I felt it was time after eleven years as a Los Angeles resident to check out the OC Fair, and the Athens, Georgia based B-52s were just the group to initiate my southbound trek.
The Thursday night OC crowd was warmed up courtesy of Sirius Satellite Radio personality DJ Richard Blade, whose New Wave and ’80s version of “Name That Tune” stocked six people in the audience with CDs and iTunes Download cards. After a quick 10 minute break, the B-52s (they dropped the apostrophe in 2008) took the stage.
Big stage shows are a photographers paradise because the big lights and stage backdrops give way to great looking photos. The B-52s cruised through the first three songs (industry standard for the amount of time photographers can be up front taking pictures) in what felt like 5 minutes. They played my personal favorite “Private Idaho” in the first three, but I wasn’t able to secure “reviewer credentials,” only “photography credentials” so I couldn’t stay and watch the entire show.
I nabbed a look at the set list before I left and it looked like the OC had a serious 80’s flashback in store with mega-hits “Love Shack,” “Roam,” “Rock Lobster,” and “Planet Claire” rounding out the 13 song performance.
