“It was a blonde”, Raymond Chandler has Philip Marlowe say, “a blonde to make a bishop kick a hole in a stained glass window.” Thirty years ago that could’ve been Debbie Harry. But even if the entire pan-Anglican conference had been in the tent tonight, the windows of the cathedral opposite would have been safe. Harry’s game, but chicken and chips would seem to have undone cheekbones and chic – and not just hers. A large number of fans who have dyed the tresses and dusted off the gladrags seem not to own long mirrors.
However, despite a mix that virtually eliminated keyboards and favoured bass and drums over vocals that needed all the help they could get, the hits came thick and fast. From ‘Hanging On The Telephone’ and ‘One Way Or Another’ to ‘Heart Of Glass’ (crowd goes ape) and ‘Sunday Girl’ (crowd goes gorilla) they really did belt them out.
And if she couldn’t quite recapture that first fine careless ‘Rapture’, ‘Maria’ enraptured all – a sea of 7,000 raised hands resulting. The encores ‘Atomic’, ‘The Tide Is High’ and a scorching ‘Get Off Of My Cloud’ alone afforded a glimpse of the original fire. But perhaps it’s time Ms. Harry hung up the dancing shoes that made this a red leather night for the guys she threw them to – if she doesn’t want to end up singing “Happy Birthday Mr. President” to George W. Bush.