ITEM PHOTO BY SPENSER HASAK
Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo light up the stage at the Lynn Memorial Auditorium on Thursday during the Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo: We Live For Love Tour.
BY STEVE KRAUSE
LYNN — Pat Benatar is more than just someone who was manufactured by MTV, even if she owes much of her early fame to exposure on the cable station. Indeed, Benatar was the first female artist ever featured on the fledgling all-music-video channel in 1981, something she acknowledged proudly Thursday night at Lynn Memorial Auditorium when she launched her version of the Rascals’ song “You Better Run,” a tune she made her own, then and now.
Today, Benatar is 63, and her voice shows the strains from 37 years of singing pop hits. While her pipes may be mature, they were still up to the test.
From the opening “All Fired Up” to the closing “Heartbreaker,” she didn’t miss a note, and had a blast frolicking around the stage with her husband/guitarist Neil Giraldo, whom she married in 1983.
He wrote many of Benatar’s hits, including “We Belong,” a song he made sure had an iconic beginning that would be instantly recognized. As soon as he played the first notes, it was.
Benatar split time between the hits, or as she called them “the holy 14, the songs I have to play if I don’t want to get grief on Facebook,” and some lesser-known ones. Also included was a tribute to the late Prince, “When Doves Cry.”
Another highlight was “Hell is for Children,” which she wrote with her husband after seeing a TV special in a New York hotel room.
“I hope the day comes when we never have to do this song again,” she told the large crowd in the auditorium.
No Benatar show would be complete without “Hit Me With Your Best Shot,” “Love Is A Battlefield” and “Invincible.” They were performed with gusto, as were all the rest. Despite all the pounding she’s done to her voice, it’s clear Pat Benatar still has it.
Steve Krause can be reached at [email protected].