One of these days, I’m going to write about how 1987 is the greatest year ever in pop music.
And the backbone of this piece will be the tale of an album that spent nine weeks at number one in that year, Introducing The Hardline According To…, an instant classic beloved by pretty much the whole nation, who thought they had discovered their very own UK version of Prince, a musician who could seemingly do it all and had the country in the palm of his hands. The maker of that album is tonight’s reviewee Sananda Maitreya (although he released it, and his next four albums, under a different name).
So what happened after that is a staggering story; his second album Neither Fish Nor Flesh was roundly rejected by his record label and was considered something of a massive commercial disappointment, and just because it was a bit less straightforwardly pop and too different from the debut – something that would be lauded these days as a positive – and it’s at this point that he himself has stated “from the molten ashes of which, began the life of Sananda.”
Since the change of name, he has kept releasing records, his latest The Pegasus Project released just last year. But it’s been over two decades since his last tour, and the lure of this has filled the big room of the O2 Academy on a Sunday night (not an easy thing to do).
It’s going to be a gig of two parts tonight, containing two one-hour sets with an interval in between and, cards on the table, making our way through the throng there’s the nagging thought (knowing Liverpool crowds as I do) that they may just be here for the ones they know, and would perhaps have the potential to be somewhat impatient if they are not familiar with his post 1990’s material. But these fears are dissipated straight from the off.
His band, four-piece The Sugar Plum Pharaohs (who don’t miss a note all night), appear onstage at 8:10, before a massive roar announcing Maitreya’s arrival where his guitar is plugged in for him and he’s ready to go, with a beaming smile on his face and a ‘Britney‘ face microphone attached to his head.
‘The Birthday Song‘ is dedicated to his young son Elvis, whose birthday it is this weekend, before he addresses the crowd about his absence from the live arena.
“I only went out for some cigarettes…and here we are 23 years later…“
‘It Ain’t Been Easy’ is his first big chance to show off those familiar vocals in full, and time has not dimmed his lived-in tones one bit. His voice is still his USP, but he was also known for his dance moves, which he is keen to show off once he sheds his guitar on his Top 20 single from 1993, ‘Delicate’.
The warm love for his every move and word is evident and he’s surely the only artist to ever get away with calling Evertonians ‘his kind of people’ and not getting booed for it, before a couple of tracks from the unfairly maligned second album, a moody ‘This Side Of Love‘ and a clap-along ‘Billy Don’t Fall’.
A slight pause occurs, and then THAT drum intro kicks in, and the camera phones flood the sky for set one closer, and genuine classic pop song, ‘Wishing Well’.
“And now a word from our sponsor, alcohol sales…” he deadpans before disappearing for the 20-minute interval, before part two commences with a now seated-at-a-keyboard Maitreya delivering a lovely piano-led ‘Let Her Down Easy‘, which, like everything else tonight, is greeted by the crowd with the welcome of a returning hero.
He remains seated for a couple of soul-filled bangers – ‘This Town‘ and ‘O Divina‘ – before he goes all the way back to the start of his career with Hardline cut ‘Let’s Go Forward.’ Leaving the keys behind, the slinky dance move (and camera phones) return for ‘Sign Your Name‘, before the band crank up the pace with rockier singles ‘Supermodel Sandwich‘ and ‘She Kissed Me’ and the last big hitter of the night, ‘Dance Little Sister‘ (yep, he doesn’t do his biggest hit, ‘If You Let Me Stay‘).
There’s just time to introduce his band and tell us how he’ll “see us sooner rather than later”, before returning for a two-song encore.
There can’t be many stars of 1987 who could return with such a well-received, relevant, non-nostalgic performance of that seen by the adoring crowd tonight. For whatever reason, he’s been seemingly forgotten by the majority, but tonight has shown it’s time for a reappraisal. An unexpected triumph.
(Photos: Cheryl Doherty)
