Thomas Dolby, A Flock of Seagulls, and The Motels

With a career spanning four decades, Thomas Dolby is one the UK’s foremost electronic musicians and producers. Famed for his use of electronic instruments in the early days of the technology being available, Dolby rose to prominence on the back of the digital revolution that swept through music in the 80’s. This led to his early shows being large productions encompassing all sorts of music technology on stage. These days, however, Dolby’s performances are a simpler affair. Playing with just three other musicians on his most recent tour he performed tracks from his most recent album A Map of the Floating City as well as performing his hits from the previous four decades.
In terms of a show, the performance is technical and apart from the sing along hits the crowd appear to be content to listen, rather than dance. This creates a special atmosphere as Dolby, clearly revered by his fan base, can orchestrate the ambience at his will, moving between slow numbers and then instantly creating a large amount of energy in the venue with a single song.
Overall, I feel his performances could be perceived as a technical exercise. However, the vast amount of hits he has produced over the years and his fan base’s respect and adoration for him create a wonderful atmosphere of which any music fan would enjoy.

As a big fan of 80's music, I never miss the chance to see an 80's band in concert. I missed most of these bands perform the first time around. I don't make the same mistake twice. When I heard that Flock of Seagulls was performing in my city, I bought tickets immediately as I'm a big fan of these cheeky Liverpudlians.

On the day of the show, I spent a few hours getting my hair ready. I wanted to look like the singer from Flock of Seagulls. I was sure others would do the same, but I didn't care. I was so excited.I arrived at the show, with my hair looking amazing. I found my seat and waited for the show to start. The lights dimmed and I heard that familiar guitar riff. The band had started to play their hit song "I Ran."

I bobbed my head to the music and sang my lungs out. Although Michael Score had a different hairstyle, I did not regret my choice. I think during one of the later songs, he pointed to my hair and gave me the thumbs up. (I may have been a bit drunk but I felt so proud.) The rest of the set was as great as the first song.I left the concert with a huge smile on my face. It was one of the best shows in recent memory.

The Motels are a band that where on the front line of the post punk and new wave scene. They are from Los Angeles and are hugely known for their huge singles. Throughout they career they maintained a pretty global success in countries such as Australia, France, UK, US and New Zealand, solidifying their status as a band. When they perform to their cult audiences, they get pretty crazy. Martha Davis has a pretty fantastic quality about her. She is a little bit like a hard candy with hard edges, and a thick exterior but when she sings she unleashes a pretty soft centre. They have a great moment with the audience when they play “Suddenly Last Summer” which was just such a huge hit for the band worldwide making it to number 1 in the US Rock Chart. When they sing “Total Control”, it’s a much more tender moment between the band an audience as Davis shows off her tender side. They indulge in playing their most recent single, “Mr. Grey” which goes down a treat.

You are an obsession, I cannot sleep, I am your possession, Unopened at your feet’…Obsession, arguably one of Animotion’s most well known songs was the track that they chose to open the show with, so as you would expect they blew the audience away right away. The band were dressed in full 80s gear, transporting the band right back to their most successful days, and Astrid taking the front spot of centre stage.
There was a lot of lying on the floor, really ricking out with crazy dance moves and guitar solos which really felt like nothing had changed since Animotion’s first performances all those years ago. Although the line up has changed a lot over the years, the current band are strong and tight, and performed every show like they were the only ones who had ever been in the band. Their new wave synthpop is a popular genre today, so their music has remained relevant and enables them to sell out venues even today.
Their energy was great and the vocals were still strong and tight. It was a fantastic experience, and great to hear all the hits. It would be awesome if they did some more writing together and made some new tracks!

‘Jenny Jenny, who can I turn to? You give me somethin’ I can hold on to’…the famous track from the 80s power pop band is a favourite of many, and when Tommy Tutone began to play it half way through their set, they had the entire audience in the palm of their hand, singing and dancing along like mad. Although the line up of the band had changed considerably since their formation in the late 70s, Tommy Heath, the front man, has remained present throughout their alterations, and has helped the audience to stay grounded in their origins.
The band are known for their high energy shows and tight backing vocals, and all of this was on top for when I got the chance to see them perform. They opened the show with their single Get Around Girl, and accompanied it with a small choreographed dance routine, which immediately showed the audience that they were in for a great show! They played through a selection of tracks from their various albums, such as Nervous Love, and Titone.rtf. They took time to thank the audience, and introduce is thoroughly to their songs, which was awesome, because it’s an experience you can only have live.