PhillyCheeze's Rock & Blues Reviews: Greg Suran

Riverside, Iowa

By Phillip Smith; Feb 15, 2015

One of my all-time favorite bands, The B-52’s descended upon the Riverside Casino in Riverside, Iowa last night and gave a stellar Valentine’s Day performance in front of a packed house. It was a special night, as the evening marked the 38^th anniversary of their first concert performing together. Original founding members Fred Schneider, Kate Pierson, and Cindy Wilson were joined onstage by guitarist Greg Suran, bassist Tracy Wormworth, drummer/percussionist Sterling Campbell, and guitarist/keyboardist Paul Gordon.

The band kicked things off with “Pump”, off their most recent studio album, Funplex. This one got the crowd excited and the energy flowing. The only other track from this album, was “Love in the Year 3000”, introduced by Kate who acknowledged Riverside, Iowa as being the future birthplace of Captain Kirk while pondering the details of how his parents hooked up.

Deeper cuts played, included the songs, “Girl from Ipanema Goes to Greenland” from Bouncing Off the Satellites and “Is That You Mo-dean?” from Good Stuff. Cindy gave a touching introduction to “Girl…” reminding us it was off the last album her brother Rickie played on before he passed in 1985. This one was Cindy’s song to sing.

For a short while, Kate and Cindy held down the fort with “Roam” and “Legal Tender”, which quickly filled the aisles with dancers and revelers. As soon as those songs finished, Fred mysteriously returned to stage donning a red ‘Kate-like’ wig. Stating it was party time, the band tore into “Party Out of Bounds”. Afterwards, Fred exclaimed “It’s fun being a red-head!”

The set is ended with crowd-favorite “Love Shack”, which brings the entire audience to their feet. As the B-52’s return for their encore, the familiar spacy beeps from “Planet Claire” fill the air. It’s still amazing to hear Kate’s enchanting siren-like vocals on this one. I remember thinking; this must have been what the siren songs which called out to Odysseus sounded like. It was so captivating. To wrap things up, the audience was treated to an extended dance version of “Rock Lobster”, a true classic off their first album. With red lobster-color lights shining upon the stage, Kate danced her heart out, and never seemed to break a sweat.

This was hands down, a fantastic show, and a fun concert.

* all photos by Phillip Smith