They just wanna … they just wanna …
Girls just wanna have fun.
And you know what? So do women.
The Crones, an all-female band from Northeast Ohio, have a blast while playing cover songs from the 1980s. Ranging in age from 55 to 70, the group enjoys performing high-energy tunes at local clubs.
“It’s truly amazing to be this age and have new sister friends that play music together,” said lead vocalist Tracey Thomas, 66, an Akron singer, songwriter and recording artist who fronted the post-punk band Unit 5.
The Crones are sort of like the Justice League of local music — with all the members as Wonder Woman. The veteran musicians, all punk rockers at heart, have played in a variety of groups over the decades.
In addition to Thomas, the group features bassist Linda Harrison Millar (Peep, Subterraneans, Zen Love Assassins, Jupiter 2), drummer Nancy Rogers Peters (Velocity Stax), guitarist Mary Plazo (Full Wave Rectifier, Drifter, Decking Crew, Version Mary) and keyboardist Melissa Ulrich (Reunion, Mysterious Luck).
“This band has turned into something I could never have seen coming,” Thomas said. “We are pulling all of the old punk party girls out of the woodwork.”
How did The Crones form?
It began with COVID-19. Thomas, a self-confessed hypochondriac, believed she surely was going to die.
“I was all reflective: What didn’t I get to do in my life? And one of the things was to have an all-girl band,” she said. “I never got to do that and I always wanted to do that.”
While brooding in isolation, she came up with the name The Crones and decided the group should be a tribute to “Eighties Ladies,” playing the music of female-fronted bands from 1980 to 1989.
“So, obviously, I lived,” she said.
After she mentioned her idea on Facebook, it took on a life of its own.
“Before I knew it, I had this whole band,” she said. “It was crazy.”
The Crones’ repertoire includes songs from The Bangles, The Go-Go’s, The Pretenders, Blondie, Stevie Nicks, Sinéad O’Connor, Cyndi Lauper, ’Til Tuesday, Kate Bush, Pat Benatar, Joan Jett and many others. They have enough songs for three full sets and keep bringing in new tunes to learn.
Once in a while, they draw the line, though. They rehearsed “Cherry Bomb,” The Runaways’ teen-rebellion anthem that Jett re-recorded in the 1980s, but they couldn’t make it through.
“I know my limits and I’m no longer trying to be ‘hot, sexy 66,’ ” Thomas said. “We tried the song and we all ended up cracking up. That wasn’t about to work.”
The Crones are all about embracing their age, she said. Three of the members are grandmothers.
There’s nothing they enjoy more than winning over an audience of skeptics. One night, they were getting ready for a gig at The Delaware, a live music club in New Philadelphia.
“We were setting up and there was this table of young men with one girl, and they were laughing at us,” Thomas said.
The reaction quickly changed when the band tore into its first song.
“When we got up there, they started standing up and screaming,” she said. “That’s what I’m living for now. That is hilarious.”
The Crones get a little cocky, she said. Yeah, go ahead and laugh before the show. You won’t be laughing once the music begins.
“We’re good,” Thomas said. “I’ve been in some good bands. These musicians are no joke.”
Where to see The Crones
Northeast Ohio residents can next see The Crones on May 30 when they open for Silver Springs, a Fleetwood Mac tribute, in the Celestia Theater at 151 Main St. in Wadsworth. Tickets are $25. The doors open at 6 p.m. with the show at 7. For more information, go to wadsworthsquare.org or call 330-485-3477.
The group has scheduled shows for July 25, Sept. 12 and Dec. 18 at Jilly’s Music Room in Akron and will perform Aug. 15 at the PorchRokr festival at Highland Square. More events are planned. For updates, go to thecronesmusic.com or TheCronesAkron on Facebook.
The Crones began as a lark but quickly discovered that they had tapped into an underserved audience. Women of a certain age are coming to the shows. Some hadn’t gone to a club in a while. They are singing, dancing and having fun.
“It’s hit a nerve for a bunch of women who were really just not given anything to do,” Thomas said.
There is no expiration date on music — or musicians.
“As long as you can still do what you do, why go to pasture?” she said.
Mark J. Price can be reached at mprice@thebeaconjournal.com
Details
Concert: Silver Springs with The Crones
When: 7 p.m. May 30
Where: Celestia Theater, 151 Main St., Wadsworth.
Tickets: $25
More info: 330-485-3477 or wadsworthsquare.org
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: The Crones just wanna have fun, and you should, too
Reporting by Mark J. Price, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
