Where has 30 years gone? I was a devout Spandau fan back in the day, I would hear no such talk of Duran Duran, we were only Spandau Ballet in our house, even much so I'd converted my Mom in to a fan.
I can remember seeing numerous tours 'Parade', Through the Barricades' and 'Heart Like A Sky', with my Mom in tow and her standing on her seat just to catch a glimpse of the Kemp brothers and swoon when they played 'True' and 'Through the Barricades'.
After one tour I bought a poster back, as you do when you're a teenager, and it was of the gorgeous Kemp brothers, it was going on the back of my door, I had already decided whilst on the train home.
I stuck it up on my door a constant reminder of the gig and what an amazing time I'd had and how much I loved Martin Kemp and Steve Norman.
My Dad wasn't too pleased when he saw the poster as it was of the Kemp brothers with no shirts on, smoking cigars, with their trousers open and you could just see their pubic hair, I loved it cause it was risqué, my dad wasn't too keen and even asked for me to take it down, but who cared what he thought, I was a teenager and I didn't give a shit.
I've followed Spandau Ballet since my teens and this has never stopped, obviously I've got all their back catalogue, even kept the vinyl in the attic, I think what I'm trying to say is tonight I'm gonna be like every other forty something going to see Spandau Ballet, I'm gonna be swooning and thinking back at all the memories including when I met Tony Hadley at his book signing at Waterstones, and how lovely he was to me, I was gonna be thinking of my poor Mom standing on her seat for her two favourite songs on every tour we saw, I was gonna be thinking about how good the vinyl sounded when I listened to it whilst doing my homework in our front room with the log fire going, re-living the good old days.
I saw Spandau when they reformed a few years ago and it was, as our nephew would say 'SIC'. I knew every word of every song and it made my heart melt, I was hoping tonight wouldn't be any different.
Spandau have gone back to basics and are all pals again, this is evident on stage, especially with all the smiley faces, they all look like they're relishing every minute of being on the road again, this obviously carries through with their epic performance of a two hour set.
'Soul Boys of the Western World' has catapulted Spandau back in to the limelight, tickets for the tour sold like hotcakes, even though the ticket prices are in the region of £90 at their peak.
A two hour set of stonking tunes which included a total of 23 songs, the set included: Soul Boy, Highly Strung, Only When You Leave, Round and Round, This is the Love, Steal, Chant No1 (I Don't need this Pressure On), Blitz club portion of the show -Reformation, Mandolin, Confused, The Freeze, To Cut A Long Story Short, Raw, Glow, Empty Spaces, Gold Acoustic Sing-a-long, Once More, I'll Fly For You, Instinction, Communication, Lifeline, True Encore: Through The Barricades and Gold.
To say these guys are in their 50's and all look pretty trim is an understatement, Norman and Kemp (M) still look amazingly gorgeous even if they are middle aged. I know there's a few women here tonight that wouldn't kick them out of bed. (Sorry Shirley!)
Highlights for me tonight was the Blitz club section of the show, a massive glitter ball came down on to the stage and the arena lights were dimmed, Kemp (G) tickled the Synth and away they went, I felt like a teenager again.
The acoustic stage at the rear of the venue was a nice touch, it gave the punters at the back something to swoon over, Hadley and Kemp (G) showcasing 'Empty Spaces' and 'Gold', this was Spandau at their best, you could've heard a pin drop. It's kinda special when bands do this and it gives everyone a chance to see the band up close and personal. Hadley shaking hands with the punters and asking if they were ok. Nice touch.
A few funny bits where Hadley went off stage whilst the rest of the band were doing they're thang, only to return with a bottle of beer, which he swigged and toasted the audience and the last gig of the UK leg of the tour, then a quick sip of JD, to which he spilt half of it down himself, to a jeer from the audience.
My wife isn't in to the Spandau/Duran thing, so isn't really enamoured with the 80's genre, but last night I did see her swaying and laughing at Hadley's Dad dancing. She did actually comment on the way home that Martin Kemp is 'fit', I didn't disagree, neither did most of the women in the arena, especially if you heard their jeers every time he came to side of stage.
Everyone's Spandau favourite 'True' was left until the encore, it was sing-a-long Spandau, the same as 'Gold' did earlier, every single person sang and it was stupendous, spine tingling stupendous in fact. Final song of the night was left for 'Through the Barricades', this made every single hair stand up on the back of my neck, talk about goose pimples in abundance! These memories are why you go to gigs, extra special moments like this, it makes it worth-while waiting in the car park for over an hour to get out and get home!
FUTURE GIGS
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