Spandau Ballet

Are you ready Tony?… Gary?… Steve?… John?… Martin? Well okay Soul Boys – let’s go!

These five ‘Soul Boys from the Western World’ graced the stage at Rod Laver Arena once again on Tuesday night to remind their devoted Melbourne audience just what qualifies them as true soul survivors.
If the boys from Spandau Ballet are anything to go by, the key constituents to career longevity are great songs, brotherly kinship, humility and forgiveness, and certainly – on a night like this – above all, staying power.
Never a band to keep an audience waiting, at 8.50pm exactly, a slow but steady percussive synth groove builds and we hear the reactive shrills of the girls down the front. In the low light we are just able to make out five shadowy silhouettes as the band take their places behind the elegant scrim that completely drapes the stage.

Down in the pit, a dozen photographers jockey keenly for position. The intro to 2015’s ‘Soul Boy’ rings out in the darkness and the curtain falls and there they are… well, uh… some of them at least! The over-zealous smoke machine’s plumes completely obscure the front of stage and for the first verse lead singer, Tony Hadley and guitarist Gary Kemp find themselves playing some impromptu hide and seek in the thick haze.
Hadley’s distinctive croon fills the arena… “Forever young and we were cool…And I’m so alive…And all around the world we played”. That golden voice is full and strong. He holds the long notes with confidence and all at once the audience are assured that years apart from each other have not in any way diminished the magic. All the elements are there. Steve Norman’s cool sax wails wistfully and Gary’s guitar solo at the song’s climax is electrifying. John Keeble is an absolute machine on drums and Martin Kemp is every bit the suave bassman of old. On this World Tour, Spandau’s sound is augmented by the addition of a sixth member: Toby Chapman – a veteran session keyboardist and guitarist in his own right, with an enviable pedigree, having played with everyone from Kylie Minogue, Rod Stewart, Paul Carrack, Mick Jagger, Cher, Tina Turner and Paul Weller. The resultant sound is full and beefy and the floor audience are on their feet and revelling in the spectacle. The boys are back in town – and in form. Nary a second to catch their breath and Steve’s sax intro heralds the old fave ‘Highly Strung’.

The stage is a simple no-frills three-tiered configuration with the dependable timekeeper John Keeble sitting on the throne flanked either side by his able cohorts Steve Norman on percussion, guitars, and sax and the swarthy Martin Kemp on bass. The boys are all wide smiles as they strut around pumping out the ageless ‘Only When You Leave’. It’s only the third track of the night and the crowd are already singing along at the top of their lungs.

The lighting is super stylish – throwing lots of soft metallic shapes – lovely ambers, crimsons. silvers and golds – perfectly complementing these timeless tunes.
Tony Hadley is the consummate frontman, obviously having the time of his life and loving being back with his mates – he greets familiar faces in the first few rows, without missing a beat.
‘Round and Round’ is accompanied with ‘Soul Boys Of The Western World’ footage. Then it’s time to trot out a brand new one – the muscly new Trevor Horn produced ‘This Is The Love’. It absolutely bounds out of the gates and is bonafide Spandau. As the song plays out, I notice Gary Kemp stands confidently – feet astride at his mic, proudly surveying the audience – he has that familiar “It’s good – yeah?” glint in his eye… he can be rightly proud. As the tunesmith responsible for all but a handful of Spandau Ballet’s hits, his gift for penning these ear-worms is undeniable. And ‘This Is The Love’ is the latest in a very long line. For a relatively new tune, the audience know all the words and Steve’s sax solo carries us on up to the heady crescendo. The boys’ harmonies absolutely soar… “when the lights are turning blue, when the radio’s on, when the song’s in my head and the frequencies strong…” Glorious stuff.

More new material follows: ‘Steal’ with it’s softly-softly purr “You come calling…Like a thief in the night…You’re wrapped up in mystery…And I’m giving into this”. The wily Gary knows all the emotional trigger points and when Tony’s seductive vocal couples up with the trademark sultry sax solo by Norman, we are complete putty in his hand.
Gary takes the microphone now, again with his trusty white Stratocaster slung low on his hips. The fat funky stabs of ‘Chant No. 1’ ring out. “I checked the time… it was almost time… I don’t need this Pressure On…” Yes, the place is once again alive and kicking as the boys run the length of the stage from side to side, encouraging the audience to get their funk on – the groove absolutely irrepressible and everyone moving.
As I watch the frenzied audience below, I wonder to myself… ‘this is awesome but how do you follow a classic like that…?’ …Well, we were about to find out.
The stage is plunged into total darkness. The voice of recently departed Steve Strange, co-founder of London’s famous Blitz Club, is heard: “The Blitz… they were a lot of fabulous nobodies… kids who thought they were famous already… They were lovely little things”
What followed was virtual ecstasy for early Spandau devotees. Ten foot blue neon letters silhouette the band, repeatedly blinking out the word “B L I T Z”. A visual and aural homage to their old friend Strange. Hadley croons: “We’re building fires that will burn until moooooorning..”

For the next eight minutes the band time travel back to their earliest days, trotting out a medley of first album classics. The songs are accompanied by period footage of all the ‘sweet young things’ at the Blitz. It proves an evocative backdrop to these songs –and what songs! We are treated to the glorious ‘Reformation’. It’s pure vintage Spandau electro – for each track Gary alternates effortlessly between his strat and vintage moog – plying out those classic synth runs. These songs sound just as steely and swarthy as ever. We get snippets of ‘Mandolin’, and ‘Confused’ from their 1981 debut album ‘Journeys To Glory’ and the medley culminates with an immense version of the hooky and irresistible ‘The Freeze’. I simply can’t sit still to this one and my partner moves one seat away to avoid my flailing arms. It sounds simply fantastic – these are early songs I never dared to dream would get an airing. To quote The Freeze…“Erogenous zones… win again!”
After that unexpected high, it’s hard to know where the show will go next but the boys have obviously thought that through and have a few more wild cards up their sleeve. Gary launches the band into an insistent ‘To Cut A Long Story Short’… and like moths to the proverbial flame, the reaction is instantaneous and the floor below us is now a writhing sea of old romantics revelling in the reminiscence. Martin strides confidently centre stage and delights the audience by enthusiastically pumping out the heady baseline. More grins – further shrieks.
The lighting rig now bathes the stage in a deep red and we are plunged into a two-play of new tracks, the first being ‘Raw’… for the first time in the show the band choose to showcase a new composition utilising some manga-style sing-along graphics which although explaining the lyrics, probably didn’t do the composition any real favours. Obviously I can’t speak for others, but I found myself a little distracted as I followed the animated lyrics rather than just being able to focus on the musicality of the song.

This was followed by another new composition, ‘Glow’ which segued into a lengthy drum solo featuring Norman and Keeble. Still as fit as a Mallee Bull – Keeble delights in the percussive sparring with the bouncing Steve Norman. This sleight of hand totally captivates the audience and, in the relative darkness, few notice Tony and Gary leave the stage and slip quietly to the rear of the arena. At the song’s close, the missing two suddenly appear spotlit perched high above the sound desk. They treat us to a gorgeous acoustic version of ‘Empty Spaces’ from 1989’s ‘Heart Like A Sky’ and a short impromptu sing-along version of ‘Gold’. The audience love the intimacy and respond wholeheartedly to Tony’s invitation to join in – the singing threatens to drown out the duo. A definite highlight.
Bravely, the two choose to walk back though their adoring audience to the main stage – with Gary still strumming his two neck acoustic and Tony singing AND high-fiving those who were quick enough to bolt down to the lower barricade and extend a friendly hand. The love in the room at this point was palpable.
Then came another of the evening’s highlights. ‘I’ll Fly For You’. Always a personal favourite, it was an intense slow-burner with everyone singing along. Gorgeous aerial footage graced the screens and the extended sax and guitar solos really took it to another level. Tony reappeared at the song’s end holding a glass of Jack Daniels (‘for medicinal purposes only’ he assured) and toasted the band and the crowd. A quick swig of ‘Old Jack’, and some amusing band introductions ensued: “I call him the Johnny Cash of bass guitar, smoother than a fisherman’s cod piece – Mr Martin Kemp!”
Steve Norman: “Who was here in ’85… anyone?… we didn’t play this!.” The hissing sexy whispered intro to Instinction…”Stealing cake to eat the mooooon!” and the crowd erupts once again… Having now whet his whistle, Tony is in a very happy place as ‘Instinction’ cranks up and he relaxes – delighting in watching Gary share vocal duties – but is laughing so hard he fluffs his own vocal cue…”Haha… keep going Gary!” So Kemp has to go around again, unaccompanied. Gary smiles… It’s not a problem. This place is vibing. More flailing arms.

‘Communication’ and ‘Lifeline’ follow which both absolutely go off. So so good. “OK Melbourne!… You ready for this one?” “Funny how it seems…Always in time, but never in line for dreams…Head over heels when toe to toe…this is the soooooooound of my soul…”
I seriously don’t think Hadley’s voice has ever sounded better. The performance surpasses the studio recording and then some, and when Norman steps up onto the stage monitor and leans steadfastly into that trademark sax solo the emotional sparks fly… superb…utterly superb.
The band walk off to rapturous applause as the back wall illuminates with some behind-the-scenes ‘confessional footage’ – an extract from the recently released DVD ‘Soul Boys Of The Western World’ documentary. It is obvious from what we see, that after all Spandau have gone through as a band, it has required quite a degree of humility by all parties to reach the point where we find them tonight – happy to just be in each other’s company belting out the hits – both old and new.
The most telling quote from the film footage came right at the end…Gary: “Walking into that room and actually seeing the equipment and seeing the guitars was …a shock… there was a certain magic in the room… It’s a chemistry, it’s a certain chemistry that only ‘us five’ have got… and at that moment… I really wanted to do it again…”
There were cheers to that comment and out of the darkness comes Hadley’s plaintive vocal…“Mother doesn’t know where love has gone…She says it must be youth that keeps us feeling strong…” On walk Gary and Tony who proceed to serenade the audience with the almost autobiographical ‘Through The Barricades’. It’s another watershed moment in the show and afterwards Hadley thanks the audience, remarking it’s his favourite Spandau Ballet song.
The boys are still up for one more and for the last time this evening they count the audience in. It’s a full-blown supercharged version of ‘GOLD’. It’s mirrorball city and the stage is awash in gold – everything sparkles: the sound, the instruments, the guys, the shared smiles. It’s simply joyous. The boys are truly pumped and at song’s end linger on the stage edge for a few moments to take group selfies with the Rod Laver Arena audience behind. Gary invites everyone to “Check my Twitter later Baby!… Thank you Melbourne, you are fucken brilliant!”
If you ever get the chance to get along and see this band – who are sounding better than they ever have – make sure you do… You won’t regret it. This much is true.

Spandau Ballet’s Rod Laver Arena setlist was as follows:
Soul BoyHighly StrungOnly When You LeaveHow Many LiesRound and RoundThis Is The LoveStealChant No. 1 (I Don’t Need This Pressure On)Blitz Medley: Age Of Blows Intro / Reformation / Mandolin / Confused / The FreezeTo Cut A Long Story ShortRawGlowEmpty Spaces (acoustic on second stage)Gold (singalong on second stage)Once MoreI’ll Fly For You(band introductions)InstinctionCommunicationLifelineTrue
Encore:Through The BarricadesGold
Their new hits compilation “Spandau Ballet – The Story” includes three new songs and is available in both single and double disc extended editions including a bonus disc of further hits and rarities.
The new DVD “Soul Boys of the Western World” is available now on www.spandauballetstore.com

Spandau Ballet – Soul Boys of The Western World Live Tour
13 May – Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane
15 May – Qantas Credit Union Arena, Sydney
19 May – Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne
22 May – Perth Arena, Perth

We have a comprehensive photo gallery of Spandau Ballet with 50 vibrant colourful photographs available here:
thedwarf.com.au/photo/20928/…
THANK YOU SPANDAU BALLET!