On a beautiful evening in Nashville, 75 degrees (23.8 C) at 7:00pm with a nice breeze blowing, it couldn’t have been better for an outdoor show at the Skydeck at Assembly Food Hall. I came to see my friend Ainsley and her band, Hyndesight: The Pretenders Experience play a show at this new venue that I had never been to before. The Skydeck is on the roof of the Assembly Food Hall in the heart of Nashville which is on Broadway, the hottest part of town for live music. Although Broadway is the “tourist” spot in town it has some of the best musicians in the U.S.A and every venue features a different type of music. It’s not all Country music in “Music City”! Of course, I can’t go to a show without bringing a camera and I will say that this venue is one of the best lit and best sounding venues I have been to in this town. I knew I got some great images and I wanted share them along with this review of the show!
Hyndesight: The Pretenders Experience is a show not to miss if you are a Pretenders fan or simply know and like a few Pretenders songs. Ainsley is a local Nashville musician that has lived and toured all over the World. Not only is she an accomplished signer/songwriter but she is an all-round performing artist having studied voice, dance, acting and fencing & fight choreography. Ainsley has released four original studio records and is in the process of writing and recording her fifth independently released album. She continues to perform, solo acoustic or with her band based out of Nashville, Tennessee. She portrays rock icon Chrissie Hynde in Hyndesight and does a great job of not only sounding like Chrissie Hynde but looking a lot like her as well.
I can’t say that I was ever truly a Pretenders “fan” but as I watched and photographed the show that evening I was reminded of how many songs from the Pretenders that I knew really well and liked a-lot! Growing up in the early days of MTV I recall many videos by the Pretenders. Although I was into bands like Judas Priest back in those early MTV days I remember not changing the channel when the Pretenders came on. I guess I liked them more than I wanted to admit so many years ago. Maybe I do have a fondness for the Pretenders since I remember volunteering to do “security” at a concert they played at my college back in 1987! (It was the best way to get a front row view!)
Ainsley was a true Chrissie Hynde that evening with her black wig and white telecaster guitar. She portrayed that punk “look” so well but the best part, she sounded exactly like Chrissie Hynde. Why do we like tribute bands? It’s because the good ones really play the part and deliver a true-to-life show of the bands we know and love. There were a lot of eager fans dancing to some of the Pretenders‘ greatest hits as the band played on.
Band:
Ainsley – Vocals and Guitar
Bryan Walsh – Bass
Steve Cirkvencic – Lead Guitar
Paul Presson – Drums
https://youtu.be/fQ2NoDHww64
Set List:
1. Mystery Achievement
2. Chain Gang
3. Message Of Love
4. Stop your Sobbing
5. Kid
6. My City Was Gone
7. Don’t Get Me Wrong
8. Stand By You
9. Tattooed Love Boys
10. Brass In Pocket
11. Middle Of The Road
12. Encore – Precious
I would like to congratulate Ainsley on her recent engagement to Christopher Williams who is the drummer for the German Heavy Metal band, Accept. These are two of the greatest people I have ever met and they are simply perfect for each other!
Scott Diussa, Ainsley and Christopher Williams – 4/22/22
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Scott Diussa is a photographer, guitarist, bassist, videographer and audio engineer based in the Nashville, Tennessee area. Scott has been photographing concerts since 1994 and has a degree in commercial photography. You can follow Scott on Instagram at @sdiussa. www.scottdiussa.com
