The goddess of rock and a formative figure in the rise of punk, Chrissie Hynde, played to a packed-out Globe in Cardiff. An Ohio native who landed in the early 1970s UK, she was the cool face of the later part of that decade, and then – as the frontwoman of new wave breakout stars the Pretenders – the 80s, along with the icons with whom she fraternised: the Sex Pistols (whose guitarist Steve Jones Hynde dated), Blondie, The Slits, Siouxsie & The Banshees, et al.

Chrissie Hynde was a key player in the punk movement: playing bars, setting up bands, a short stint as a writer at NME, working in Malcolm Mclaren and Vivienne Westwood’s legendary SEX store in Camden and forging her career in London to forming the Pretenders. That band, still active today, enjoyed a string of hits from Back On The Chain Gang to Brass In Pocket to Talk Of The Town.
This low-key, high-volume appearance in Cardiff is part of a tour of smaller-than-her-average venues across the UK. Raw, energetic and in your face, at 71 she still looks and sounds amazing. That gravelly voice? Check. Eyeliner? Check. Fringe? Check. Leather garb? You bet!

Hynde’s few interactions with the crowd brought cheers and even exclamations of love – which she took in good spirits, before launching back into her setlist. This shouldn’t be mistaken for a Pretenders tour: rather, it’s intended as a taster for a new Chrissie Hynde solo album Hate For Sale. So if a few lesser-known tracks were inevitable, the eager crowd were there for her, regardless of what she served up. She knows how to bring them in, delivering biting lyrics and thundering riffs.

Her backing band was impressively tight, too, especially considering that by the end of The Buzz, instruments were practically melting – brows soaked with sweat, leather jackets clinging. 

All in all, a night in the presence of a true icon. 

Chrissie Hynde, The Globe, Cardiff, Tue 18 Oct

words and photos ANTONIA LEVAY