With older artists, you can sometimes get a “hit or miss” effort from them. For example, David Lee Roth’s appearance at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Event Center in Tampa in 2025 did not feature Roth singing as much as “performing” for the crowd, a massive “miss.” On Thursday night, one of those “hits” came to the same stage as Rock & Roll Hall of Famers Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo absolutely blistered the Event Center stage with a remembrance of their classic hits.
Thundered Out of the Gate
The packed Event Center was ready for a show from the powerhouse pixie and her husband (married since 1982), and Benatar and Giraldo did absolutely nothing to disappoint the crowd. Instead of warming up into some of the more taxing songs in her arsenal, Benatar instead chose to open the show with “We Live for Love” from her debut album In the Heat of the Night (1979). The soaring soprano vocals of its chorus would have been a challenge for any vocalist, but not for Benatar, as she met the challenge of sounding like she had just stepped from the studio nearly fifty years ago.
The Benatar/Giraldo Express did not slow down at all after that impressive opening. Diving into a track from Wide Awake in Dreamland (1988), “All Fired Up” not only seemed to embody Benatar’s attitude toward her performance but also to describe the thoroughly excited crowd. While they might have sold seats in the Event Center for the show, they were rarely used, as the crowd roared its approval for Benatar and Giraldo’s performance…