Unfortunately Scandal’s time in the limelight was short-lived. Their breakthrough EP produced the memorial must-have-on-your-iPod classic, Goodbye to You. Followed by the full length album The Warrior which broke on MTV and helped introduce us to the power house vocals of Patty Smyth.
After the band dissolved, Smyth continued on as a solo act but the music career was no longer her primarily ambition releasing only two albums in the past 20 years.
In 2004 VH1’s Bands Reunited brought Smyth together with her old band mates and has sparked an ongoing reunion tour that is well worth the price of admission if they come a city near you.
I consider myself privileged to have seen Patty on her two solo tours in 1987 and 1994 but must admit that her recent stop in Nashville ranks as one of the best live performances of any artist that I have ever had the pleasure of seeing. In this day and age it takes a lot to surprise me, but Patty Smyth did more than that, she shocked me. Shocked me by how energetic she was. Shocked me by how funny and playful she was. And more importantly she shock me by how truly fantastic she sounded. Vocally you couldn’t get any better. This woman in the real deal! I would hold her up beside Ann Wilson and Pat Benatar as one of the greatest female rock vocalist to grace this earth.
But Smyth wasn’t on stage alone. Original Scandal members, Keith Mack and Benjy King were joined by Eran Asias and Tom Welsch and played as if these songs were a part of their soul. The set list was a brilliant mixture of Scandal classics and Smyth’s solo highlights. There was a brief moment when I thought they were reading my mind and playing the songs that I so desperately wanted to hear. But soon realized that there is not a song in their catalog that would not have thrilled me.
ESSENTIAL SCANDAL:
Goodbye to You
Love’s Got a Line on You
The Warrior
Beat of a Heart
Hands Tied
ESSENTIAL PATTY SMYTH
No Mistakes
Heartache Heard Round the World
Tough Love
Isn’t It Enough
Downtown Train
I Should be Laughing
River Cried
Look What Love Has Done
One Moment to Another
Sometimes Love Just Ain’t Enough
