Autumn is always a busy time for the concert attendee. whether it’s young upstarts with fresh new albums to tout round the circuit, or the once a year, older people tours, and it’s a clutch of these latter acts that the gig-going lords have decreed will be appearing here in Liverpool, all separately of each other, over the next three evenings.
It’s a real treat for those with an affinity to music mostly made over 40 years ago, but a struggle to the aching limbs of the fortunates that will be attending one, two or even all three of the gigs (thankfully, two of them are seated).
Heaven 17 – O2 Academy, Saturday 15/11.
First up, it’s a bitter Saturday night which sees Heaven 17 land at the O2 Academy, in what is becoming an almost annual event, always attracting a big crowd, with tonight being no exception, its absolutely rammed.
They start with their traditional opener ‘Crushed By The Wheels Of Industry’ (from back when you could have singles with titles like that), followed by the painfully apt, even 40-odd years after it’s release, ‘(We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang’, a message resplendently splayed across singer Glenn Gregory‘s t-shirt, and a message for our times, “Evil men with racist views/Spreadin’ all across the land”.
But it’s not pure nostalgia, as Gregory explains, “We were talking earlier about how much longer we can do this and as long as you’re here we’ll be here, and next year there will be a new Heaven 17 album.” And the first taste of it, the recently released ‘There’s Something About You‘ fits seamlessly into the set, sounding as they describe it “like a B-side from 1981“.
The relationship between the frontman and his fellow member, keyboardist Martyn Ware (who shimmers tonight with the attire of a Shein Chris Lowe) is a treat throughout, both of them regaling the crowd with amusing stories about each song, and even though some of the crowd may have heard these tales before (they later introduce an audience member who tonight is seeing them for the 262nd time), they are still instilled with good humour.
‘Come Live With Me‘ (a song that I as an 11-year old demanded to be played at my junior school leaving disco) is as timeless as ever, with Gregory’s vocal as powerful now as it was back in 1983.
There’s an almost Cannon and Ball-esque routine between the two protagonists, when Gregory complains that ‘We Live So Fast‘ is too fast for him to sing these days, so plays the first verse slowly on an acoustic guitar, much to Ware’s chagrin, and even if they do it every night, it still comes as across as spontaneously funny.
The mid-set highlight is an epic version of later single ‘And That’s No Lie‘, which showcases the rest of their extended live line-up, additional keyboard player Florence and the two long-standing backing vocalists Rachel and Kelly.
‘Penthouse And Pavement’ raises the party levels even further, before that line that is never, ever less than thrilling.
“I’ve never been closer, I’ve tried to understand/That certain feeling, carved by another’s hand”.
And so begins a glorious main-set closing ‘Temptation’.
The three-song encore sees them abandon the H17 material, with covers of ‘Party Fears Two‘, which sees Gregory become genuinely overwhelmed and teary, serving, as it does, as a tribute to the late Billy McKenzie, a crowd-pleasing ‘Let’s Dance‘ before closing with ‘Being Boiled‘, with Ware playing it on the same synth he wrote it on, back at the start of the Eighties.
This is a band that look like the thought of a new record means they are back with a new-found purpose, their love and enthusiasm for the material (old and new) seeps through every track. They act like they love each one like their child, and the promise of future songs will be enough to bring the crowd back this time next year.
Adam Ant – Philharmonic Hall, Sunday 16/11.
Tonight is the very dictionary definition of a long-awaited gig. This one should have taken place just over 12 months ago but the whole tour was sadly cancelled due to illness. But it’s all systems go for Adam Ant tonight at the plush surroundings of the Philharmonic Hall and it’s even colder than last night, too cold it seems for people to indulge. Even though it’s still technically the weekend, I’ve never seen the venue bar so empty, albeit there’s a large part of the people that are partaking that have attended dressed as their dandy highwayman hero.
The set-up is now the familiar two elevated drummers above a guitarist, bassist, and of course the frontman. And it’s as the band start thumping the familiar beats of ‘Dog Eat Dog’, that we first cast eyes on Ant, as he swashbuckles onto the stage.
You know that you’ve got quite the set to come when you can toss off your actual statement of intent theme tune (‘Antmusic‘) just three songs in. He tells us that he’d “like to do a couple of early singles” which heralds the one-two volley of ‘Cartrouble‘ and ‘Zerox‘, which sees Ant taking up guitar duties as well.
The crowd have been on their feet since minute one and they turn what is inarguably one of the greatest pop singles ever made, ‘Prince Charming’, into an extended mass singalong. ‘Young Parisians‘ is as playfully weird as it ever was, before a more solo material based second half, albeit interspersed with a blistering ‘Kings Of The Wild Frontier‘, on which the two drummers intertwine perfectly.
There’s some minor gripes to be had – his reluctance to include to sing any non-singles from Prince Charming or Strip albums is kinda annoying, as is his dropping of crowd favourites from previous tours (‘Apollo 9‘, ‘Wonderful’, ‘Room At The Top‘ to name but a few). And everything here was written no later than 1985 (with nothing from his 2013 fantastically-named comeback album Adam Ant Is The Blueback Hussar Marrying The Gunner’s Daughter), but with a back catalogue as strong as his these are just small moans.
He’s from an era where the B-sides had to be almost as good as the singles were and he gives us a few belting examples here in the form of ‘Fall In‘ and ‘Beat My Guest‘, and whilst he may not hit every note bang on these days (he is 71, for goodness sake), then it’s great to see him this engaged with his audience.
There’s a well-received, moody ‘Killer In The Home‘, before he ends his main set with his only Number One solo single, ‘Goody Two Shoes‘, before a one-song encore (but what a song), the glorious ‘Stand And Deliver‘, with it’s ‘da diddley qua qua’s‘ and all.
We should enjoy him while we can. There’s not many out there boasting the treasure trove of songs that he has.
ABC – Philharmonic Hall, Monday 17/11.
It’s time for the second dose of Sheffield pop steel of the weekend, and we thought the last two nights were cold, but tonight is a different level of chilliness. What’s gone on before have been acts that I’ve seen in the recent past, but tonight is a real treat, as it’s a band that, although they’ve played this very album set in this very venue over the last couple of years, I’ve inexplicably not seen them, in fact I’ve not seen them live in over 20 years.
ABC have been touring the orchestral version of their seminal The Lexicon of Love album to huge demand. In fact, the reason I’ve yet to catch it is because of how quickly it sells out every year, a decent feat in the current climate and especially in Liverpool.
I find myself (inexplicably in a 1,700 seat venue) in exactly the same seat as I was for Adam Ant last night as 7:45 rolls around, which sees the members of the Lexicon Symphonia, our orchestra for the evening, stream onstage, all dressed in black, followed by conductor Anne Dudley, and halfway through the opening ‘Overture‘, ABC band members, with last but not least, frontman Martin Fry, I haven’t seen this many people on a stage since the last time I witnessed The Polyphonic Spree.
Tonight is not a typical hits show, it’s split into two halves, with Fry explaining that the first set is songs from “the ABC songbook“, with the second half being a run through of the 1983 debut record in full, before launching into 1987’s Top 10 hit ‘When Smokey Sings‘, which should be a funky opener to get involved with.
But there’s nothing from the audience. No standing, no clapping, it’s a miserable Monday night crowd, in direct opposition to the two previous night’s raucous sets of fans, their in-between silences making it feel like ABC are somehow the support band and that they are just waiting for the hit-laden second half.
This coldness from those in attendance is thankfully being drowned out by the warmth emanating from those onstage, with glorious versions of the likes of ‘Viva Love‘ and ‘The Night You Murdered Love‘, the orchestra adding an extra level of sheen.
The twinkly lighting for ‘The Love Inside The Love‘ makes the view feel like we are inside a snow globe, and there’s a lovely brand new song, ‘Never Get To Be The King‘, which Fry dedicates to his wife, before a long-awaited clap-along for the rockier ‘(How To Be A) Millionaire‘. Set one ends with the gorgeous closing salvo (can salvos be gorgeous?) of the should-have-been-mega-hits duo of ‘Ocean Blue’ and ‘Be Near Me‘, which allows Fry to show off his never-changing caramel-esque, pitch perfect vocal skills.
After a swift interval, in which we are treated to some excellent tunes through the speakers (Wichita Lineman into Sowing The Seeds Of Love? Yes, please!), we’re back with the album that we are all here to hear, both Dudley and Fry indulging in a costume change.
‘Show Me‘ erupts into life, before ‘Poison Arrow‘, which sees the violinists hilariously waving their bows at each other for the “Who broke my heart/You did, you did” bits, with Fry giving us a commentary in between tunes as to the birth of the record.
It’s classed as seminal for a reason, and there’s no better intro to side two than the thrilling ‘The Look Of Love’, which (finally) sees some brave souls rising to the feet, before ‘Date Stamp‘ shows off the bass-line that Frankie Goes To Hollywood heard and took notice of.
A goosebump-inducing ‘All Of My Heart‘ is dedicated to every one of us for “surviving all these years”, before a short encore consisting of a final reprise of TLOL, which sees the entire hall rise and find there voices for a singalong finale and a standing ovation.
It’s a truly scintillating experience, which next time would be better enjoyed with a willing, noisy crowd, an absolute, orchestral joy.
So, this weekend has proved that there’s gold in the nostalgia scene, three sold-out gigs shows there’s an appetite for those from a certain era.
(Photos: Steven Doherty/Cheryl Doherty)
