Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo 35th Anniversary Tour at the Pacific Amphitheatre

I have always been a fan of Pat Benatar growing up. In fact, I wanted to be her … I wanted to wear the same outfits, style my hair the same, but most of all I wanted to sound and move like her. And that was my fantasy when I used to sing in my mini karaoke machine. I never saw Benatar perform her concert in the 80s because I guess I was so young, so I was so stoked to see her live after all these years.

Can you believe that 35 years have past?

So the concert is called the 35th Anniversary Tour Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo at the Pacific Amphitheatre, July 23rd during the OC Fair.

Pat and Neil

The title is a no brainer…. but growing up I didn’t know that Benatar was married all along to Neil Giraldo. Pat Benatar’s husband is an inspiring guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, who shared Benatar’s passions and used his skills as an innovative arranger and producer to help design, the now renowned Benatar sound.

The concert began with a photo montage with them narrating how they started, their passion, how they met, etc. I would say that was a brilliant idea and just made the adrenalin start pumping with the audience.

Pat Benatar looked like a certified rocker with red plaid tights and an an over sized black blazer. Neil looked dashing in an all-black jacket and pants with suspenders underneath his jacket.

The Songs

If I’m not mistaken because I was so memsmerized, the first song was “We Live for Love” which was written by her husband Neil Giraldo and was released in 1980. It’s hard for me to believe but I was 11 years young back then.

I noticed when she was singing the first song, her voice still has that strong disciplined sound. She still has some chords and can belt it out after 35 years. A favorite part of the concert was when they interact with audience and told story of the song and history of working together and others due to anniversary tour and they’re wedding anniversary.

Benatar and Giraldo are so comfortable on stage that they call each other Patricia and Spyder. And speaking of “Spyder”, Neil Giraldo …. he connected with the audience with his great sense of humor and totally rocked the fans with his amazing guitar and piano playing. A true gifted artist in every sense of the word and eye candy too.

Definitely, one of the best concerts I’ve ever seen. They played all the hits:

• Invincible,
• Love is a Battlefield
• We Belong
• Heartbreaker
• Hit Me with your Best Shot

Neil and Pat rocked the house. You know they put on a good show when you heard people singin’ and dancing the whole time. They are fab and still rockin’ hard like the ’80s. There were no over the top production special effects or mega concert programmers running the show. It was just good ‘ol heart wrenching performances and music by these two ’80s icon.

Conclusion

Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo 35th Anniversary Tour was simply high energy and a lot of fun. I would watch Neil and Pat again in a second. No wonder they continued to be an increasingly unstoppable force in the music arena.

Special thanks to Jennie O’Hagan and Jay and the kindest concert crew at the Pacific Amphitheatre