Blondie blasts back into form at House of Blues

Geoff Carter

Friday, March 12, 1999 | 9:49 a.m.

"Star Wars" is coming back, John Travolta is in his second prime -- it's 10 minutes past 1978, boys and girls. The Blondie reunion tour was inevitable. Thankfully, judging by their all-out assault on the House of Blues Wednesday night, it's at least a welcome inevitability.

Touring behind a solid album of new material, "No Exit," Blondie's new lease on life seems more a continuation than a resurrection, thanks to ... vitamin E? Viagra? Whatever the case, the former CBGB's mainstay is in fine form. (Scary thought: Now that MGM's Studio 54 has hit stride, you don't suppose some casino owner is going to buy the rights to CBGB's, do you? CBGB's at Caesars ... oh, never mind.)

Chris Stein, in particular, was right back in the groove; he cranked out his fluid, vintage New Wave leads as if he hadn't spent several years deathly ill (he did) and several more out of the spotlight (he did that, too). And Clem Burke beat the hell out of those drums, same as ever. But let's be honest -- the best part of Blondie isn't the boys.

Fifty-something vocalist Debbie Harry may be decidedly Mom-like these days -- she took an impromptu tea break in the middle of "Atomic" -- but she's still got the old phantom menace. Garbed in skin-tight pedal pushers and pumps, she blasted through a marathon set that was light on banter and heavy with hits -- everything from "The Tide Is High" to the unexpected "Shayla" -- with an aplomb that rivals fellow latent teen Mick Jagger. Sure, "Atomic" and "Call Me" were taken a key (or two) down to accommodate her aged pipes, but her voice rang true regardless of her limitations.

The new material meshed well with the old. The polished two-tone of "Screaming Skin" slid neatly behind "Hanging on the Telephone," and "Maria" prompted one boomer near me to exclaim to her husband, "I know this one! It was on the 'Times Square' soundtrack!" Best of the new material was the haunting "Forgive and Forget," a Kate Bush-reminiscent atmosphere piece that allowed Harry to show off exactly what she had learned in that 17-year layoff.

The House of Blues mix was solid, if a bit muddied in spots, and the crowd was pretty damned wild for a bunch of seventh-grade teachers. Props are due Blondie for giving that crowd their all: Even though the energy level never dipped, the band -- Harry in particular -- were visibly fatigued at points. ("They're heading for the oxygen," my girlfriend quipped, at the end of their regular set.)

Nevertheless, "One Way Or Another," "Rip Her To Shreds" and "Heart Of Glass" came off flawlessly, even as the lead singer drank her weight in tea. "You must carry canteens with you everywhere you go," Harry croaked at one point. "It's so dry up here, I'm crackin' up."

She may have been thirsty, but she would never have gotten to that point if Blondie weren't still hungry. Here's to another year of Eating to the Beat.