Dance Party

The quirky and colorful B-52s played their first gig at a Valentine’s Day party in 1977 and tonight will kick off the party on the Coca-Cola Stage at Riverbend.

The foursome, which took its name from the beehive wigs its two female members wore in its early years, got its start in Athens, Ga., and has a style that has alternately been described as New Wave, punk, vintage rock and Southern disco.

“Their music just makes me feel good,” said fan Jeremy Weldon of Chattanooga.

That’s what fans have said through years as hits such as “Rock Lobster,” “Planet Claire” and “Private Idaho” found underground success.

With albums and clothing often bathed in Andy Warhol-like colors and lyrics that sometimes invoke 1960s B-movies and television kitsch, they appeal to the wild side of music lovers of various genres.

The band includes Keith Strickland, who composes most of its music, Kate Pierson, Fred Schneider and Cindy Wilson. Original band member Ricky Wilson, the brother of Cindy Wilson, died in 1985.

Mr. Weldon said he was in his early teens when the B-52s’ 1989 “Cosmic Thing” was released. One of its singles, “Love Shack,” became the band’s signature tune and its first song to hit the U.S. Top 40.

“I fell in love with the fun, upbeat sounds and quirky lyrics of that song,” Mr. Weldon said. “I had to have the cassette. The entire album is a true work of art, with great songs like ‘Cosmic Thing,’ ‘Channel Z,’ ‘Topaz’ and others. The lyrics are always fun and sometimes unexpected.”

More than 30 years after its start, the band proved it could still party when its released “Funplex,” its first original album in 16 years, in 2008.

Mr. Strickland, in Rolling Stone, described the record as “loud, sexy rock and roll with the beat pumped up to hot pink.” It eventually became the group’s second-highest-charting album.

“That’s a fun album, too,” said Mr. Weldon.

In a world filled with recessions, financial bailouts and wars, a B-52s concert may return Riverbend attendees to a happier day. Fans rarely sit at a B-52s concert.

“When I’m feeling the pressures of the daily grind of adulthood,” Mr. Weldon said, “I can pull ‘Cosmic Thing’ up in iTunes, sit back, close my eyes and be 13 all over again.”