Categories: uncategorized
Date: 07 February 2009 13:33:42
On Thursday night I headed off down to the local theatre for a spot of nostalgia. Midge Ure, (the bloke out of Ultravox), was playing an acoustic gig. The audience were, with only the v. odd exception, all aged within about 15 years of each other (35-50ish) and it was clear we were the 80's generation out to revisit a time before our hair had started greying.
The evening was a good one. Despite being one bloke with an amazing voice and a guitar this wasn't folk but similarly it wasn't simply 80's pop reheated either. This was a gig which showed what the term "unplugged" actually means.
There were some songs which would have fitted the urban folk genre, like one he did which was about South Africa and the inequality which still exists as the legacy of aparthied and one which was a wonderful anti-love song, (I don't know the actual title of either).
Similarly there were some classic covers including a wonderful version of Fade to Grey and a wonderfully played, but not so wonderfully sung cover of Lady Stardust, (sounded too high for my liking, more like Midge was singing Freddy than Bowie).
Then there were the Ultravox tunes revisited. This was what, if we're honest, we paid for and we weren't disappointed. Songs like Vienna and Dancing With Tears in Our Eyes are, in their own way, classics and were played with a passion which only the original artist can muster.
All in all a v. good evening. Think that stripped down accoustic is a good way to recapture the 80's..... it's different enough not to feel like you're going back to somewhere better left behind but familiar enough to make you smile as you remember the good stuff.