DC was just the third stop on their 2024 Summerfest tour
Pat Benatar and Neil Geraldo commanded the stage at Warner Theater in DC on Tuesday night (July 9th). Taking the stage in dual all-black ensembles, the husband and wife rock duo powered through the anthems that have become icons of a generation.
“Promises in the Dark” started slow, then kicked off into overdrive with Giraldo’s high-octane playing style perfectly matching Benatar’s soaring vocals.
And soar her voice did. Benatar has maintained her ‘tude-filled rocker’s voice very well. “We Live For Love” featured her galaxy-reaching high register. “My Clone Sleeps Alone” was also a vocal standout, infused with the requisite sarcasm and pain.
“We Belong” started with just Giraldo on piano and Benatar showing off the pristine condition of her voice. The band, of course, kicked in to bring the power ballad to a crescendo.
Benatar and Giraldo are switching things up each night. At Warner, they offered the energetic and all-too-brief “Ties that Bind” from Gravity’s Rainbow. Giraldo called the project, “One of my favorites.” He said they don’t do the song often, but threw it in for tonight.
The duo has only two backing musicians; a drummer and a bassist. Neil Giraldo’s guitar rounds out just three instruments needed to create the legendary Benatar/Giraldo sound.
Benatar and Giraldo’s lasting imprint on rock and roll is finally getting its due: they were inducted into the Rock Hall under two years ago
—and many decades late.
By the time “Heartbreaker” closed the night in a mashup with “Ring of Fire,” the crowd had spent 90 minutes enthralled in a catalog of music that allows the listeners to forget everything except their love for a good melody and the voice of a generation.
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