Concert review
Thompson Twins’ Tom Bailey, Thomas Dolby
Where: Fox Performing Arts Center, Riverside, Calif.
When: July 2
By George A. Paul
During this month's Totally Tubular Festival, Thompson Twins’ Tom Bailey (pictured) and Thomas Dolby are joined by such fellow 1980s hitmakers as Modern English, Men Without Hats, Annabella Lwin’s Bow Wow Wow, Eddie Munoz of The Plimsouls, The Tubes, Tommy Tutone, and Wang Chung (the lineup varies in different cities; see dates below).
Bailey and Dolby are doing a few shows alone, where fans of those two new wave-centric acts are theoretically treated to longer sets than the usual half dozen tune blitz heard on the regular tour stops.
Back in the day, Thompson Twins were so popular in America - with ample airplay on KROQ/106.7 FM and several Top 10 hits on Billboard’s pop, dance club and rock tracks charts (“In the Name of Love,” “Lies,” “Hold Me Now,” “Love on Your Side,” “Doctor! Doctor!) – that they were able to play the Hollywood Bowl in September 1984 (plus Irvine Meadows in the same period).
Once that band broke up, Bailey and his wife/Twin Alannah Currie formed the experimental electronic duo Babble. He eventually moved onto different dub and electronica music, before returning to Thompson Twins music for the first time in decades in 2014 and performing in America again through '18.
Tuesday night at the Fox Performing Arts Center in Riverside (the last time Bailey played the Inland Empire was apparently the Twins’ 1986 gig at the National Orange Show Events Center in San Bernardino), his current band did an excellent 75-minute, 14-minute set that often saw fans singing along loudly.
Now including three impressive female musicians (everyone wore matching white and added full-bodied backing harmonies), Thompson Twins’ Tom Bailey opened with the strident “In the Name of Love.” The singer flashed a portable spotlight into the crowd and banged on an electronic drum as multiple onstage light bars lit up assorted colors. The appropriately spacey sounding “Science Fiction,” the title track off Bailey’s solid, underrated 2018 debut solo album, proved enticing. The same held true for "Shooting Star" later.
He mentioned it was the 40th Anniversary of Thompson Twins’ most successful album Into the Gap, and they did the riveting Middle Eastern-tinged, cello-accented “The Gap” (and eventually half the album track listing). Bailey jumped around, worked both sides of the stage and made dramatic gestures. The song and a melancholy “Sisters of Mercy” were early highlights.
“King for a Day” got a slight stylistic revamp, while the buoyant “Love on Your Side” found Bailey utilizing tambourine. Throughout the night, he switched between electric guitar and keyboards. The ethereal cello intro to “Love on Your Side” worked wonders and received a rousing audience response.
Bailey did a fine regal synth solo on the comforting “If You Were Here” (from the film soundtrack to “Sixteen Candles” starring Molly Ringwald) and really belted out the end lyrics. The fun and folksy hoedown vibe and call and response vocals during “You Take Me Up” included Bailey on harmonica. He hoisted a large red balloon into the crowd for added whimsy.
The band did a credible cover of Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer,” complete with a rocking guitar solo. An eerie “Doctor! Doctor!” was another standout of the evening. Finally, they finished the set with a glorious extended version of major international hit “Hold Me Now,” bolstered by an elegant piano intro and mirror ball lighting. As the music ended, the fans continued to sing. It was a special moment.
Right at the start of Thomas Dolby’s 35-minute, seven-song set, he apologized in advance for having blown out his voice at the tour’s previous concert in Oakland. Instead, he relied on audience members who knew his material to chime in on the choruses. Still, the singer/keyboardist did an admirable job using a lower vocal register, the vocoder, synths and other technological effects at his disposal.
Dolby kicked off his solo set with a cover of New Order’s “Blue Monday,” containing robotic vocals and saw concertgoers near the stage dancing in the side aisles. “Europa & the Pirate Twins” found him stepping away from the synths to add harmonica. The atmospheric “One of Our Submarines,” which Dolby said was inspired by an uncle that served in World War II, included snippets of Gary Numan’s “Cars” and The Cure’s “Lovesong,” plus WWII video images on screen.
Both Dolby and Thompson Twins were part of Live Aid in 1985. Dolby assembled David Bowie’s backing band and played keyboards at the worldwide event broadcast’s Wembley/London segment.
In Riverside, he paid touching tribute to Bowie with his personal photos and other video from the all-star concert while covering “Heroes.” The ethereal remix intriguingly used an original vocal snippet. Dolby went front and center to play a guitar solo on a portable keyboard.
For the frenzied “Hyperactive!,” Dolby looped sounds before starting. His signature hit “She Blinded Me with Science” ingeniously contained footage of various celebrities rannging from J.J. Abrams to Hilary Clinton saying “science” intercut with the original classic zany music video.
He ended the set with the dancey “Hot Sauce” and images of ‘80s animated character Max Headroom on the screen. While singing, he asked, “What’s the best decade?” and added, “That was when we had real politicians. Why can’t we all get along?”
Totally Tubular Tour Dates:
*7/3 – Phoenix – Arizona Financial Theatre
*7/6 – Denver – Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre
7/7 – Kansas City, MO – Grinders KC
*7/9 – Irving, TX – Pavilion @ Toyota Music Factory
*7/10 – Houston – 713 Music Hall
+ 7/11 – New Orleans – Fillmore New Orleans
*7/12 – Huntsville, AL – Orion Amphitheatre
*7/13 – Raleigh, NC – Red Hat Amphitheatre
*7/14 – Washington, DC – Anthem
^7/16 – Bridgeport, CT – Hartford Healthcare Amphitheatre
^7/17 – Boston – MGM Music Hall @ Fenway
^7/18 – New York, NY – Pier 17
^7/19 – Atlantic City – Hard Rock Live @ Etess Arena
^7/20 – Bushkill, PA – Poconos Park Amphitheatre
^7/23 – Montreal, QUE – Place Bell
^7/24 – Toronto, ONT – Great Canadian Casino Resort
^7/26 – Detroit – Meadowbrook Amphitheatre
^7/27 – Cincinnati – Riverbend Music Center
^7/28 – Cleveland – Blossom Music Center
+ 7/29 – Chicago – House of Blues
* With THE TUBES
^ With WANG CHUNG
+ DOLBY, THOMPSON TWINS’ TOM BAILEY only
totallytubularfestival.com
George Paul
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