While we were away. —Ed.
After reschedulings, venue changes, cancellations, and postponements, the show that never seemed to quite make it to a Bay Area stage finally came to pass. That’s right, Belinda, Jane, Kathy, Charlotte, and Clem (yes, you read that right—Clem Burke of Blondie on drums) hit San Francisco’s Masonic Auditorium for what would prove to be well worth the wait.
With no opening act and a no-frills stage setup, The Go-Go’s stormed the stage at 8:15 and proceeded to wow the near-capacity crowd of mostly Gen X’ers apparently out for date night from the first notes of “Beatnik Beach.” Belinda was the “punk rock ballerina” spinning around barefoot mid-stage while Kathy, Charlotte, and Jane held down the backup harmonies and Clem showed why he was the perfect stand-in behind the kit for Gina Schock.
And where was Gina you might ask? Sitting right there on the side of the stage enjoying the show as much, if not more than the most enthusiastic fans in the house. If you were worried you’d miss out on Gina’s flair for the hype, not to worry—she happily borrowed the mic from Belinda a few times to intro the band and unnecessarily point out how great the band sounded (everyone there already knew).
With a 90-minute set, The Go-Go’s were able to easily cover all the bases in their catalog with most of Beauty and the Beat peppered amongst hits from their other three albums as well as “Club Zero,” released in 2020, the band’s first new song in nineteen years!
Even without Gina behind the kit, it was great to finally see the classic The Go-Go’s lineup back together on the same stage with Kathy back on bass. And with the San Francisco fans having waited impatiently for this show to finally happen, it was even sweeter that these ladies did not disappoint!
Setlist:
Beatnik Beach
This Town
Vacation
How Much More
Tonite
Lust to Love
Turn to You
La La Land
Get Up and Go
He’s So Strange
Automatic Rainy Day
Fading Fast
Head Over Heels
Club Zero
Unforgiven
Skidmarks on My Heart
Throw Me a Curve
Our Lips Are Sealed
We Got the Beat
Encore:
Fun With Ropes
Remember (Walking in the Sand) (The Shangri‐Las cover)
Can’t Stop the World
