Belinda Carlisle Pictorial

Concert review: The Go-Go's at Wolf Trap

VIENNA, Va. — Legendary 1980s girl band The Go-Go’s rocked Wolf Trap with their "Ladies Gone Wild!" tour during a Friday, June 10th appearance.  

The group had to cancel the majority of their 2010 farewell tour, including a stop at the Filene Center, after guitarist Jane Wiedlin blew out her knee in a hiking accident. Getting rid of any "farewell tour" indications, The Go-Go's made up for that cancelled date - and then some.

Lead warbler, Miss Carlisle could not have sounded better in tunes such as “Tonight” and “Lust to Love” as her characteristic and saucy vibrato kicked in throughout.

She also did her best Mary Tyler Moore dance moves (that’s "Dick Van Dyke Show" era Mary, Daddy-O) to keep the male audience members riveted.

The band attacked fan favorites all night with solid harmonies from Miss Wiedlin, Miss Caffey and Miss Valentine accompanying dead on versions of “Get Up and Go,” take that B-52s, and, personal favorites, “This Town,” and “The Whole World Lost It’s Head.”

The Go-Go’s also played a few tunes from some of the member's solo efforts featuring an energized version of Belinda Carlisle’s “Mad About You” and Jane Wiedlin’s “Cool Places.” Remember, "Cool Places?" It was that quirky collaboration with Sparks from back in 1983. Miss Carlisle sang Russell Mael’s part and joined Jane for some Mod stomping.

Unexpected moments of the night included Belinda defiantly declaring “what a drag it is getting old” before the Go-Go’s ripped into the Rolling Stones classic “Mother’s Little Helper” and Baltimore native Gina Schock (the “thumpiest” drummer in the world according to Miss Wiedlin) walking to center stage to announce that her parents and siblings were in the house. 

This was a good thing as she was buried deep behind her drum kit all night with only an occasional grin letting the audience know she was not a drum machine. Yeah, workmen like precision, and Miss Schock was that solid all night.

The Go-Go’s two mega hits “Our Lips Are Sealed” and “We Got the Beat” were saved for the dance party at the later part of the set with an exhausted crowd getting a second wind.

The Go-Go's have still got the beat - Central Florida Future ...

While they may have gotten older since their No. 1 album Beauty and the Beat debuted in 1981, the first all-girl band to top the Billbord 100 by both writing their own songs and playing their own instruments still had it in them to put on a show to remember.

The Go-Go's, who have their own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, opened for Universal's Summer Concert Series Saturday night.

For more photos, view the gallery here.

Long-time fans came out for the 30th anniversary of Beauty and the Beat to hear all their old favorite songs like "Vacation," "We Got the Beat," "Our Lips are Sealed" and the rest of the songs from the album that spent weeks atop the U.S. pop charts in 1982.

Though three decades have passed since the album's release, the show brought back a real '80s vibe, with shiny streamers and sequins. To top it off, singer Belinda Carlisle even brought out a tambourine for a few of their songs.

Self-proclaimed "big fan" Diane Rodriguez, an interdisciplinary studies major at UCF, said she came out with her friends to see the Go-Go's play her favorite song, "Vacation."

"I've been a fan for a long time," Rodriguez said. "I've been planning for three weeks to come tonight."

Another fan, Misty Johns from Orlando, said she came with her friend to see the Go-Go's after she heard about the show from relatives.

"I liked their newer songs," Johns said.

Aside from their '80s hits, the Go-Go's played "Unforgiven," a 2001 single that was written in collaboration with Billy Joe Armstrong from Green Day. Lead guitarist Jane Wiedlin called Green Day, "one of our favorite bands," before playing the song.

Who is "unforgiven," you ask? Although they wouldn't say, Wiedlin hinted that the chord progression of the song spells out his name.

Near the end of the show, Carlisle's son, 19-year-old James Duke Mason, joined his mother on stage to sing "The Whole World's Lost Its Head."

Other songs from the set list included "Automatic," a song written in the "second-saddest key" by Wiedlin; "Cool Places," "Head over Heels," "Lust to Love" and "Get Up and Go."

Also playing this month in the concert series are hip-hop artist Nelly on June 18, and alternative rock group Third Eye Blind on June 25. The July lineup includes R&B singer Trey Songz on July 2, rock group Boys Like Girls on July 9 and rapper/singer Drake on July 16.

All concerts begin at 9 p.m.

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