In a recent two-night visit to the Warner Theatre in DC, The Pretenders opened with “Losing My Sense of Taste” from 2023’s Relentless, and I was frankly gobsmacked.

Here was Chrissie Hyde, an absolute legend at 72 years old, standing in front me sounding as clear and vital and familiar as ever, and she was singing a new tune that really fit her as well as her over-the-knee boots.

Welcome then, Mickey, to Hynde’s very necessary 21st Century Pretenders. On July 20 at the Warner Theatre, you see, I saw Chrissie Hynde perform live for the first time-ever in this sold-out performance, and I obviously didn’t know what to expect from her long-running Pretenders band, a quartet that truly came to be when guitarist James Walbourne joined Chrissie in 2008. Walbourne has shared writing duties with Hyde on The Pretenders’ last two albums, and there is a remarkable continuity in the recent songs. These sound like songs that Chrissie should be singing.

But there also were unexpected moments. I was moved by “I Think About You Daily” from Relentless, struck by Hynde’s tenderness on the ballad, performed by the band at the show’s midpoint. The audience hung on Chrissie’s every word, reactijng to the new songs as reverently as they did the classics.

Watch the official music video for “I Think About You Daily” by The Pretenders on YouTube:

And there was no shortage of classics. The crowd went wild for “Stop Your Sobbing,” The Kinks cover that served as the first Pretenders single way back in 1979, which was played at the top of a first encore. Fan-fave “Kid” appeared in the first quarter of the setlist, and it was followed by “Precious,” also from the band’s debut album.

The band captured the mod rock sound in their live melodies, and again the continuity between songs old and new was remarkable. Walbourne, bassist Dave Page, and drummer Kris Sonne also wore that mod look. They made you believe in a world where the charts simply continued to sound like they did in 1986 when “Don’t Get Me Wrong” topped the USA Mainstream Rock chart. (The Pretenders played “Don’t Get Me Wrong” from the timeless Get Close album in the second encore of the night on July 20.)

The Pretenders closed the main set on “Pack It Up” from Pretenders II (1981), and the band played the highly anticipated numbers “Tattooed Love Boys” — Pretenders (1980) — in the first encore and “Back on the Chain Gang” (1982) in the second encore.

Watch the official music video for “Back on the Chain Gang” by The Pretenders on YouTube:

At the end of the evening, nearly 2,000 people happily streamed onto the streets of downtown Washington thankful that Chrissie Hynde was still Chrissie Hynde, the hard-rocking punk-adjacent trailblazer they knew from 45 years ago.

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Here are a few more photos of The Pretenders performing at the Warner Theatre on July 20, 2024.