Haircut 100 delights LA concert crowd after decades away

photo: Andrew Cotterill

On Aug. 20, Haircut 100 performed in Los Angeles for the first time in 42 years at a packed YouTube Theater as part of a North American tour with Howard Jones and ABC. 

Three original members - singer/guitarist Nick Heyward, guitarist/backing vocalist Graham Jones and bassist Les Nemes - did an ebullient half hour set augmented by a three-piece brass section, percussionist and drummer (Blair Cunningham was unavailable to make this trek).

Heyward, 63, was in fine vocal form and a bundle of energy onstage. He joked about his shoes, frequently got the crowd amped up and went over to Jones' side to sing in tandem. The London pop band totally got some funky grooves and breezy vibes going strong during the U.K. top 10 songs from 1982 debut album Pelican West, such as "Fantastic Day," "Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl)" - where Heyward added an updated inclusive refrain of "boy meets boy/girl meets girl" - and "Love Plus One," the song many American music fans know. The L.A. performance proved the guys haven't missed a beat in the intervening years and was definitely worth the wait. 

Following a recent deluxe box set reissue of Pelican West, Haircut 100 is currently working on a studio album. The group's first new single in decades, "The Unloving Plum," arrives Aug. 30 and can be pre-saved here: https://slinky.to/TheUnlovingPlum

Remaining North American tour dates with Howard Jones and ABC:

AUGUST
21 Del Mar, CA The Sound
22 Mesa, AZ Celebrity Theater
24 Oklahoma City, OK The Zoo Amphitheatre
25 Kansas City, MO Uptown Theater
28 Columbus, OH TempleLive At Columbus Athenaeum
29 Windsor, ON Canada Caesars Windsor – The Colosseum
30 Niagara Falls, ON Canada Fallsview Casino Resort
31 Cleveland, OH TempleLive At Cleveland Masonic

SEPTEMBER
1 Huntington, NY The Paramount
4 Montclair, NJ The Wellmont
5 Port Chester, NY The Capitol Theatre
6 Huntington, NY The Paramount

Photo courtesy Ken Phillips Publicity Group