I have recently enjoyed
several tribute band’s recreations
of music from the 80’s and 90’s (see Days 220 and 222 ).
Adam Ant is a UK 80’s Punk Rock/New Wave icon. I remembered going to an Adam Ant concert as a 80's high school girl at the now long gone Syria Mosque with my best friend Paul (who quiescently
changed his name to Adam). We dressed in
“new wave” garb by wearing black and
white, garnishing our outfits with safety pins
and adding white stripes under
our eyes. We jumped like crazy to the energetic pulsating drum beat of Adam and the Ants. When I heard that he was touring again I was off to a new venue, The
Palace Theater in Greensburg, to see the real deal and once again experience the high octane music of Adam Ant!
Reflection
“Adam and the Ants” with
10 top ten UK hits from 1980 to 1983 were synonymous with the New Wave music
era. The group disbanded in 1982. Adam took a musical hiatus until recently. In 2013
he released his first album since 1995 entitled, “Is The Blueblack Hussar
in Marrying The Gunner's Daughter and in 2017, he released, Bravest of the Brave.
Adam look a like |
The Palace Theater atmosphere was charged with excitement even before he played. There were “Adam look a likes”, people wearing numerous safety pins, and others with white
strips under their eyes throughout
the theater. The audience in unison jumped up as soon as he walked out on the stage and remained standing for almost 2 hours.
This show had the hyped energy and distinctive strong and fast drum beat that I remembered especially when they
played “Antmusic”. Adam still had that
unique look and piercing eyes that reminded me of Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow
character from the Pirate of the Caribbean movies. ( see Antmusic live 2017)
set list |
The band with two full drummers and 3 phenomenal guitar players performed all his hit singles. Adam occasionally picked
up the guitar (see Prince Charming) and even the harmonica. He saved "Goody Two Shoes" which is one of my favorite songs for the encore.
signed picture of Adam Ant |
We all enjoyed experiencing the Adam Ant from our past . He gave
us the octane powered show that we expected and that we loved so much from the "real deal", Adam Ant!
This was my first time at the Palace Theater which was only about 1 hour and 15 minutes from
Pittsburgh. There did not seem to be a bad seat in this theater because of the smaller venue size (1369 seats). Parking in the lot across from the theater is also
free! They have an interesting line up of
shows and I would definitely make the trip again for another show at the Palace Theater (see the event schedule).
Other sources
Palace Theater http://www.thepalacetheatre.org/
Palace Theater events http://www.thepalacetheatre.org/concerts-events/
Adam Ant http://www.adam-ant.com/