Chrissie Hynde makes time stand still

Aging punks take heart. Chrissie Hynde has returned to demonstrate that getting older is just a state of mind.

At 63, the tough rock chick owned the Chicago Theatre stage Wednesday night with the same confidence she exhibited at the beginning of her career. She first exploded on the music scene as the frontwoman of the Pretenders. The shag-haired Hynde, dressed in denim and leather, became an instant rock icon. The band’s self-titled 1980 debut remains one of the remarkable post-punk releases.

The artist today has defied time. Clad in jeans and a vest that showed off her sinewy arms, the slender singer-songwriter with kohl-rimmed eyes and dark bangs seemed but a stone’s throw from the biker-ish twentysomething of yore.

What distinguished Hynde from the start was that voice, an instrument capable of conveying yearning, sensuality and menace, sometimes within the same song. Nothing has changed. She remains one of rock’s originals, her phrasing unique and powerful.

Her whip-smart backing band included bassist Nick Wilkinson, keyboardist Sean Read and drummer Kris Sonne. Her guitarist James Walbourne was also in the opening act The Rails, his evocative acoustic duo with wife Kami Thompson.

Hynde’s set included a chunk of cuts from her new release “Stockholm.” “Like In the Movies” and “You or No One” were catchy and well-played.

Though her new material is solid, it was the Pretenders’ classics that drew the audience to its feet. “A little nostalgia for the old folks,” she said, quoting Frank Zappa before launching into one of her early hits, the aching “Talk of the Town.”

The bluesy bass line in “My City Was Gone” added resonance to the sorrowful examination of her Akron, Ohio hometown. Driven by chiming guitars, “Back On the Chain Gang” throbbed with a deep-seated sadness beneath its bright jangly exterior.

Like the artist herself, the best of the Pretenders’ canon is indelible. Hynde’s voice soared on the melancholy “Kid.” The pile-driving rockers “Precious” and “Tattooed Love Boys” roared. Both songs sounded as fresh and potent as they did when first released. Time has marched on, but the singer and these masterworks remain timeless.

ctc-arts@tribpub.com

Twitter @chitribent