I celebrated my birthday last night by attending the Lost 80s Live concert at Pier 17 in New York City. I’m at the point now where I think I have seen almost every band that came out in the ‘80s, so now I’m getting down to the one-hit wonders.
I think last year’s Totally Tubular concert had a better lineup (and any year’s Cruel World festival had a much better lineup). Each act performed three to four songs. Some acts only had three to four songs worth hearing and others had to leave some favorites out. (China Crisis left out “Black Man Ray,” my favorite song of theirs, albeit a ballad) and A Flock of Seagulls left out “Telecommunication,” which they should have performed instead of their new song.
I think the highlight of the show was General Public, which displayed real musical chops, stopping each song on a dime and performing with a full lineup. Other acts were overwhelmed by their backing tracks (Peter Godwin) and/or had vocal issues (Belouis Some’s voice was shredded and even A Flock of Seagulls’ Mike Score sounded a little off.)
On the other hand, there were also some pleasant surprises. China Crisis’ Gary Daly had a great sense of humor (much like OMD’s Andy McCluskey did at this year’s Cruel World festival) and Simon Hough did a good job singing lead for Big Country (original lead vocalist Stuart Adamson passed away in 2001), unlike Steve Diggle, who subbed for the late Pete Shelley in the Buzzcocks at this year’s Cruel World festival.
The evening was helped immensely by Los Angeles DJ/emcee Richard Blade, who kept the show moving by playing ’80s music videos in between acts, which had the audience singing along.
It also helped that the concert was held at Pier 17, a great venue with a view of lower Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge.
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| Pier 17 |
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| It's an '80s reunion! |
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| Polecats |
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| Icycle Works |
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| Josie Cotton |
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| The Vapors |
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| Belouis Some |
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| Peter Godwin |
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| China Crisis |
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| General Public and Richard Blade |
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| Big Country |
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| A Flock of Seagulls |
