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Pat Benatar And
Neil Giraldo Rocked MGM
 Pat Benatar |  Pat and Neil |  Neil Giraldo |
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 Pat Benatar |  Pat Benatar |  Pat and Neil |
 Benatar and Giraldo band |  Pat Benatar |  The Vindys |
 The Vindys |  The Vindys |
July 11, 2024
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Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo made a triumphant return to MGM's Center Stage for a sold out show. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame duo nearly touched all the bases from their illustrious career by playing the hits, some deep cuts and a few cover tunes.
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Kicking off the show with "All Fired Up," Benatar and Giraldo easily proved that they should have been inducted into the Hall of Fame a long time ago. The seventy-one year old songstress still has a powerful voice while her long time partner and husband makes it look easy both on the fretboard and the keyboard.
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After playing "Invincible" and "Promises In The Dark," the duo and their two piece backing band decided to pull out a nugget, "My Clone Sleeps Alone" from In The Heat Of The Night album and then followed that up with the title track from that lp.
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Benatar noted that this was their "45th musical anniversary" leading her to quip that "the good thing about being around so long is that we have so many songs to play."
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Giraldo also addressed the audience by asking if anyone remembered drinking Boones Farm wine back in the day, which got a roar from the crowd. Neil went on to say that the next song was about drinking too much Boones Farm wine, which fans could clearly see Pat mouth, "no it's not!" with a laugh. That brought a fun moment before they played "Strawberry Wine."
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The main set closed out with three rockers, "Hell Is For Childeren," "You Better Run" and "Love Is A Battlefield."
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The band then returned to encore with "Everybody Lay Down" from Gravity's Rainbow, a rockin' cover of Edwin Starr's "War," and "Heartbreaker" that featured "Ring of Fire" in the middle.
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Benatar and Giraldo have been rocking for a long time and by last nights performance, they should not be slowing down anytime soon.
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Youngstown's own, The Vindys opened up the show with some great rock and blues. Vocalist Jackie Popovec noted that the band is on their first national tour opening up for Pat and Neil. They easily won the crowd over with their original material and the great cover of Black Sabbath's "War Pigs" to close out their set.
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Photos and review by Greg Drugan
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