Heaven 17 & Blancmange

I constantly say one has to go out all the time and do things because you can never tell what will be the most enjoyable unless you try it. So Heaven 17 was very much a filler in my week as I had nothing else to do on Thursday night, but couldn't interest anyone else I knew into going.

Well in fact I found that one of the secretaries in my department was going too, so that gave me someone to meet up with. I like the Forum as a venue, and its easy to get to, so good for me getting to the front by arriving three quarters of an hour before the acts started. So far so good.

Blancmange were not strictly speaking a support act; this was more of a double-header. Certainly not my favourite band of the Eighties, but they did produce one of the classic singles of the era, Living on the Ceiling. I recognised Blind Vision too. Anyway, they turned out to be a fair enough act - perfectly enjoyable as the hors d'oeuvres. Neil Arthur has a decent enough voice, and has aged pretty well.

So by this point we were happy enough. But Heaven 17 rather blew us away. they were spectacularly good. Ok, to start with I always felt they were one of the best bands of the Eighties. Their stuff has stood the test of time rather better than most of their rivals. So I like the music. But there is more to it than that to make it one of the best gigs I have seen.

First off, a good live performance wants to have a good sound, and that for me means great vocals. Glenn Gregory has a brilliant voice, not in the slightest diminished by time. Co-conspirator Martyn Ware can also hold enough of a tune to help out. But beyond that they employed two truly terrific female backing singers whose voices just soared over Glenn's vocals. They came together magnificently over a long extended version of Temptation, possibly the best anthem of the Eighties in my view. A song that just mounts in excitement as it goes on.

Then there is rapport with the audience. Glenn was superb with that too. Perfect sense of humour for these things, including a nice little joke version of Human League's "Don't you want me baby". Humour, but not self-parody. There were several references to the Human League, unsurprisingly as Martyn Ware was a founder member. Indeed they finished off on a Human League track he had written, the rather austere Being Boiled. While Glenn looks the part of cool middle-aged entertainer, Martyn does look like a retired civil servant with eccentric dress sense (wonderfully exotic jacket).

The other great thing about the band is that they are far from one paced. Loved the up tempo funky start with "(We don't need this) fascist groove thing" but then the ever so cool, slow "Come live with me" and then the dance climax of "Temptation."

And just to make it all the more interesting were cover versions of "Boys Keep Swinging" and "You've Lost that Lovin' Feeling". Just terrific range.

Glenn Gregory

Martyn Ware 

 

The dynamic duo on You've Lost that Loving Feeling

As I say, one of the best gigs I have been to, but by no means the one I had looked forward to with great anticipation. But I will definitely go again if they come within range in the near future.