Pop Music Reviews : Rockin’ Napolitano: Homecoming Queen

If Concrete Blonde’s thrasher of a signature number, “Still in Hollywood,” seemed even more robust than usual at the climax of the band’s Palace show on Sunday, the fact that its refrain no longer rings true for its singer may account for some of the vigor.

“Thought I’d be out of here by now,” griped leader Johnette Napolitano, as always. Never mind that she has gotten out of here, having finally moved from Hollywood to Europe last year.

She’s made no secret of her disdain for her former burg, but the hometown crowd packing the Palace seemed willing to forgive Napolitano her infidelity and greet her as a returning heroine. And Concrete Blonde’s power-trio pop is almost heroically good, intense even in relaxation, electric even in acoustic-ity, inherently emotional enough that it’s hard to imagine Napolitano being capable of a rote performance.

Sunday’s was not the most riveting local Blonde show ever--the pacing was at times curious, the mood a little less than dangerous--but the 18-song, 75-minute set did offer a chance to catch the recently revised lineup in action.

The mid-set high point involved two eulogistic numbers about girls who had to leave--this life, that is, not L.A.: “Tomorrow Wendy,” done as a duet with the song’s writer, opening act Andy Prieboy, and Jimi Hendrix’s “Castles Made of Sand.”