December 12th 1983 (matinee) – DeMontfort Hall
There was massive hype in 1983 around this bunch of popsters! Colour by Numbers was a huge success, selling over 6 million records at the time. Boy George, the very colourful lead singer set tongues wagging with articles outwardly questioning whether he was a boy or a girl!!
Our parents tended to ignore it and hope it would all go away, but Boy George was pretty gobby, self confident and had no intentions of going away. I think, looking back, it was the first time we were asked to question sexuality and actually tolerate difference……again, not sure parents were ready for this!! 😉
We went to the matinee. This concert was unprecedented in how quickly it sold out the evening show, that they put on a second performance, not something that happened ever in Leicester!. As it turned out the afternoon gig was the better one as Boy George was suffering with a cold and his voice was shot in the evening, he may even have cancelled the next day’s show?
The support band was a Leicester band too, The Swinging Laurels, which was fantastics as Gaz Birtles the singer had been around the local scene for a long time and it felt this would be there break into the big time, sadly not to be……but to play the biggest venue in your hometown must be a wow!
The crowd was very noisy and screamy….mainly girls again, but fair showing from us accepting boys. As with George Michael, Boy George had a stunning voice and backed it up with a larger than life personality.
Set List
- Take Control
- Mister Man
- I’ll Tumble 4 Ya
- It’s a Miracle
- Karma Chameleon
- Black Money
- Love Twist
- Do You Really Want to Hurt Me
- Miss Me Blind
- Church of the Poison Mind
- Victims
- Time (Clock of the Heart)
- White Boy
- Melting Pot (Blue Mink cover)
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