April 15th 1983 – DeMontfort Hall
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark…..now there’s a name!! I think I was always going to like them just because it was a ridiculous name. In reality, we all called them OMD.
This was the start of me getting a little bit of pretentiousness into my music. I mean, the name to begin with. Then they had a song called Joan of Arc about a French heroine of the Hundred Year War, then to top it all off…..they had another song about her Joan of Arc (Maid of Orleans). Loved it!!
There was a whole Art School type mood to the early 80s bands and I have no idea if they all went to Art School or not. My tastes were now into Visage, Depeche Mode, Japan (a band I would sadly never see live!) and The Thompson Twins. Still fairy melodic electronic pop, but a few undertones that the music wasn’t universally liked.
The first album I ever bought Architecture and Morality (see!! What great names!) in 1981, but I missed the tour of that album, I guess, due to not being quite ready to go out!!
Anyway, the Dazzle Ships Tour was a great start into the world of OMD. I remember this concert vividly and was the start of going to many concerts with college friends Mick and Rob, both of whom I have sadly lost touch with as life moves in different ways.
Ultravox were very synthesizer based (electronic keyboards) and to me, the sounds coming out of these keyboards was amazing. Makers such as Korg, Moog, Yamaha…..they were all exciting to see on stages. But today, OMD had a Fairlight!! Now I don’t profess to know a lot about musical equipment, but on this day in this year, it was cutting edge………..so much so, it went wrong during ABC Auto Industry, but this was covered up by the band having a great laugh about it!
There was some moving bricks around from one box to another with mechanical arms which was all a bit arty and backdrop imagery and lighting adding to the show.
Lead singer Andy McCluskey was famed for his windmilling arms while singing and dancing, whilst Paul Humphries was the quiet one on keyboards.
We met them a few times after gigs and they had a wicked sense of humour and an immense amount of time for the fans. Add to that the drumming of Malcom Holmes and extra keyboards and Sax from Martin Cooper and this was a great line up.
Souvenir is still one of my favourite all time pop songs, a melody to cherish.
If you want to try a less well known track, She’s Leaving is superb too….
Electronic pop at its best! My top 3 bands at this point would be OMD, Ultravox and Japan.
Set List
- Radio Prague
- Dazzle Ships
- ABC Auto Industry
- Genetic Engineering
- Messages
- She’s Leaving
- Georgia
- Almost
- Julia’s Song
- Joan of Arc
- Joan of Arc (Maid of Orleans)
- Statues
- The New Stone Age
- Souvenir
- Telegraph
- Radio Waves
- Bunker Soldiers
- Enola Gay
- Encore: Silent Running, Pretending to See the Future, Electricity
- Encore 2: Stanlow
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