When The Pretenders Concert Tour?

Next year, the Pretenders are supposed to organize a big event to mark 40 years since their first record was released in 1980. Fronted by Chrissie Hynde, the band will start their festive tour at summer performance events and other sizable outdoor venues in North America and Europe.

Leaving her homeland, Akron, Ohio, Hynde arrived in England in 1978 to join Pretenders. With Hynde's strong but delicate image and catchy, punk-influenced pop melodies, the band developed a unique look in the punk and new wave scene. Released in January 1980, their first album is self-titled and included FM radio tunes "Brass in Pocket" which topped the UK, and "Stop Your Sobbing."

The Pretenders hit seven straight in the top forty of the UK charts in the first five years of operation; yet, the band lost two members: bassist Pete Farndon and guitarist James Honeyman-Scott, both of whom died from drug overdoses. Still, Chrissie Hynde put together a fresh set of musicians and persisted through the 1980s as one of the most powerful rock & roll groups of the decade. Songs supporting her appeal to fans all around were "Back on the Chain Gang," "Don't Get Me Wrong," and "My Baby."

The Pretenders have produced ten studio albums between 1980 and 2020 combining punk, post-punk, power pop, adult contemporary rock, and more, but Hynde's unique lyrical voice and vocals sustain the band over their history. In 2005 the band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Their 2016 album, Alone, saw Hynde team up once more in Nashville with Black Key member Dan Auerbach. This was the first album by the group to reach the top position on the United Kingdom charts.

Over 40+ years, lineups around Chrissie Hynde have evolved; nonetheless, the 2023 concert tour features Atlanta rhythm combo Slim Chance with David Hood on bass and Bryan Owings on drums, as core members of the Pretenders. This covers Ex-Squeeze guitarist Martin Belmont, who has irregularly been performing with Hynde since the middle of the 1990s.

Starting at the Boston Calling Music Festival in the US on May 27, the tour runs through various American events until late June including headline dates. The Pretenders then go to Europe for the first date in the UK at the Royal Highland Centre Edinburgh on July 1 and European festivals and stadium performances in July - August.

From the end of September until early October, an autumn North American Live music series runs at sheds, theaters, and auditoriums around big cities. The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, Radio City Music Hall in New York, Chicago Theatre, Red Rocks Amphitheatre close to Denver, and many more are among the confirmed sites of the events as of yet. The schedule also calls for several evenings at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, the inaugural venue hosting the Grand Ole Opry.

Songs from the Pretenders' repertoire will be included in the band lineup, with an emphasis on those from their initial 1980 album. Along with chart-toppers from the debut album including "Brass in Pocket, "Stop Your Sobbing, "Kid," and "Mystery Achievement," songs like "The Wait, "Tattooed Love Boys," and "Private Life" were lately included in the concert setlist.

From the talent down to the setlist and staging, Chrissie Hynde is very much involved as one would anticipate when announcing Pretenders performances. She has been able to work closely with lighting designer and production manager Bill Leabody, who has already collaborated with Robert Plant, Ozzy Osbourne, and many other rock icons, for this 40th anniversary run.

Chrissie Hynde intends not just to reflect on the group's achievements but also to create more to come in the future for 2023 and beyond. In a statement regarding the tour announcement, she remarked, "The lifespan of a modern band appears to be measured in months these days. I was looking for a band that would last long distances.

The Pretenders' first record fifty years ago still has Chrissie Hynde fronting them with direction and her songwriting. Hynde is still doing it her way using universal pop-rock tunes and gritty punk passion. This anniversary concert tour shows how steadily the musical, cultural, and inspirational legacy of the Pretenders gets stronger.