Sometimes life doesn't disappoint.
Hasn't happened often around here lately, but it's good to know that some things are every bit as cool as you expect them to be.

I have loved The Pretenders since I was about 6 years old, and I saw the video for "Brass in Pocket" on MTV. There was a groove to that song, and that voice. My cousins were my earliest musical influences, and they indoctrinated me in the finer points of late 70's rock and roll. I was subjected to videos and albums by quality groups like Van Halen and Led Zeppelin, which gave me a healthy appreciation for the finer points of good guitar. And then there were the other bands, like Motley Crue. Most of the women I saw on MTV looked like something.... well something I had never seen and knew, even in my little six year old brain, that I would never be able to be like.

Then I saw "Brass in Pocket." Chrissie wasn't all painted up and she wore normal clothes, and she had that voice. And that was the first time I knew that women could be in a band and make music. At six years old, in the early 80's there weren't many examples of that to go around, and even fewer that I was likely to encounter in the world of boy cousins who were my sole male influences.

I went to see The Pretenders on Saturday night with Surrogate Brother EMan, and I fully expected to be disappointed. I figured a lot has changed. MTV doesn't show videos anymore. Chrissie Hynde is my mom's age. And speaking of which, there was Drunk Soccer Mom in the row in front of me, alternately flailing about in such a way that made me fear for my face and grinding against her companion, Slightly Sober Soccer Dad. More to the point, every instance in which I have met/ seen one of my heroes, they never measure up. How could they?

But they did. The band played hard, and didn't seem averse to playing the old standards-- I hate when artists think they're too good to play the material that put them on the map. If I still enjoy hearing it after thousands of turns through the record/tape/cd player it seems that the people who wrote it should like enough to still want to play it. They also mixed in some new stuff, and made the crowd love it just as much. And Chrissie Hynde said "fuck" a lot and made a few jokes, but not so many as to sound ingratiating. As if she could be.

Surrogate Brother EMan and I went for a drink after the show was over. On the way back to the train station, we saw roadies loading up buses and gave some thought to hanging around, seeing who we could meet.

But we decided it was best not to ruin it.