The B-52's at the IndigO2

On Friday night I partied out of bounds with the good stuff that is The B-52's at the IndigO2. They're currently a three-piece of Cindy, Fred and Kate backed by a powerful band of bass, drums, keyboards and guitar and they make a great sound. And, of course, punk bongos.

They were supported by the Members who played a fun half hour set, a mix of songs I knew and others I didn't but it was nice to hear them. Their guest drummer was Rat Scabies (of The Damned) which got a big 'wow' from me. When I looked down onto the stage from the balcony bar I just thought, 'three old blokes', but that belied the noise they were making and made 35 years ago. Their final song was, 'The Sound Of The Suburbs', quite probably more true today than before. Old punx keep turning up and that is, of course, a good thing. Long may they continue do so.

We were all there to see those B-52's, the perennial party animals of yesteryear who just keep giving. The audience were clearly there back in the day since the vast majority were in their 40s and 50s and some older still. There were the odd younger people wandering round, possibly wondering who let their parents out for the evening. The age gap was very noticeable at the bar where all the bar staff were in their 20s and virtually everyone they were serving were old enough to be their parents. Hey, we were there back then and we're still here. I bought 'Rock Lobster' when it first came out y'know.

See? I'm rambling already. Where was I...

On came the band and then The B-52's took their place at the front of the stage, waving and smiling and kicked off with 'Planet Claire' from the first record. We were gifted with a mighty selection from across their career but sadly only one song from 'Funplex' (which Fred reminded us was available on iTunes). I remember buying 'Funplex' in the big Virgin store in Times Square, New York, before it was released here and not believing how slim they all were until I saw them at the Roundhouse in 2008. I was pleased to see that Cindy was wearing shoes this time and Kate wore a scarlet minidress to match her hair. It is, obviously, entirely natural.

Fred is still delightfully mad (as is right and proper) and asked us if we'd seen the article in the newspapers a couple of weeks ago that claimed they'd got older since the '80s - as if! He asked us if we'd downloaded the new volcano app before launching into 'Lava'. Introducing 'Love In The Year 300' Kate mentioned that Fred had just got back from the future and he told us that the guardians of the future were rude and all they cared about was rigging elections. He also told us that they spend so much time in outer space that it sometimes causes problems and gave us 'Is That You Mo-Dean?'. Fred reminded us that before they helped to invent new wave they were punks, at which point Cindy mentioned that her bongos were punk bongos (obv). Fred has his own wisdom.

Fred and Kate left the stage while Cindy mentioned she was going to do a song from 'Bouncing Off Satellites' and dedicated it to her brother Ricky before giving us a great version of 'Girl From Ipanema Goes To Greenland'. Ricky was an original B-52 and died while they were making 'Satellites'. That was a long time ago so it was extra nice for Cindy to remind us of him.

Kate then came back on stage for her and Cindy to give us a stonking 'Roam' and 'Legal Tender' before Fred came back from the future for 'Love In The Year 3000' (with his bootybots and erotobots). Cindy banged out '6060-842' on her punk bongos and Kate shimmied to 'Whammy Kiss' before a mammoth 'Love Shack' closed the show with everyone of their feet clapping and shouting for more. They came back and gladly gave us 'Party Out Of Bounds' and a raucous 'Rock Lobster' before sending us away into the south east London night wreathed in happy smiles. But not before I stopped by the Concert Live stand to pick up the live recording of the gig and I'm jolly pleased I did! I can now re-live that evening whenever I want to and remember that, somewhere in all that noise, is me clapping along. It's a really good recording and you should get it while you can.

The B-52's make me smile and make me happy. They gifted us with a most excellent gig and some of the great songs from their long career and I shall cherish more memories. I was strangely excited before they came on stage and then >BLAM< they were gone. They probably got beamed back up to their space ship to keep the party going ...

Come back soon!