Summer of the Arts - Working at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts: We Got The Beat

I tend to write-off the 80's as having produced comparatively less good music than the decades before. While there was no doubt great music during the period (U2 and REM saved the late 80's), most of it doesn't' appeal to my more straight laced rock tendencies. For this reason, I was quite surprised when last night's show became one of my favorites of the season. The night started off with Naked Eyes. Originally composed of British duo Rob Fisher and David Byrne (Fisher has since past away), the group was part of the influx of British artists that gained popularity in the US during the mid 80's. With songs like Promises Promises and Always Something There To Remind Me, the groups 80's pop, fueled with heavy synthesizer, led them to have a 4 top 40 hits in the states. The next group was The Motels, led by singer Martha Davis. Forming in 1975, This California band had a more rock sound than Naked Eyes and became popular around the same time with songs like Only the Lonely and Suddenly Last Summer. The band broke up but then reformed with Davis using different musicians under the same name. The third band to perform was Scandal, led by another popular female singer, Patty Smyth. Both Scandal and Patty Smyth achieved success in the 80's with songs like The Warrior and Goodbye to You. Smyth was even asked by Eddie Van Halen to replace David Lee Roth as singer for Van Halen. She later did a duet with Don Henley, "Sometimes Love Just Aint Enough", that hit number 2 in the charts. They were also more of a pop group but Smyth's vocals kept the songs from becoming devoid of expression. The final group was the band I knew the best, the Go Go's. Forming in 1978, the band exploded into the music scene with their album Beauty and the Beat and the song We Got the Beat. One of the first girl groups to write, produce, and play all the instrument on their songs, the groups punk/new wave style became wildly popular. Along with other contemporaries like Joan Jett, they paved the way for new female artists to gain credibility in the rock world. All in all, this show painted a different picture of what 80's music was like than i knew. I really did enjoy every artist and was pleasantly surprised by the strength of the songs when performed live. The Go Go's especially impressed me and their bare bones sound really appealed to my rock n' roll sense. Really good show and a great night.

We were due for some rain so I wasn't too upset when it started pouring at 6:30. The rain continued up until the start of the show when the clouds gave way to a beautiful night. The lawn wasn't crowded and most people didn't make a huge fuss about being caught in the rain. My mom came to the show so it was good to see her enjoying herself as well as escaping the rain. As always, looking forward to more shows!

My favorite part of the show was the Go Go's whole set. While most of their songs sounded similar, that was ok because they all sounded great! Proof that good music doesn't need heavy mixing or even the odious dub step.