Spandau Ballet

On Saturday evening one of my dreams came ‘True’ (pun intended) when Spandau Ballet graced the stage of the fabulous LG Arena in Birmingham on 24th October.

I must admit from the start that when I was in my teens everyone adored Duran Duran and swooned after the Taylor boys or Simon Le Bon, but they never did anything for me. I always had a mind of my own, even back then, so Spandau Ballet were the band for me. I had a soft spot for the Kemp Brothers and always thought Tony Hadley had a ballsey voice and could carry off any tune, but it was really the fact that Steve Norman, the percussionist come Sax Player was hot that did it! My mom bought me several copies of their vinyl LP’s(showing my age now!!) as I played them to death.

Spandau were part of the New Romantic era that graced the UK back in the 80’s alongside bands as Visage and Yazoo. Their demise came in the 90’s, much to my dismay. I never ever thought in a million years I would ever see the band grace the stage again, BUT on Saturday night I saw an absolute epic of a show.

I was a tad sceptical to say the least about the ‘Reformation Tour’, especially as every man and his dog has jumped on the 80’s bandwagon and tried to make a buck or two, (The Police and of course Kajagoogoo to name but a few). Would this tour live up to my expectations? I have been a fan for some 25 years and seen amazing gigs as part of the ‘Through the Barricades’ and ‘Heart Like a Sky’ tours, so would this one leave the same impression on me?

I got to the LG Arena in plenty of time. I actually thought I’d gone to the wrong venue as the last time I went to the arena it was called the ‘NEC’ and it had looked tired and drab. But by God the LG Arena is something to behold! I stood for five minutes admiring the new sleek, stylish building. The very helpful staff at the box office and the front of house staff helped make the evening go with a bang too.

The interior décor was amazing, there were bars aplenty, merchandise stalls everywhere, toilets in every nook and cranny and well signposted aisles. Plenty of staff around to point you in the right direction if you got lost. I was totally amazed by the whole experience.

I got to my padded and surprisingly comfortable seat with ease. I was like a kid in a sweet shop, I was so full of energy and pumped up, I did actually think would I enjoy the experience after all......

I was treated to an 80’s extravaganza by the DJ at the start of the show, so much so that I felt like I was back at the school disco! The band finally graced the stage at 8.20 and what was to follow was totally mind blowing.

The house lights went down and the big screen lit up. Photos and commentaries from each band member explaining that this was the ‘Reformation Tour’ blasted across the screen. Photos of Martin Kemp were followed by the loudest screams ever, especially the photos of him in his swimming togs! Old hits played through the speakers with scream after scream, then silhouettes of the band members were seen through the black curtain and everyone went wild. The first bars of the first song blasted out of the speakers and down came the curtain, everyone went even wilder. The crowd were already at fever pitch, with shouts of ‘Oh Gary’ and ‘Oh Martin’ before they had even sung a note!

The band were all smart, suits and shirts, except for drummer John Keeble. I actually forgot how talented this guy is; he literally worked his ass off all night and must’ve lost a stone in weight after all that work. I was in total awe of just how good Tony Hadley’s voice still was. The band were totally amazing, and treated the whole crowd much to a to a 21 song extravaganza, much to my absolute delight.

My partner came with me and said after 5 songs, “I don’t know any of these songs, How come you know all the lyrics?” Perhaps it’s the age difference but I have to put it mostly down to the fact that I was a besotted, almost on the verge of obsession, teenage fan.

We were treated an early Spandau song to kick the show off ‘To Cut a long Story Short’, then things got moving to showcase a snippet of each Spandau album including ‘Parade’ and ‘Through the Barricade’. Hit after hit ensued, ‘Highly Strung’ ‘Only When You Leave’, ‘I’ll Fly For You’, ‘How Many Lies’, ‘We Are Virgin’, ‘Love like Diamond’, ‘Round and Round’, ‘Man in Chains’, ‘Instinction’ ‘Lifeline’, and ‘Communication’. There was even a superb medley of ‘I Don’t Need This Pressure On’ and ‘Paint Me Down’ thrown in for good messuer and topped by the Spandau classic ‘True’.

The encore was ‘Fight For Ourselves’ and ‘Gold’.

The songs I’ve missed out (yes there were more than the huge list above) need a special mention. They are ‘With The Pride’ as this was a stripped back version, with Kemp on guitar and Hadley on vocals, that totally captured everyone’s attention. As for ‘Through The Barricades’, well what can I say, it moved me to tears, I loved this song when it first came out and it is one of the songs that holds a special place in my heart; so much so it’s on my wedding song play list which is less than 11 days away! New song ‘Once More’ was showcased too. It didn’t do anything for me, but I guess it will grow on me.

All I can say is that this is the best live show I have seen all year, it played with every emotion, it made me deliriously happy, made me cry, made me feel on top of the world, made me lose my voice and made me happy I was part of the 80’s scene.

It was almost as though the band had never been away, they seemed comfortable in front of the 12,000 arena crowd and played with such energy with the biggest smiles I have ever seen. How many times can one band say ‘Thank you’ for coming to see them? Between songs Hadley, the Kemp Brothers and Norman thanked everyone for coming again and again and again.

Good on yer boys!

FUTURE GIGS

sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.