Spandau Ballet – Vector Arena

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DSC_572780s New Romantics Spandau Ballet brought their Soul Boys tour to Auckland’s Vector Arena just in time for Mother’s Day. The two-hour show nailed all the old hits along with a few new tunes.

The lights dimmed at the Vector shortly before 8:30pm. It was an early start, but hey, mum’s gotta be back home in time for her cup of tea.

Seriously, the band have two hours of music to present and this is a Sunday night, so they got down to business immediately, kicking off with new song Soul Boys, from last year’s revealing documentary Soul Boys Of The Western World.

The first thing you notice about Spandau Ballet is what a fine vocalist Tony Hadley is. Let’s face it, the band’s music can be pretty cheesy at times (I mean that in the best possible way) and Hadley is indeed “Le Grand Fromage”.

Wearing his trademark dark suit he cuts a figure somewhere between Bryan Ferry and Frank Sinatra with a bit of David Cameron, and yes, kd lang, thrown in for good measure.

The stage show is modest, yet classy with two large video screens on each side of the stage and a screen behind that occasionally showed vintage footage of the band, much to the delight of the crowd, who screamed and cheered at close-ups of the younger versions of the band that was on stage.

Steve Norman’s soaring sax was another signature sound, getting a good workout during Only When You Leave, along with a rubbery bass line from Martin Kemp.

“I love you Tony!” was inevitably screamed out from the crowd as Hadley spoke about the making of the Soul Boys film. This was followed by a couple more new songs, This Is The Love and Steal, which the band had videotaped earlier in the day to be shown on X Factor.

Cheers then went up for the opening guitar licks to Chant No. 1 and it was back to the early 80s, as the band celebrated their days at the Blitz with a medley from their first album and a full version of their first hit, To Cut A long Story Short.

The energy level was up and the place was jumping.

As the band jammed on the instrumental Glow, Hadley and guitarist Gary Kemp made their way to the rear of the venue where a small stage had been set up for the duo to perform an intimate version of Empty Spaces and a quick sing-along to Gold.

Once back on the main stage, they got stuck into the ballad I’ll Fly For You, which went on a bit too long for my taste.

Hadley then appeared, drink in hand to toast the crowd, introduce the band and restart the party atmosphere with Instinction, Communication and Lifeline.

By then it was time for True. Everyone had a good old sing, more film footage was on display and the show wrapped with Through The Barricades and a full version of Gold.

Unlike the previous night’s Motley Crue show, the sound was good, the songs were well-crafted and the performances were heartfelt.

Spandau Ballet may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but they are certainly good at what they do.

Marty Duda

Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Michael Flynn:

Spandau Ballet set list:

  1. Soul Boy
  2. Highly Strung
  3. Only When You Leave
  4. How Many Lies?
  5. Round And Round
  6. This Is The Love
  7. Steal
  8. Chant No 1 (I Don’t Need This Pressure On)
  9. Blitz Medley (Reformation/Mandolin/Confused/The Freeze)
  10. To Cut A long Story Short
  11. Raw
  12. Glow
  13. Empty Spaces
  14. Gold (partial)
  15. Once More
  16. I’ll Fly For You
  17. Instinction
  18. Communication
  19. Lifeline
  20. True
  21. Through The Barricades
  22. Gold
Marty Duda
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