After hearing the news about the tragic events in Orlando the morning before and the arrest of a would be attacker at LA Pride, many concert goers wondered what Blondie's headlining stage show would be like at Pridefest in Milwaukee. Would the crowd get into the music with singing and dancing? Would it be a somber event? Would participants feel secure coming to the festival? At 8:15pm on Sunday, June 12th, all those questions were answered when Blondie stepped onto the mainstage with a roar of applause and cheers with Debbie Harry yelling, "Let's party!".


The ageless Harry kicked into Blondie's classic "One Way or Another" and had the crowd on its feet. The band played their staples, "Rapture", "Call Me", "Atomic", "Heart of Glass", and new material. Debbie and the gang had the crowd in the palm of their hand for their entire 90 minute set. Guitarist Tommy Kessler shredded into blazing guitar solos on his classic Les Paul while drummer Clem Burke kept the pulse of the set going with drumbeats, drum solos, and drumstick spins and flips while playing. There were a few surprise songs mixed in the set including on-point covers of Prince's "Kiss" with full purple lighting on stage. Other covers included The Misfits' "Hollywood Babylon", Deee-Lite's "Groove is in the Heart", and the Beastie Boys "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)" which had festival goers dancing on adjacent picnic tables.


After the first encore, many wondered if Blondie would come out and talk about the events earlier in the day that occurred at Pulse Nightclub. Instead, the band had a silent tribute with each member walking back on stage holding a portion a large rainbow flag which was as long as the stage was wide. Debbie took to the microphone to say, "Believe it or not, this used to be my belt." Blondie helped a lot of festival goers get through a difficult time and showed that through music, people can be brought together and can heal.