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Belinda Carlisle talks new tour, reveals the one Go-Go’s song always in the set

By Andrea Dresdale Jun 30, 2023 | 5:00 AM
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Belinda Carlisle‘s Decades tour, which also promotes her new five-song EP, Kismet, kicks off June 30 in Charleston, South Carolina. She says the set list will include old and new songs, as well as a few Go-Go‘s favorites.

Asked about playing any of the new Kismet songs, Belinda tells ABC Audio, “I think one or two, definitely.” But, she adds, “I know when I go to see somebody, I don’t want to see half a set of new songs. I want to hear the old stuff. So it’s a kind of a balancing act of just slotting in just enough to give a taste of some of the new stuff.”

“I will probably do a couple songs — two out of five isn’t bad,” she adds. “Because I have a lot of … material between the Go-Go’s and my own solo career.”

That’s true: Not counting Kismet, she’s released eight solo albums. But Belinda says there are certain songs she pretty much has to do at every concert or fans would be disappointed.

“‘Heaven [Is a Place On Earth],’ ‘Mad About You,’ ‘Circle In the Sand’ and probably ‘I Get Weak,'” she says. “People always ask, ‘Aren’t you tired of singing “Heaven”?’ [But] when I sing it live … just seeing people’s reaction to it makes it really fun for me.”

As for those Go-Go’s songs, Belinda says, “‘Our Lips are Sealed’ is always in the set. [It’s] pretty much one of the songs that’s always there.”

But Belinda’s tours these days are very different from the ’70s and ’80s, when she’d be up all night and sleep until 3. These days, she’s up at the crack of dawn to meditate and has only three vices left: chocolate, coffee and salt.

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