10 up-tempo tunes in a row at the Masonic in San Francisco.
Thus it made sense that the famed new wave troupe from Athens, Georgia, might be ready for a little breather — maybe play a ballad or two.
“Ok, let’s bring it down a bit,” commented vocalist Fred Schneider.
But — as you probably guessed — he wasn’t being serious.
Instead, the band kept the pedal to the metal and roared right through “Whammy Kiss.”
The B-52’s were a party band right from the start, rising out of Athens in the late-’70s with the retro-fun blast “Rock Lobster” that had “everybody fruggin.'”
And they are leaving the same way they arrived.
The B-52’s brought their farewell tour to The Masonic in San Francisco for a three-night stand, Oct. 28-30, cranking up the party vibe and delighting fans with their rowdy surf-rock numbers for what may well have been the final time in the Bay Area.
Sure, they could add dates to this farewell trek, or even decide to change their minds and return from retirement — like so many acts do. Yet, the group’s upcoming four-night stand in Atlanta — just an hour and change from its Athens birthplace — would make for a very fitting final stand.
The fans who turned out to Sunday’s fun show were certainly aware that they might be watching the final B-52’s gig in San Francisco. Yet, they greeted the situation not with a tear, but with happy feet as they shook and shimmied to the some of the finest dance-party music of the last 40-plus years.
The group wasted no time getting the party started, appearing onstage in Halloween costumes — ranging from multi-instrumentalist Ken Maiuri’s busy bee outfit to guitarist Greg Suran’s Slash (from Guns N’ Roses) garb — and kicking off the set with the rowdy “Private Idaho” from the 1980 sophomore effort “Wild Planet.”
The pre-Halloween revelers in the crowd — many of whom were also wearing colorful Halloween costumes — just ate it up as the group continued through “Mesopotamia” and “Give Me Back My Man.” The band’s signature three-part harmonies were on full display, yet Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson would also do some solid vocal duo work when Schneider left the stage for the three-song stretch of “Revolution Earth,” “52 Girls” and “Roam.”
The B-52’s ended the main set with a exuberant “Love Shack” that had the whole house shimmying and then returning for a joyous three-song encore of “Planet Claire,” “Pump” and, of course, “Rock Lobster.”
The Tubes, San Francisco’s own art-glam-punk-kitchen-sink outfit, were also on the bill and posted equally good results as they set the table for the B-52’s.
Vocalist Fee Waybill and his band of merry musicians kicked things off with a fantastic version of “What Do You Want from Life?” from the band’s first — and still best — album, 1975’s self-titled affair.
Waybill was an engaging frontman, especially at the end of the show when he revisited his famed “Quay Lewd” rock star caricature and walked (with much help) onstage in towering platform boots that made him a good 2 feet taller than anyone else in the band during the druggy anthem “White Punks on Dope.”
The rest of the group was absolutely stellar, including, of course, the great Prairie Prince on drums. Yet, it was guitarist Roger Steen who truly stole the show as he delivered one amazing lead after another, including a solo on the pop-rock favorite “Talk to Ya Later” that left the crowd in pure awe.
The B-52’s setlist:
1. “Private Idaho”
2. “Mesopotamia”
3. “Give Me Back My Man”
4. “Love in the Year 3000”
5. “Revolution Earth”
6. “52 Girls”
7. “Roam”
8. “Good Stuff”
9. “Dance This Mess Around”
10. “Is That You, Mo-Dean?”
11. “Whammy Kiss”
12. “Love Shack”
Encore:
13. “Planet Claire”
14. “Pump”
15. “Rock Lobster”
