Blondie/Pat Benatar

Eighties rock fans had a treat Saturday night, when two of the biggest female performers of the decade came to Boston for a nearly sold-out show at the Bank of America Pavilion.

Blondie and Pat Benatar are touring together for most of the summer, providing fans with a unique double bill packed with hits.

Blondie took the stage first, after opening act The Donnas, and put on a fun and spirited show. Deborah Harry looked and sounded better than she has in years. Often she looks like your twice-divorced, slightly drunk aunt squeezed into a too tight dress at your sister's wedding reception, but on Saturday night she looked fit and fabulous.

The singer led her band through a spirited romp of the Blondie's biggest songs, including "Call Me," "Hanging on the Telephone," "Atomic" and the reggae-inflected, "The Tide is High." An extended version of "Rapture" featured a lengthy instrumental interlude, but the song remains more of a goofy novelty song than truly ground-breaking rap single.

"One Way or Another" had the band rocking out hard, as did an unexpected punk version of the Celine Dion Titanic classic, "My Heart Will Go On."

The band, which included original members Chris Stein and Clem Burke, wrapped up the night with their defining single, "Heart of Glass," and another unexpected cover, this time Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop Til You Get Enough." The surprised crowd sang and danced along happily. Of the four times this critic has seen the band in the past 25 years, it was the best I've seen them live.

Pat Benatar also put on a good, if predictable, 80-minute show, emphasizing about a dozen of the biggest hits of her career.

"All Fired Up" kicked off her set with a strong rock number which was followed by the operatic drama of "Shadows of the Night." "Somebody's Baby" was a lesser known song from the mid-90s that failed to excite.

"We Belong" was a bit of a karaoke track as it featured a number of instruments not being played by any of the three musicians in her band.

Benatar's voice was clear and strong, although sometimes was nearly drowned out by her husband's guitar-playing. With her longer hair and bangs, she looked a lot like Jaclyn Smith.

Benatar's husband and lead guitarist, Neil Giraldo, has slowly tried to position himself as his wife's co-star, but more often than not his stage persona is more annoying than not. He seems starved for the spotlight, a man in his fifties with the nickname, "Spyder," two full sleeves of tattoos on his arms and a non-stop habit flicking of guitar picks into the audience. Jonas Brothers fans might treat a guitar pick like the Holy Grail, but it's likely most grown-ups really couldn't care less.

"Hit Me With Your Best Shot" got the full audience sing-along treatment, while her anti-child abuse anthem, "Hell is for Children" seemed a bit bombastic and dated. A re-worked, stripped down acoustic version might have been better.

Benatar told the audience to make sure they had enough room to shimmy their shoulders back and forth before breaking into MTV staple, Love is a Battlefield. It would have been more fun if she's brought up some audience members or a team of area drag queens to dance on stage with her.

Encores of "Promises in the Dark" and a raucous "Heartbreaker" sent the crowd home singing and smiling.