b 52s

With the Wild Crowd! Live in Athens, GA is the first official live album by American new wave band The B-52s. On February 18, 2011 the band joyfully celebrated its 34th anniversary with a triumphant return to their hometown of Athens, GA. Wig-wearing, boa-draped, glitter-covered fans came from near and far to celebrate this historic event, which saw the band deliver a sizzling 90 minute set that turned Athens’ Classic Center into a cosmic dancehall. The concert was released on a CD, DVD and Blu-ray entitled The B-52s With The Wild Crowd! Live in Athens, GA. In a review of the CD, Chuck Howard from Scripps Howard News Service proclaimed, “How The B-52′s have maintained their endearing vitality after all these years is a wonder, yet fans who hear “With the Wild Crowd!” will doubtless wish immortality on this uplifting band.”

Six weeks after the B-52s released their brilliant first album in the hot new wave summer of 1979, they found themselves on-stage in Boston opening for Talking Heads. Some brilliant person decided it would be a good night to record the band; some less brilliant person buried the tape in the Warner Bros. vault for decades. Finally released in 2015 as Live! 8-24-1979, the performance includes songs from both the first album and Wild Planet, and features the B-52s ripping heartily through the songs like they were dedicated to giving the crowd the night of their lives. Decades later the effect is still the same. The surviving tape has been restored to near pristine quality, guitarist Ricky Wilson sounds like his guitar is giving off electric currents, and the vocals of Fred Schneider, Kate Pierson, and Cindy Wilson…well, what can you say? Perfect. Though it's a short set, it contains great versions of great songs (including a wild run-through of the deathless "Rock Lobster"), and hearing it is sure to give B-52s fans chills. Quick, send someone back into the vaults to look for more!

This spirited 12-track live performance was recorded at the Disney Rock 'N Rockets Festival in Orlando in November 1998. Drawing from retro 1950s and 1960s pop sources, trash culture, and rock and roll, the B-52s evidenced a "thrift shop" aesthetic. The "guy vs. Gals" vocals of Schneider, Pierson, and Wilson, sometimes used in call and response style, and their unique guitar and keyboard driven instrumentation compose their trademark sound. Limited live release pressed on black polycarbonate HD compact disc. This album has never been released on CD before. Songs include 'Planet Claire', 'Rock Lobster', 'Love Shack', 'Dance This Mess Around' and more.

Among the first American new wave acts to break through to mainstream visibility, the B-52s became one of the biggest success stories to emerge from the American underground in the late '70s. Making music that was full of quirks but also sounded friendly and fun to dance to, the B-52s filtered surf music, '60s pop, vintage soul, and low-budget sci-fi soundtracks through a pop culture kaleidoscope, with vocals laid over the top that suggested someone had been listening to a lot of Yoko Ono and Yma Sumac records…