The Retro Futura tour returned to the Pacific Amphitheatre
in Costa Mesa, Calif. on Thursday night, offering concertgoers a fun blast from
the Eighties past. One of the best things about the annual summer jaunt is that
it often lures recording artists back onstage after a long absence in America.
That was the case in 2014, when Thompson Twins frontman Tom
Bailey and China Crisis were on the bill and last year when I saw Paul Young at
the same venue. This time around, Tony Lewis, the former lead singer for The Outfield,
is making his first U.S. live appearances in more than a decade; Limahl of Kajagoogoo
also hasn’t set foot on our shores in quite a while.
 |
| photo: Miguel Vasconcellos/OC Fair+Event Center |
ABC headlined the Orange County Fair show. Martin Fry (pictured right) and his current five-piece band opened their sleek 40-minute set with zippy favorite “How
to Be A Millionaire.” A grand newer tune, “Viva Love” (off 2016’s The Lexicon
of Love II), fit in nicely with older material like the blazing sax-fueled hit “Poison
Arrow” and “The Night You Murdered Love.”
The horn work on the latter drew a rousing response. Fry’s
comment about “children of the ‘90s” being in the audience was puzzling at an ‘80s-centric
show. But the debonair singer’s recollection about wearing that famous gold
lame suit and his belief that the world is still being a romantic place before a
luxurious “All of My Heart” were fitting.
Even with guitarist Matt Backer helping out, there were
times when Fry could’ve used more backing vocal assistance (especially "The Look of Love"). ABC’s top 10 pop
singles, like the Motown nod “When Smokey Sings” and a smooth “Be Near Me” were
well received by the few thousand people who hadn’t gone back into the fair for more deep-fried delicacies.
Belinda Carlisle was exuberance personified and a clear
standout during Retro Futura. She made the most of her allotted 45-minute stage
time with both solo and Go-Go’s hits. Carlisle just did three sold-out shows with
the gals earlier this month at the Hollywood Bowl. Here, the singer was in fine
voice, backed by an all-male band.
 |
| photo: Miguel Vasconcellos/OC Fair+Event Center |
Beginning with a giddy “Mad About You,” Carlisle constantly
smiled, danced around and shook a tambourine. It was interesting for astute Go-Go’s
fans like me to compare subtle sonic differences when these other musicians played “Head
Over Heels” or “Our Lips Are Sealed.”
“Who remembers the ‘80s? I don’t,” said Carlisle, before “I Get
Weak.” Then she went into a scintillating “Circle in the Sand” and belted out
one part. After “Leave a Light On,” the singer briefly talked about forming the
Go-Go’s, initially wanting to be the drummer and how when they’d play O.C.
clubs, there would be a rivalry between the beach and Hollywood punk rockers. “Vacation” boasted
a different rock thrust. Concertgoers went wild over that, “Sealed” and “We Got
the Beat.” Then an extended version of Carlisle chart-topper “Heaven is a Place
on Earth” began with a relaxed intro before moving into a rockier dynamic.
Modern English, a holdover from the 2017 tour, was excellent
as always – despite many people in the crowd annoyingly tossing various bouncing
balls around. A couple of them landed onstage, singer Robbie Grey kicked one
away and playfully said, “I don’t believe the USA were in the World Cup, were
they? We got to the semi-final.”
The British band got their half-hour set off to a vibrant
start with the insanely catchy alt-pop of “Ink and Paper” (it really should’ve been a
hit in ’86) and chiming guitar-led “Someone’s Calling.” The alluring “Moonbeam,” from highly recommended 2016 album Take Me to the
Trees was memorable. A woman seated next to me asked if I knew any of these songs and I replied, “yes.”
She and others finally took notice when Modern English went into best-known
song “I Melt with You.” The musicians concluded by steadily increasing the tempo
until it almost sounded like a hard rock tune.
 |
| photo: Miguel Vasconcellos/OC Fair+Event Center |
Tony Lewis of The Outfield made his solo recording bow Out of the
Darkness last month. The impressive album saw the British musician produce and
play a bulk of the instruments, while his wife Carol contributed lyrics.
In the
credits, Lewis touchingly pays tribute to his former Outfield bandmate John
Spinks, who died of cancer four years ago. On winsome pop/rock tunes like “Here
and Now,” “All Alone” and “Melt the Ice,” Lewis retains the harmonic sensibility
that made me rush out to buy Outfield cassettes when they first arrived all
those years ago.
Playing fretless bass in Costa Mesa, Lewis’ solid 20-minute
set included a clutch of memorable Outfield hits that went top 20 at AOR
radio: “Say It Isn’t So,” “All the Love in the World” and “Since You’ve Been
Gone.” Although the chatty crowd was shamefully inattentive at times, they brought
an energetic vibe to a rocking “Your Love,” which has been licensed for usage
on many commercials, films and TV shows.
Clad in a powder blue suit, Limahl’s pleasant 20-minute
performance included lightweight Kajagoogoo numbers like “Ooh to Be Ah,” “Hang
on Now,” as well as his own charming “Neverending Story,” from the same-titled 1984
children’s movie. Joking about how he had big hair in the ‘80s and used tons of
hair spray, Limahl unfurled a picture of himself back then. Closer “Too Shy” fared best.
Annabella of Bow Wow Wow did an erratic 20-minute set for
early arrivals. The first of three acts on the bill backed by the merely
adequate Retro Futura house band, she sometimes sang with her back to the crowd. Bow Wow Wow had some success in U.S. dance
clubs, college and modern rock radio during the early ‘80s. Instead of using her time wisely and solely focusing on those
tunes, she opted for lesser known ones such as “Aphrodisiac” and a so-slow-it-was-nearly-undetectable
“The Man Mountain.”
Still, Annabella gleefully worked both sides of the stage, twirled around,
shook fans’ hands and managed engaging renditions of the tribal surf-styled “Do
You Wanna Hold Me” (featuring the OC-adjacent lyric “I’ve been to
California/Where Mickey Mouse is such a demon”) and “I Want Candy.”
Remaining tour dates:
July 28 The Wiltern, Los Angeles, CA
July 29 Anselmo Valencia Tore Amphitheatre, Tucson, AZ
Aug 1 Pabst Theatre, Milwaukee, WI
Aug 3 Hard Rock Live, Northfield, OH
Aug 4 Kewadin Casino Resort, St. Ignace, MI
Thanks to Jennie O'Hagan at the OC Fair & Event Center and Miguel Vasconcellos for the photos. Find more of Miguel's work at MV-Photo.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment