by Michael Bialas

Created on: August 22, 2009

Chrissie Hynde is one tough broad with ball-busting abilities who long ago graduated from the School of Hard Rock. She's the Grande Dame Who's Still Got Game, combining style, grace and class with a foxy warble, sparkly Fender guitar and a lot of sass who won't hesitate to kick ass and take numbers. And when she hits the road, be prepared to keep up and pay attention or get the hell out of the way.

Hynde and the Pretenders, with drummer Martin Chambers the only other remaining original member, rocked the Paramount on Mardi Gras night (February 24, 2009) with a mixture of tunes old (Talk of The Town, Message of Love, Back on the Chain Gang) and new (Don't Cut Your Hair, Rosalee, Love's A Mystery) in promoting their ninth and most recent album, Break Up the Concrete.

Hynde, an American girl who formed the group with three British males in 1978, is still going strong at age 57, refusing to sit on her Rock and Roll Hall of Fame laurels (Class of 2005, with U2) or turning into a bland nostalgia act that winds up playing in casino bars and hotel lounges.

After a hard-driving and satisfying opening set by Nashville's American Bang, the Pretenders hit the stage at 9:12 p.m. to the recorded sounds of On the Street Where You Live from My Fair Lady.

Still looking as cool as she did on the cover of Pretenders II in 1981, wearing a dark tie and a coat with tails over a striped vest and black top, worn but slim-fitting jeans showing a gaping hole just under the top right pocket and knee-length boots with high heels, Hynde tore into Boots of Chinese Plastic, the energetic opener to Break Up the Concrete that coulda been a Top 40 contender back in the day.

Introducing the album's second track, Don't Cut Your Hair, Hynde snarled, Here's one for all the gentlemen in the house ... if there are any, then shimmied and swayed across the stage.

And the Pretenders we're off and running, while the sold-out house occupied mostly by Middle-Age Crazies ate it up, standing on their feet for most of the show. Some of the slower, less familiar numbers off Break Up the Concrete such as The Last Ride gave the old-timers a chance to take a load off, but the enthusiasm never waned.

And Hynde, notorious in her heyday for telling unreceptive, unruly or unappreciative audience where to go, seemed gracious throughout most of the 90-minute set. She smiled and bowed often, looking happy to be working with a group that has gone through enough personnel changes to keep Wikipedia working overtime.

She

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