Review: Hynde eschews middle of the road approach

Spencer Patterson

Monday, Feb. 24, 2003 | 8:17 a.m.

The Pretenders were halfway through their 1986 hit "Don't Get Me Wrong" Saturday night when frontwoman Chrissie Hynde brought the song to an abrupt halt.

"This is Las Vegas. We've got to do the cheesy version," she explained to a surprised near-capacity crowd of 1,750 at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay.

While the other four Pretenders picked up again with a slow, jazzy take on the familiar melody, Hynde put her guitar behind her back and transformed herself into a lounge singer. The 51-year-old strutted around the stage, swayed her hips sexily and blew kisses to the balcony as she softly half-spoke, half-sang the lyrics.

The episode typified Hynde's approach throughout her band's two-hour performance. Animated and chatty, she joked with the audience between nearly every number, tailoring her remarks to her surroundings.

"Who lost money on the Mike Tyson fight?" Hynde asked at one point, referring to the boxer's 49-second victory over Clifford Etienne earlier in the night. "I bet you lost thousands."

Tyson's knockout win even crept into Hynde's lyrics. "It's good, good, good, like Mike Tyson," she sang during "Message of Love."

Saturday's show was also a lot of fun musically. Loaded with old favorites, the 25-song set kept fans singing and dancing until the lights came on after the band's second encore.

Though the Pretenders' highest charting singles were recorded during the 1980s, the band's music maintains a timeless quality, the result of an unwillingness to bend to musical trends and fads.

Hynde's current batch of cohorts -- lead guitarist Adam Seymour, bassist Andy Hobson, drummer Martin Chambers and keyboardist Zeb Jamison -- remain quite capable of bringing the band's trademark tight-as-leather approach to the stage.

Ultimately, however, the Pretenders' brand of magic boils down to Hynde's voice, one of the most unmistakable in rock over the past 25 years. On this night she sounded vibrant as ever, well-suited for the House of Blues' primo acoustics.

Playing rhythm on three different guitars -- one red, one white and the third gold-sequined for the encore -- Hynde bashed away like a grown-up Johnny Ramone, even simulating making love to her instrument on a few occasions.

As much as her demeanor, her appearance offered evidence of her effective blend of sex appeal and strength. Gussied up in gold hoop earings and a pearl choker, she stripped off a black jacket early in the show to reveal a plain black T-shirt with its sleeves pinned up, showing off her muscular physique.

As always, her shaggy locks reached just past her shoulders, and her bangs hung halfway over her eyes.

The Pretenders debuted seven cuts from their latest album, last year's "Loose Screw," the first released on independent label Artemis Records. Most of the new material sounded in step with the band's classics, though "Complex Person" and "Nothing Breaks Like a Heart" pointed in a new, reggae-flavored direction.

Of course, the crowd turned out to hear the hits, and there were plenty of those. "Back on the Chain Gang," "Middle of the Road" and "Brass in Pocket" drew the most cheers, but an extended version of "My City Was Gone" was the real highlight, showcasing two fierce solos by Seymour.

The band also paid tribute to fallen comrades. "Biker" was played for the Clash's Joe Strummer, "a friend who recently disappeared," and Hynde dedicated "Kid" to one-time Pretenders James Honeyman-Scott and Pete Farndon, both of whom died of drug overdoses.

The show opened with a spirited 30-minute set by the All Mighty Senators, including a cover of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire." The band's quirky style proved an ideal match for the jovial Hynde, who even helped the audience laugh at the prospect of war.

"Let's hear it for Americans everywhere. We're all gonna die," Hynde said, before adding. "No, we'll be all right. Just follow me."