Listening to new wave mavens the B-52s is akin to attending an epic, fictional party as described by Saturday Night Live’s fictional party-scene correspondent, Stefon, played by a coy Bill Hader. For 40 years, Kate Pierson, Keith Strickland, Cindy Wilson, and the band’s Stefon-like frontman Fred Schneider have been singing about rock lobsters, love shacks, and personal Idahoes, all with a mighty dose of onomatopoeia.
“Who knew that when we played our first house dance party in Athens, Georgia, in 1976 that we would be still be rocking the house in 2019?” B-52s’ Pierson said of the anniversary in a statement. Though they haven’t released new material since 2008’s Funplex, the band is set to release a documentary produced by Fred Armisen and directed by Craig Johnson, as well as its first authorized biography. Fellow new wavers OMD and Berlin are also on the bill.
Doors open at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 14, at Meadow Brook Amphitheatre; 554 Walton Blvd., Rochester Hills; 248-377-0100; 313presents.com. Tickets are $29.50+.
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