Echo and the Bunnymen with Violent Femmes

Echo and the Bunnymen, obscured on the darkened stage in Kansas City. Photo by Christopher Windle.

It's a pairing that doesn't quite make sense on paper: the quirky, borderline novelty act Violent Femmes and the dark and brooding Echo and the Bunnymen. But the passage of time means that the two bands have been categorized together as '80s alternative, and in 2017, it somehow works.

The bands brought their co-headlining tour to Kansas City's Crossroads on July 25, with the Bunnymen taking top billing on this particular date. A packed house danced through Femmes hits like "Blister in the Sun," "Gone Daddy Gone," and "Add it Up." And then they all stayed for the Bunnymen.

The set list was short but sweet. Singer Ian McCulloch had taken ill at a previous show in St. Louis, where the temperature had hit 108 degrees. With it again hovering around 100, perhaps the Bunnymen weren't taking any chances this time.

Still, the band hit on most of the highlights of its catalog. "Going Up," "Rescue," and "Do It Clean" was the opening salvo. The Bunnymen later returned to more of its classics from debut album "Crocodiles," with "All That Jazz" and "Villiers Terrace."

The band touched on several other albums, with "Over the Wall" from "Heaven Up Here,"  and "The Cutter," of course, off "Porcupine." Even 1997's superb "Evergreen" was represented, with a version of "Nothing Lasts Forever" that veered into Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side" and back.

While the show was good, it wasn't nearly as good as the first shows of the band that I caught nearly 18 years ago. Guitarist Will Sergeant's guitar work is as solid as ever. McCulloch still is a mysterious figure in black shades and leather jacket. Though he wasn't chain smoking on stage as he did then, he still lit up from time to time.

McCulloch in 1999 at First Avenue. Photo by Karen Duran.

McCulloch now sounds best in his lower register. And during the "Pretty in Pink" hit "Bring on the Dancing Horses," the echo of his vocals seemed to throw him off altogether. Only the crowd singing along to the song kept the band from having to restart it.

The lower-register portions of "Bedbugs and Ballyhoo" and "Lips Like Sugar" off the band's self-titled 1987 release sounded great. So did "Seven Seas" and The Killing Moon" off "Ocean Rain" (though the title track was notably absent).

Still, anybody who hadn't seen the band in its earlier days would be impressed. The Bunnymen know how to put on a show that satisfies.

Blondie and Garbage at Stir Cove

Blondie and Garbage, two bands that helped define music over four decades with their fierce, age-defying female singers, came to a steamy Stir Cove in Council Bluffs on July 19.

Opening up the show were John and Exene from seminal punk band X. With only a guitar and two voices, the pair played an unlikely but enjoyable mix of punk and bluegrass. John Doe announced that he'd be signing items by the merch booth, pulling several die-hard fans up and away from the stage, which Garbage seemingly took in record time.

Exene shielded herself from the sun with an umbrella during the "blast-furnace" conditions. Photos by Christopher Windle.

Garbage has remained intact as its original four-piece and as a formidable live force since its debut in the 1990s. The band played 15 songs, paying tribute to the ground broke by Blondie and Debbie Harry during the banter in between songs. Though the crowd was clearly there to hear Garbage's hits from its self-titled debut album, tracks off "Version 2.0" were especially strong. "I Think I'm Paranoid" and "Push It" were highlights.

Shirley Manson, with Steve Marker and Butch Vig, commands the stage.

As far as the band's pair of soundtrack hits, a version of "#1 Crush" was somehow better than the original, and "The World is Not Enough," perhaps the second-best Bond theme song, was another high point. The low was the disrespect the crowd showed by chattering through between-song banter and newer songs like the David Lynch-inspired "Night Drive Loneliness," as well as better-known tracks.

Harry and Clem Burke.

Harry and Stein.

Blondie took the stage to great aplomb, Harry decked out in a "Pollinator"-inspired outfit of black legging-like pants, top, headdress, and cape with the words, "Stop f---ing our planet," clearly visible on the back. The new album employs a lot of guest songwriters, and it's a theme that Blondie cleverly embraced in the set list. Although Harry and guitarist Chris Stein, especially, have proved their writing chops time and again over the years, there are many covers the band is known for as well. Here, they were sprinkled throughout the set list: "Hanging on the Telephone" (the Nerves), "Rainy Day Women #12 & #35" (Bob Dylan), "Fragments" (Unkindness), and "The Tide is High" (the Paragons).

Of the new tracks, "Fun," co-written by David Sitek of TV on the Radio, fit right in with the band's pristine pop tracks like "Heart of Glass" and "Call Me," that one famously co-written by Giorgio Moroder. Other highlights among the new songs included the Johnny Marr-penned "My Monster."

A rapt audience enjoys Blondie.

But the reason to see Blondie live are the timeless originals: "One Way or Another," covered and used in commercials to the point that it's forever in the public consciousness. "Dreaming," a slice of '50s-inspired pop perfection. "Atomic," a keyboard-driven opus that helped inspire new wavers like Duran Duran. And "Rapture," a tour de force live, during which Harry hit the high notes and strutted to the front of the stage for the first and best female-led rap.

At 72, it's clear that Harry, and Blondie, have still got it.