Category: Live Reports (Page 35 of 38)

QUEEN OF HEARTS Live at Madame JoJo’s

14 May 2011 /

Since launching herself to the world in February, the gorgeous QUEEN OF HEARTS has been attracting a fair amount of attention from the mainstream press.

The Independent described her first track ‘Freestyle’ as “mixing the cool vocal detachment of ANNIE with the electro throb of Black Cherry-era GOLDFRAPP, all sighing melodies and synth explosions”.

Meanwhile, The Times said in a playlist feature that also included RADIOHEAD and LADYTRON that her second track Where Are You Now? was “a luscious escapist electropop floorfiller of the future from the mysterious London based newcomer”. And not ones known for liking either electro or pop, Q magazine said “The upper reaches of the pop stratosphere beckon”. Words like violence, break the silence…

And so it was on a lovely, warm April evening that QUEEN OF HEARTS gave her debut live performance. In the presence of press, family, friends and fans, she regally strolled onto stage in the most beautiful dress courtesy of Polish couture designers Kruszynska.

With the austere look of GOLDFRAPP but with a more approachable allure, she launched into a powerful version of ‘Freestyle’, the song that originally got everyone buzzing. This live rendition was particularly mesmerising and punchy. Aided and abetted by dancers Holly Allen and Katie Smith plus a three piece band (Steve Durham: drums; Charlotte Ridly: synth; Vicky Warwick: synth and bass), it all slotted seamlessly into the fantasmical presentation. And as Elly Jackson once said: “Girls look wicked playing synths!”

The following’ Overcome By The Rhythm’ was a trancey hands-in-the-air moment with Queenie encouraging the sizeable turnout to wave their imaginary glowsticks. Interestingly, the crowd divided down the middle with glamourous pretty ladies to the right and well groomed disco boys to the left. Loving the terrific ‘Where Are You Now?’ they all united to savour this most wonderfully catchy ditty as already premiered online in various studio and remix incarnations. Meanwhile, ‘Premonition’ was suitably Kylie-esque and electrically poptastic while closing number ‘No More’ was pure gold.

Yes, QUEEN OF HEARTS is a composite of GOLDFRAPP, LITTLE BOOTS, GIRLS ALOUD and Kylie but she’s also her own woman as her charming on-stage banter proved. A natural comedienne, only she could have got away with making a joke about her dear Queen Mother putting illicit substances into the lovely heart dressed cupcakes that were kindly being offered to guests pre-show!

With a wonderfully choreographed showcase, this is just the start for QUEEN OF HEARTS. All co-written by her Majesty herself, the gathered throng were treated to five exquisite songs that were immediately impressive. With willing collaborators such as DREAMTRAK, DIAMOND CUT and FEAR OF TIGERS among her subjects, everyone will soon want to enter QUEEN OF HEARTS’ new wonderland.

QUEEN OF HEARTS will be headlining Gold Dust at London’s Hoxton Bar & Kitchen on 18th May 2011

JOHAN AGEBJORN & ERCOLA’s single ‘The Last Day Of Summer’ featuring QUEEN OF HEARTS will be released by Paper Bag in May 2011

http://www.iamqueenofhearts.com

https://www.facebook.com/QOHofficial

https://twitter.com/iamqueenofheart

Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by Richard Price
14th May 2011

GARY NUMAN, JOHN FOXX, MOTOR + MIRRORS Live at Back To The Phuture London

2 May 2011 /


Tomorrow Is Today… Back To The Phuture figurehead Mark Jones has a clear mission statement: “to join the dots on electronic music”.

He has been the driving force behind a number of exciting innovations in recent years, including the collaborations of LITTLE BOOTS with Gary Numan, and LA ROUX with HEAVEN 17 for BBC 6Music. And more recently, there was a Back To The Phuture themed night at Bestival featuring HEAVEN 17, Howard Jones and VILLA NAH.

Last year he announced his most ambitious show to date, ‘Tomorrow Is Today’, which would bring together a stellar line-up of synth acts past and present. “It’s amazing to see Back To The Phuture evolve into a live ‘happening’ and to be able to present inspiring artists that’ve paved the way for all of us alongside ace current talent”, said Jones. “Their music has never been more relevant to what’s happening – tomorrow is today.”

The venue for this very special show was The Troxy, a lavish art-deco venue in London’s East End which began its life as an upmarket art deco cinema in the 1930s. By mid-afternoon a very large queue had started to snake around the building, such was the anticipation of the evening’s events.

Electronic music fans from Germany, Finland and Italy had made the journey especially, while musicians of various standings from the genre were also in attendance.

VILE ELECTRODES and DEPECHE MODE’s Andy Fletcher were all interested onlookers, keen to be part of one of the biggest celebrations of electronic music to be ever held on British soil.

First on the bill were Brighton-based quartet MIRRORS. The smartly attired band were clearly thrilled to be sharing the stage with their electro forefathers, and they rose to the occasion, delivering a blistering set showcasing their superb debut album ‘Lights and Offerings’. As a live act, they are quite mesmerising to watch and their performance won over a legion on new admirers, as evidenced by all their CDs selling out at the merchandise stall by the end of the night.

Following a short DJ set by the irrepressible Mark Jones, it was time for the first of two synth legends to take to the stage.

John Foxx, accompanied by his band including Benge, Steve D’Agostino, Serafina Steer and Robin Simon, opened with ‘Shatterproof’ from the acclaimed new album ‘Interplay’.

Foxx exuded his enigmatic charm throughout the set, in which new material sat comfortably next to early ULTRAVOX anthems ‘Dislocation’, Quiet Men’ and ‘Hiroshima Mon Amour’, plus his trio of classic solo singles ‘Underpass’, ‘Burning Car’ and ‘No-One Driving’.

Sadly, the album’s highlight ‘Watching A Building On Fire’ was absent but it was a brilliant hour of fine electro. John Foxx is a pioneer of the genre who, more than thirty years into his career, is still making music that is exciting and innovative. The ecstatic welcome he received tonight was richly deserved.

By way of contrast, the next band were Franco-American techno outfit MOTOR. With their light-sabre styled microphone stands and frantic club beats, what was not obviously apparent tonight is that the duo have moved into song based territory with their new album which is due out later this year. DEPECHE MODE’s Martin Gore, NITZER EBB’s Douglas McCarthy, ELECTRIBE 101’s Billie Ray Martin and Gary Numan will all be featuring as guest vocalists.

Following their support slot on DEPECHE MODE’s Tour Of The Universe, the future could get very interesting for Mr No and Bryan Black. MOTOR were followed by their label boss, Mute supremo Daniel Miller, another goliath of the electro world whose DJ set included his own ‘Warm Leatherette’ which started the Mute brand off, some TUXEDOMOON and the Slavery Whip mix of DEPECHE MODE’s ‘Master And Servant’.

Finally it was time for Gary Numan to appear. Often referred to as the godfather of electro, as he strode onto the stage against a towering backdrop of LED screens he looked every inch the guvnor. As if to prove the point, he launched straight into three classics in a row; namely ‘Down In The Park’, ‘Films’ and ‘That’s Too Bad’, each to a rapturous reception.

To mark the special occasion, ‘Crash’ then received a rare live airing, and anyone who bought the ‘Dance’ album some thirty years earlier was singing their heart out. ‘Listen To The Sirens’ was another one getting a rare outing while for the rest of Numan’s set, vintage tracks like ‘Cars’ were interspersed with heavier brand new material such as ‘Dead Son Rising’ and ‘Splinter’ which resulted in some lost momentum.

Nevertheless, ‘I Die: You Die’ with its savage narrative on the destructive nature of the press sounded as futuristic as ever, while anthems such as ‘Pure’ and the spine-tingling Andy Gray mix of ‘A Prayer For The Unborn’ affirmed that when Numan is good, he’s very good. The set was ultimately well received by the highly enthused faithful (when was the last time the former Gary Webb actually sung the line “but are friends electric?” himself?) and provided a fitting climax to the night.

To close the proceedings, an emotional Mark Jones came out on stage to thank everyone involved, and then a veritable ‘who’s who’ of Synth Britannia took to the stage for a final curtain call: Daniel Miller, John Foxx, Gary Numan and MIRRORS. It was quite a sight to see; our friends electric! Ally Young of MIRRORS thoroughly enjoyed his evening and said: “It was a real privilege for us to be playing alongside such legends”.

MIRRORS’ singer James New went to meet fans in the merch area afterwards while nearby, John Foxx was all smiles and happily shook hands with well wishers as they expressed their grateful thanks. Via his website, Gary Numan said: “The feedback we’ve had so far has all been extremely positive which makes all the hard work that has been put in so worthwhile.”

This was a special night that brought together the electro community from far and wide. All credit to Mark Jones and Back To The Phuture for making the dream a reality.

http://backtothephuture.net

www.numan.co.uk

www.mute.com

www.metamatic.com

www.wearemotor.com

www.facebook.com/theworldofmirrors/

Text by Steve Gray
Additional material by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by Mike Cooper and Richard Price
2nd May 2010

BLANCMANGE Live at Koko

27 March 2011 /

BLANCMANGE presented a sharp show at London’s Koko as part of their highly welcomed comeback.

The duo of Neil Arthur and Stephen Luscombe recently released their first album for 25 years in ‘Blanc Burn’, a dark collection of songs delivered in a modern technical setting but retaining all the hallmarks of their quirky and humourous sound. Unfortunately, Stephen Luscombe has been diagnosed with a spinal aneurysm and unable to take part in the tour; ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK wishes him all the best and a speedy recovery.

However tonight, he’s able to observe proceedings from the sidelines as his charismatic band mate Neil Arthur leads honorary mangers Pandit Dinesh and a deputising Graham Henderson through a spirited if short set to a crowd of eager onlookers who interestingly seem to have more hair than the average OMD or NEW ORDER audience!

Following a great warm up DJ set by the ubiquitous Mark Jones from Back To The Phuture who digs up the lost synthpop classic ‘Haven’t We Met Somewhere Before?’ by TELEX for all to hear, a taped intro of Vishnu acts as overture before BLANCMANGE begin with ‘I’m Having A Coffee’. An everyday tale of life how life can pass you by, of course one way to stop this from happening is to try something new… opening with an impressive new number is a fine statement of intent that this is not to be a complete night of nostalgia. It acts as a perfect starter before the main course which consists of half the tracks from their brilliant debut album ‘Happy Families’.

“Long time innit?” murmurs Mr Arthur by way of a greeting. Julian Cope will probably be skating on another copy of ‘Happy Families’ if he can hear the amazing response that is greeting tunes like ‘I Can’t Explain’, ‘God’s Kitchen’ and ‘I’ve Seen The Word’ tonight. On ‘I Can’t Explain’ in particular, Arthur almost turns into Ian Curtis as the blistering synths accentuate the overall intensity. Meanwhile, ‘I’ve Seen The Word’ retains its melancholic beauty while the observational narrative on religion of ‘God’s Kitchen’ recalls a time when record companies were willing to take risks on unconventional musical subjects. And all this a couple of years before DEPECHE MODE’s ‘Blasphemous Rumours’ too.

Neo-referencing ROXY MUSIC’s ‘Do The Strand’, new single ‘Drive Me’ is part autobiographical as Arthur adds some theatrical surrealism when recalling his youth, particularly on meeting a DAVID BOWIE impersonator who refused to shave his moustache! Throughout the colourfully lit proceedings, Pandit Dinesh effortlessly taps his way through probably the largest array of ethnic percussion instruments ever to have been gathered to add a rich, spicy flavour to proceedings. He acts as the perfect sidekick in Luscombe’s absence to Arthur’s wonderful down-to-earth charm.

On ‘Don’t Tell Me’, the first hit single of the night, Neil Arthur is both dramatic and self deprecating. And the big belting voice of yore that has been more subdued on ‘Blanc Burn’ returns, bringing many smiles from the crowd. Further amusement occurs when Arthur reaches for a megaphone for a rendition of ‘Probably Nothing’. He even treats onlookers to a spot of Tai Chi, no doubt the secret to his enormously fit, lean and healthy look. Arthur’s joyful demeanour often disguised the edgier lyrical elements of BLANCMANGE’s catalogue in the past which have only become more obvious in retrospect.

A nice welcome surprise arrives in the shape of the brilliantly funky ‘Game Above My Head’, B-side of ‘Waves’ while the magnificent A-side itself really does sound like Scott Walker fronting OMD. With further roars of approval plus the passion which Arthur gives to this crescendo ballad, Julian Cope will probably now need to find two copies of ‘Happy Families’ to skate on!

‘The Western’ is an addition to the tradition of ‘Don’t Tell Me’ and ‘Living On The Ceiling’ and is probably the album’s most instantly accessible track. And when Koko gets ‘Living On The Ceiling’, this smash that still fills dancefloors and gets used in adverts acts as a symbol of BLANCMANGE’s musical and cultural legacy. An audience singalong is conducted superbly by Arthur’s animated arm actions coming over like a Lancastrian David Byrne.

During the bionic electronic disco of ‘Blind Vision’, the frantic rhythmical rattles and clouts are faithfully reproduced although occasionally, there is a strange aural cavern in the absence of the mighty female gospel vocals that appear on the original. Towards the final straight, a futuristic updating of ‘Feel Me’ gets the one of the biggest cheers of the evening as the audience “feel the pain”. Its dynamic adventure is a reminder than there are 101 things that can be done with a Linn Drum Computer.

Genuinely flattered by the response and attention, Arthur and co encore with ‘Starf*cker’, the sinister highlight from the ‘Blanc Burn’ album. It recalls the sound of BLACK GRAPE as it rightly attacks the UK’s shallow and vapid obsession with celebrity. It is unmistakeably BLANCMANGE but could never have come from ‘Happy Families’, ‘Mange Tout’ or ‘Believe You Me’. Now that’s progress! Then, unfortunately that was it!

At least one thing BLANCMANGE manage to do is leave everybody wanting more. While the brief set was a fine balance between the immediacy of their classic songs and the vitality of the new material from ‘Blanc Burn’, there was no room for the ABBA cover ‘The Day Before You Came’ or the engaging nearly single of ‘Kind’.

However, with the mixed emotions around Camp BLANCMANGE at the moment, it’s great just to hear these fantastically under-rated compositions within a concert setting again. The final word though has to go to the amazing Pandit Dinesh who shouted out “Jai Ho” as the band said their goodbyes. This is a Hindi victory shout… roughly translated into English, it means even “you rock”!

A pint of curry anyone?

Special thanks to Stuart Kirkham at 9PR

‘Blanc Burn’ is released on Proper Records

http://www.blancmange.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/BlancmangeMusic

https://twitter.com/_blancmange_

Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by Richard Price
27th March 2011

DURAN DURAN Live at Shepherd’s Bush Empire

23 March 2011 /

Now The Channel Is Open

“Stay with the music, let it play a little longer” goes Simon Le Bon on the title track of their new album ‘All You Need Is Now’. Nick Rhodes’ claims that this album is “undoubtedly one of the strongest of our career” is not far from the truth. ‘All You Need Is Now’ sees DURAN DURAN return to the definitive funk-led electronic based pop of the ‘Duran Duran’ and ‘Rio’ albums when they successfully merged CHIC with GIORGIO MORODER.

Produced by Mark Ronson, the New York based brasshead wanted the band to reclaim their quintessential sound and keen to experiment with vintage synthesizers, he pushed DURAN DURAN back to their best.

Tonight’s intimate gig at Shepherd’s Bush Empire is being recorded for broadcast on BBC Radio 2 so is the reinvigorated band’s opportunity to showcase some of their new material in front of a British audience. With so many of the Duranie hardcore present, Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes, John Taylor and Roger Taylor take the opportunity to do something different rather than just trudge through a predictable greatest hits set. And thanks to the quality of the songs from ‘All You Need Is Now’, it all works rather marvellously.

Augmented by a string quartet consisting, in true DURAN DURAN style, of blonde, brunette, red and raven haired beauties, the overture is an instrumental tribute to the late composer John Barry with new guitarist Dom Brown soloing his way through various Bond themes before segueing into ‘A View To A Kill’. With the focus being on the new album tonight, the first of the new numbers, ‘Being Followed’ and its electronic spy drama edge appropriately comes next. This is a superb sequencer assisted number with the tingling metallic edge of THE CURE’s ‘A Forest’ that captures the paranoia today’s surveillance society.

A discordant electronic intro launches the excellent album title track rather like a glitterball ‘Are ‘Friends’ Electric?’… it’s full of fight and optimism because really, ‘All You Need Is Now’. Nick Rhodes does his round of posing like a distinguished cross between Andy Warhol and David Sylvian, armed with his Alesis Andromeda A6 / Roland V-Synth / Roland Jupiter8 / Kurzweil K2000 / Micro-Korg set-up.

Sculpting and stabbing away in his own inimitable fashion, he ably recreates the ‘swimmy’ string sound of his faithful old Crumar Performer on the new and classic tracks, linking the present with the past.

But the reason this new material is so reminiscent of the classic DURAN DURAN era is simply because they are good songs with catchy hooks and rhythms that are easy to dance to. That’s the most important thing rather than any particular instrumentation that might be being used.

Meanwhile Simon Le Bon looks like a German Schlager star sporting his ill-advised beard but he fulfils his role as front man tremendously. He may not bounce around as much as he used to but acts as a perfect energetic foil to John Taylor’s cool poise. At the back in the engine room, Roger Taylor has to be one of the most glamourous drummers ever; only in a band like DURAN DURAN would someone with his dark good looks be relegated to being a sticksman!

So keeping strictly in rhythm, the funk hybrid of KC & The SUNSHINE BAND and CHIC entitled ‘Notorious’ and the UK No1 ‘Is There Something I Should Know?’ keep the party flowing among the faithful before more new material. This comes in the shape of the bouncy ‘Safe’ with backing singer Anna Ross taking over SCISSOR SISTERS Ana Matronic’s role and recalling the infamous ‘singing dealer’ Cindy Ecstacy’s contribution to SOFT CELL B-side ‘Insecure Me’.

As well as the classic dance pop Duran, the new album also shows how Messrs Le Bon, Rhodes, Taylor and Taylor have rediscovered their mojo for rich melodic ballads. ‘The Man Who Stole a Leopard’ follows the template of ‘Tel Aviv’ tinged with ‘The Chauffeur’, but it’s ‘Leave a Light On’ that gets the live premiere tonight, acting as a remembrance for those in the know of DURAN DURAN’s haunting lost song ‘My Antarctica’ from the unloved ‘Liberty’ album.

Also performed is ‘Mediterranea’, one of the bonus additions to the forthcoming physical release and it allows a breather to proceedings. A narrative on the British attitude to sunnier climes, it reveals the dreamy essence of ‘Big Thing’ era B-side ‘I Believe / All I Need To Know’. In a well paced set that inter-disperses big hits among all the new material, the female string quartet return to add an Arabic tinge to ‘The Reflex’ and some heart warming textures to ‘Ordinary World’, the song that re-established DURAN DURAN back as a force in 1993 after years in the relative wilderness. Dom Brown takes centre stage here to reprise the FM rock guitar soloing that no doubt originally helped with the crossover re-evaluation back then.

However, it’s the Bowie / Roxy / Kling Klang influenced dynamic of the New Romantic era that most people love and remember. So when fan favourite ‘Friends Of Mine’ is launched by Nick Rhodes’ synth drones and pulsing arpeggiator, the audience erupt. The chant of “Georgie Davies is coming out… no more heroes, we twist and shout” is a reminder that it was 1975 when the ‘George Davis is innocent’ campaign was in full swing. Friends of his dug up Headingley Cricket ground in protest at his conviction for armed robbery. He was later released, but it turned out he wasn’t actually so innocent after all!!!

And speaking of cult classics, the fantastic lost single ‘Careless Memories’ makes a welcome appearance, its chunky synthesized heavy rock accompanied by a 2011 edit of the wonderful Anime screen projection that first appeared on the classic line-up’s live return in 2004.

The latin-tinged synth funk of ‘Girl Panic!’ has a big chorus and it’s in brilliant tracks like these that indicate how the classic DURAN DURAN sound has returned. It’s not just the synths, it’s also the funky bass, the syncopated backbone and the mix of rock and rhythm guitar together with the distinctive ‘will or won’t he make it’ vocals of Simon Le Bon that encompasses a product that is greater than its sum of parts. And to keep the momentum, an anthemic pop crescendo closes the main set with audience singalongs to ‘Sunrise’ and ‘Rio’ almost drowning out Le Bon.

Easing into the encore first with the touching ‘Come Undone’, the final new track of the evening is delivered in the form of ‘Runway Runaway’, a close cousin of ‘Rio’, before ending with the now traditional band jam of ‘Girls On Film’. Complete with band introductions and audience chant of “play the f***ing bass John”, John Taylor pouts profusely and enjoys the adulation in his position as the New Romantic era’s David Beckham. But what is often forgotten about him is what a highly accomplished bass player he is, with an impressive style that fuses two of its most sadly missed exponents; Bernard Edwards and Mick Karn.

With the performance basing itself on the strongest and most immediate songs from the new album, DURAN DURAN were back on form with the splendid vigour and enthusiasm of men half their age… it’s taken a while but following the lukewarm reactions to comeback albums ‘Astronaut’ and ‘Red Carpet Massacre’, ‘All You Need Is Now’ may well be as Mark Ronson suggests, the “real follow-up to ‘Rio'”.

In its original nine track iTunes version, it worked as a wonderful cohesive body of work… with the addition of five bonus tracks on the physical variant (six on the deluxe edition), it will be fascinating to find out whether this expanded edition will flow quite as well.

‘All You Need Is Now’ is released worldwide as a 14 track CD and 15 track CD/DVD by Tape Modern on 21st March 2011

http://www.duranduran.com

https://www.facebook.com/duranduran

https://twitter.com/duranduran

Text by Chi Ming Lai
23rd March 2011

CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN & FRIENDS Live at The Scala

13 March 2011 /


“Sooner or later, one has to take sides in order to remain human” Claudia Brücken 2005

Claudia Brücken is the original first lady of cinematic electronic pop. Successfully maintaining an icy but approachable aura that draws from Germanic divas as varied as Marlene Dietrich, Nico, Nina Hagen and Gina Kikoine, one aspect that stands out about her is how she’s maintained her values and artistic integrity over the years.

For her, it is all about quality rather than quantity. She could so easily have been trudging around the dreaded ‘Here & Now’ and ‘Rewind’ circuit singing ‘Duel and ‘Dr. Mabuse’ accompanied by an unsympathetic house band. But thankfully, she is much better than that.

Her varied back catalogue as a solo artist and with PROPAGANDA, ACT and ONETWO (as collected on her recent retrospective ‘ComBined’) has captured the essence of her thoughtful imagination and focussed aspirations. It’s a testament to the strength of her musical reputation that she’s been able to gather the ComBinations of very special guests who join her tonight to celebrate her illustrious career.

The list reads like a who’s who of avant pop: Paul Humphreys, Glenn Gregory, Martyn Ware, Andy Bell, Susanne Freytag, Ralf Dörper, Andrew Poppy. And together, they gather to perform a cross section of her Eurocentric classics for an eager audience that has waited years for a solo Claudia Brücken concert.

Taking to the stage, the glamorously attired Claudia is joined by her ONETWO partner Paul Humphreys who acts as the evening’s musical director plus the regular live band of guitarist James Watson and MANHATTAN CLIQUE’s Philip Larsen. With the addition of one time PET SHOP BOYS percussionist Dawne Adams, they are the core musicians for this unique live event.

The loyal Claudia faithful, who have travelled far and wide to here on this cold March night, are rewarded with ‘Kiss Like Ether’ as the show’s opener, its squelchy ‘State Of Independence’ bass driving alongside the ethereal voices of Claudia in harmony with backing singers Melissa D’Arcy and Dave Watson.

‘Sequentia’ follows and fills The Scala with the chilling widescreen spectre of the ASSOCIATES. Many have said Claudia duetting with the late Billy MacKenzie would have made a dreamboat pairing. Both songs act perfectly as a two movement overture to the stylish proceedings.

The first guests of the night arrive in the shape of a three quarters reunion of PROPAGANDA for ‘Dr Mabuse’. Ralf Dörper reprises his stern role from the original while Susanne Freytag completes the trio by concurring with Claudia in her distinct Teutonic tone.

Watching this reunion reminds everyone that not only were the Düsseldorf based quartet the “ABBA in Hell”, but they were also the proto-LADYTRON. ‘Dr Mabuse’ sounds magnificent and loses none of its mystery and magic.

It’s all lovingly recreated using laptops and Roland Fantom workstations… and to think this could have only been produced in 1984 using Trevor Horn’s £40,000 Fairlight… a new Toyota MR-2 (as emblazoned on the cover of LA ROUX’s ‘In For The Kill’) would have cost around £10,000 then! How technology has moved on!

The only disappointment is that the mics cut in and out with Susanne Freytag particularly being unable to be heard at times. Apart from this slight glitch, the music comes over loud and clear throughout the evening. Interestingly, ‘Absolut(E)’ almost steals the show in this early section, the beefy house rhythms that drive it are further enhanced by some finely tuned programming and a crystal sound.

Despite the all-star cast, one person who doesn’t appear tonight is DEPECHE MODE’s Martin Gore. On his co-write ‘Cloud Nine’ though, James Watson acts as a worthy substitute recreating Gore’s distinct six string rhythm textures before finishing with a layer of pretty infinite guitar to enhance one of the highlights from ‘Instead’.

Claudia then introduces HEAVEN 17’s Glenn Gregory who returns the compliment of Claudia’s appearance at last year’s triumphant Sheffield Magna gig to take over Thomas Leer’s vocal duties on ACT’s ‘Snobbery And Decay’. Poor Thomas was unable to take part due to a hospitalised illness and was sadly missed. But Mr Gregory did a superb job on one of the great lost ZTT singles that lyrically has now become relevant again, thanks unfortunately to a return to the unpleasant social economic climate of 1987.

Following on, Martyn Ware joins his erstwhile HEAVEN 17 colleague to tackle the demo version of ‘Temptation’. Much starker than the soul fusion of the famous hit single, Claudia gives it a sexy deadpan delivery over the backing like a more sinister electronic take on SOFT CELL’s version of ‘Tainted Love’.

HEAVEN 17 remain for the debut recital of country and western cover ‘When Your Heart Runs Out Of Time’ from the film Insignificance. This cult favourite narrowly missed inclusion on ‘ComBined’ but was luckily dusted off for inclusion on ZTT’s ‘The Art Of The 12 Inch’ collection. Tonight, it soars with its synthesized instrumentation arranged like an ULTRAVOX ballad, almost in tribute to the recording’s producer Midge Ure.

Everything takes a breather when ZTT’s arch minimalist Andrew Poppy accompanies Claudia on solo piano for a stark cover that was first premiered on their ‘Another Language’ album. The audience are respectfully attentive as the pair tackle a touching rendition of Kate Bush’s ‘Running Up That Hill’ before following with an emotional take on Roy Orbison’s ‘In Dreams’.

Claudia then steps out of the spotlight for a moment as Susanne Freytag re-emerges next to the microphone stand and announces “all that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream”. Written by Edgar Allan Poe in 1849, that segment of poem initiates an unexpected but breathtaking rendition of the epic opener from ‘A Secret Wish’. Textured with real trumpet, it is magnificent and brooding with the incessant backing sounding like a cross between PET SHOP BOYS and prime SIMPLE MINDS that builds to the massive percussive break. Dawne Adams is a total star here, frantically doing justice to original exponential template on this most special of moments.

The audience then get even more secret wishes as Ralf Dörper returns and shouts “PROPAGANDA” over some bleepy mechanics to launch ‘P.Machinery’. The second instalment of the 3/4 reunion is full of motor, power, force, motion and drive. The machine funk and synthetic brass stabs are all faithfully recreated, testament to Paul Humphreys’ engineering and programming skills.

‘Night School’ is the first of Claudia’s new songs tonight and the groove laden shuffle keeps the momentum going. “What are you waiting for?” monologues Claudia during the song… it turns out it’s actually Susanne Freytag who almost doesn’t make it on stage for ‘Light My Way’ when it inadvertently starts without her! But it turns out to be a fine live debut of what in 1993 was originally the first recorded return of the PROPAGANDA ladies since ‘A Secret Wish’.

The brilliant ‘Home (Tonight)’ from ONETWO’s ‘Instead’ appears in blistering remix form steered by Philip Larsen to compliment the superb collection of dancier numbers that make up this second half of the show.

Andy Bell arrives fresh faced for their energetic duet ‘Delicious’ with the playful chemistry between Claudia and himself very apparent on stage. Friends since collaborating on his 2005 MANHATTAN CLIQUE produced solo debut ‘Electric Blue’, Andy Bell stays on for a superb airing of ACT’s ‘Absolutely Immune’. Amusingly requiring a lyric sheet and a trendy pair of spectacles to complete the task, he is on good form throughout and all bodes well for Mute’s Short Circuit 2011 concert at The Roundhouse in May and the new ERASURE album due later this year.

For the last song ‘Duel’, Claudia’s best known song is joined by Susanne Freytag on keyboards while Paul Humphreys does rather a good job hammering away for the song’s mad piano solo!

Meanwhile, Melissa D’Arcy treats everyone to a marvellous dance routine in semi-literal fashion that sparkles and shines. ‘Duel’ is such a classic, it can’t do any wrong and is a fitting end for the main set.

Sending a little sign of Claudia’s continued excellence after over 25 years in the business, the encore is the Stephen Hague co-write ‘Thank You’. Like A-HA’s 2009 hit single ‘Foot Of The Mountain’, ‘Thank You’ brings Claudia’s sound up-to-date while retaining all the classic qualities of the past. It acts as a perfect finale with its John Barry-esque vibes and wonderfully moody percussive textures.

This was a once in a lifetime experience. With a well paced set, the song choice tonight couldn’t be faulted. Love and a million other things could certainly be felt with Claudia quite visibly moved by an ecstatic response from the crowd.

In fine voice throughout, she captured the hearts of all who were present and was humbly appreciative in return. It was an outstanding evening, delightfully performed and presented… almost perfect in fact.

For those who missed this special occasion, the concert was filmed and is due to be released on DVD later this year.

‘ComBined’ is released by ZTT/Salvo and available now

http://www.claudiabrucken.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/ClaudiaBruckenMusic

https://twitter.com/claudiabrucken1

Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by Richard Price
13th March 2011

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