Benatar’s best shot still solid

On March 29, 1986, Pat Benatar took the stage at the old Spokane Coliseum. Once there, Benatar – the Spokane Chronicle’s reviewer called her a pixie in black leather – claimed her spot in the rock pantheon with a voice as big as her body is diminutive. She made that old Boone Street barn burn as she powered through her early ’80s hits.

“Hit Me With Your Best Shot.” “Fire and Ice.” “Heartbreaker.” “Promises in the Dark.” “Love is a Battlefield,” the video for which, even three years after its release, was still in rotation on MTV.

The Grammy-winning Benatar, along with her husband and collaborator Neil Giraldo, are returning to the Inland Northwest this weekend for a show at the Coeur d’Alene Casino in Worley.

Benatar and Giraldo, who have been married for 32 years, are on the road to celebrate 35 years since the release of her debut album, “In the Heat of the Night” in 1979.

So what can fans expect on Sunday night?

The good news from the road is that Benatar’s powerful voice has held up. On a recent tour stop in Toronto – opening for Cher – the Toronto Sun noted that the 61-year-old performed her signature hard-driving rock ’n’ roll with “a voice still incredibly powerful after all these years.” TribLive.com, in Pittsburgh, Pa., noted, “From the moment Benatar launched into the first words of ‘Shadows of the Night,’ she had the crowd hooked and showed them how well her signature vocals have held up since her heyday, plowing though hits like ‘We Belong,’ ‘Hit Me With Your Best Shot’ and ‘Love is a Battlefield.’ Giraldo wowed the room with his impressive guitar riffs.”