The Metal Files

Pat Benatar and her husband Neil Giraldo have been creating music together for 35 or so years.  You Better Run was the 2nd song ever aired on MTV.  While I’ve never owned any of her albums, I’ve always enjoyed her music.  Neil’s riffs and solos always had good hooks and she has always had a great voice.

Tickets came available a couple of months ago and I decided to go having never seen her before.  It made it even better that ACL Live at the Moody Theater was hosting it.  I love this venue.  Easily the best venue in Austin.  Saw some friends in the lobby area while enjoying a beer before the show and then we went our separate ways.  I’ve been pretty lucky to get front row balcony for almost every show I’ve seen there.

She opened with All Fired Up and played through her string of hits.  It was a short set, only 13 songs, but quite enjoyable.  Her voice still sounds amazing.  Neil’s playing was spot on and I was surprised at his piano playing skills as well.  It was a sold out show and the crowd sang along for the whole show.  I was quite surprised that I knew the lyrics to all of her hit songs.  All those years in the 80s of radio and MTV apparently had an impact.  The bassist and drummer were solid and I got to meet the bassist outside just for a second as we were walking back to the car.  The only thing that could have made the show better was if Myron Grombacher was still on drums.  That guy was a killer drummer.

In her encore, she closed with Heartbreaker that went into a bit of Ring of Fire then into a snippet of Zeppelin’s Heartbreaker then back to her Heartbreaker.

All in all it was a fun show and I’m glad I went.  I’m seeing Chicago Monday and I am all fired up about it (yes, I went there).