The Go-Go’s are one of the most successful all female rock bands. They are known for their pop laden hits and embodying themselves with good times and fun. The Go-Go’s played at the Seneca Niagara casino this past Saturday night. The band consists of original members Belinda Carlisle, Jane Wiedlin, Gina Schock, Charlotte Caffey and newcomer Abby Travis on bass. This was the band’s first time performing in Niagara Falls, New York.
The band is currently in the news for all the wrong reasons as they are facing a lawsuit by now ex-bassist Kathy Valentine over claims that the other four original members are preventing her from receiving her one fifth share of the group’s interests. Moving on to what the fans showed up for on Saturday night, it was the show at hand.
The band took the stage promptly at 8:00 pm and went into “Get Up and Go” from their “Vacation” album released all the way back in 1982. The band said very little in between songs, except for drummer Gina Schock. In fact, Schock’s candid humor the entire night was a welcome addition to an otherwise stale show. Another highlight was when the band did “Cool Jerk” and invited about 20 different fans to come up and dance on stage while the band performed the song. Immediately, when the last chord was done, the band couldn’t seem to wait to get the fans off the stage as you could hear Wiedlin telling them “No photos. We’ve got a show to do. Goodbye!” In my opinion, it wasn’t the best way to have the fans exit. It was very impersonal and should have been handled better. Perhaps they should not have let the fans come up at all.
Anyhoo, Carlisle looked great and sounded almost like what you may remember from days of old. The entire night had no peaks or valleys other than when the band did “Cool Jerk” and when the band played “Our Lips Are Sealed,” which garnered the most attention. They incorporated the KISS classic “Rock and Roll All Nite” into “We Got the Beat.” I thought the version fell a tad bit flat. Caffey (along with Wiedlin), who wrote or co-wrote the band’s biggest hits, also handled duties behind the keyboards as well as lead guitar.
I’m not sure what happened here, but when I saw the band last fall they seemed more energetic and delivered a much better performance. On this evening it was a different story. It was a mediocre performance at best.
Set List:
Get Up and Go
Vacation
Tonite
How Much More
Mad About You (Belinda Carlisle song)
Automatic
Fading Fast
Paint It Black
Cool Places
Cool Jerk (The Capitols cover)
This Town
Skidmarks on My Heart
We Got the Beat (Rock and Roll All Nite – KISS cover medley)
Our Lips Are Sealed
Encore:
Lust to Love
Head Over Heels
We would like to thank Tony Astran from the Seneca Niagara Casino for allowing BackstageAxxess.com to review the show.
