Hypnotica's Gig Reviews 2007
The Human League @ Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham, UK 27/11/07
The DARE! Tour 2007
Support group: Onetwo
Setting the scene
As I've seen both groups before and written about them in other reviews I shall keep the intro a bit shorter!
I last saw The Human League in 2005 and they were great (as to be expected). As for 'Onetwo' it was literally only 'months' back when they supported 'Erasure' and they too were excellent.
With that in mind I knew I was in for a good evening but this tour was a bit special, because for the first time ever they were going to perform one of my 'all time' favourite albums, 'DARE' live.
It's amazing how many of these events are starting to happen and long may it continue. Now if we can just add "Sweet Dreams (are made of this)" by the Eurythmics, "You Gotta say yes to another excess" by Yello, "Non stop erotic Cabaret by Soft Cell etc etc etc etc !!!!!
Support:
Support acts always have to put up with a minimal backdrop and reduced lightshow and 'Onetwo' were no exception to the rule here either
Even though I was nearly jumping out of my seat with excitement, Paul, Claudia and a 3rd musician walked on to the stage around 8pm to a modest flutter of hand clapping
I don't have a set list but an educated guess tells me that what followed was pretty much a blueprint of the one supporting Erasure though this time sound quality was vastly superior.
Production, vocals & Synths sounded crisp & powerful - really impressive. The style of their music is a mixture of updated and refined 80’s Synthpop plus diversions into a more upbeat almost club / dance music vibe. At all times it was very melodic and very electronic music.
As the set progressed, the audience warmed to them and seemed to get more involved. By the time we got to 'Club Country' and 'Dual' they were really kicking out some serious beats!
I remember thinking the old school still have it! The club inspired mixes sounded as good as anything heard these days - though it was still what I'd call 'head music' (music to 'listen' to not just dance too) or 'intelligent dance music' (IDM) as it's more commonly referred to these days
In summary - I really really enjoyed the set, the novelty of seeing them live the first time was gone but even so, the set was far more polished and like most music with real depth it sounds better with successive listens. Can't wait to hear some 'new' material
The Human League: A short History
I had waited a 'lonnnnnng' time for this. Just thinking about this album takes me back to the 80's, the times I sat on the floor in my parents dining room playing it over & over again until it kept going in my head even with the record player turned off. Staring at the cover and admiring the amazing artwork...
Being a number 1 single in 1981 off the DARE album, 'Don't you want me' probably signifies the 80's for a lot of people. The iconic imagery of the music 'video' that accompanied it, the appearances on Top of the Pops, and the seemingly endless plays it got at school disco's at the time, all add up to a legendary time in pop history
I'm a fully signed up fan of the track and everything that goes with it, but even then, it was the album 'as a whole' that impressed me most. The sounds were 'so' different, so cold, so mechanical and yet at the same time, 'mainstream' and dancey - a strange oxymoron
That said, it was still different to the music by Kraftwerk I had been listening to. I never thought of The Human League as Robots like Kraftwerk! even if they were making futuristic electronic music too.
I have heard it quoted that Kraftwerk always strived for the perfect 'pop song' but "Computer Love" aside, they have always given the impression of being obsessed with Machines, Robots, Computers and Technology, often sing using Vocoders, and pretty much defining the term "Techno"
On the other hand, The Human League have a strong image as a 'pop' band with 'traditional' vocals, and fairly traditional lyrics singing about love and relationships a lot more. The truth is that both groups have a 'poppy' mainstream side to them and also a darker more experimental one
In my opinion there's plenty of room under the generic banner of 'electronic music' to have as many different interpretations of it as possible. Both The Human League and Kraftwerk formed an essential part of my schooling in electronic music and indeed help form the (great) soundtrack to my days at school in the 80's.
The Human League: Onstage 9.15pm
Even though I have seen them live before I always forget how many people are on stage! I think it would be fair to say that in most people's minds, The Human League 'image' has always been of just Phil, Joanne and Susanne but of course the 1981 line up for DARE also included Ian Burden, Jo Callis and Philip Adrian Wright so a full stage shouldn't be a surprise really
In most re-union tours where half the band are session musicians, no matter how good they are, I always feel a bit cheated - if it's not the 'original' line up then you are not seeing the 'real' thing. Even when tours are announced, there is always that bit 'more' cachet when it says in big letters 'Original line up'
I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't have preferred the exact DARE line up, but as the image of the main three members is so strong I think The Human League as they are today can just about pull it off.
Especially when they still look so good! The girls looked as attractive as ever and Phil looked a seriously cool dude. As for his voice? Identical to the 80's! and he seems to have endless energy charging around the stage from start to finish
In fact I was surprised at how much dancing from the audience there was too as I never really saw DARE as a dance album per se, despite it's huge chart success. There was always a lot more to the album than pop songs - I loved the sounds, the futuristic 2001: A Space Odyssey white cover imagery and of course the Synths!
The Music and atmosphere
It was definitely a 'feel good' gig! I can't hear "Don't you want me" without feeling I am in the middle of an 80's school disco - fantastic!
For me the highlights were the 'deeper' more melancholic tracks that I'd not heard live before though, like "Darkness" and "Do or Die" but of course I enjoyed all of the album tracks.
"Love Action (I believe in love)" remains one of my favourite tracks of all time and although I probably over use that phrase slightly, this 'really' would be in my top 10 tracks - ever. It has everything - perfect teutonic rhythm, blissful melodies, chords and of course multi layered Synth sounds to die for and to hear it live just makes me so happy!
After DARE finished we were lucky enough to get plenty of encores. I have always thought The Human League gigs are good value for money as you get to hear plenty of music, I think as much as anything they genuinely appear to enjoy touring
It would have been easy to finish after DARE and just call it a 'concept' gig or something but they continued with other hits from their vast repertoire including "The Lebanon" and "Hard Times"
Technical
The Sound quality throughout the gig was excellent and I particularly enjoyed the live drumming. It was cool to see the electronic drum kit right on stage
My next point crops up in every 'reunion' or retro gig review but the question of whether the album should be a blueprint of the original or should it be altered and updated remains valid for this gig too
In this case, the answer was not so straightforward. My impression is, that they tried hard to make it as faithful as they could given the technology available and to a large extent it was pretty close
However, as I know the album 'SO' well I did notice several places where some of the Synth voices were quite different to the originals and for me stood out quite obviously
I also noticed a few important bass lines were actually 'missing' from a few tracks - I waited for them, but they just didn't come.
There could be many reasons for this. Unable to recreate them 'accurately enough' - not sure about that one, I have 100% confidence in Phil's ability to come up with the goods, and his arsenal of Synths used to be massive
There is the vague possibility that some of their old gear has died or patches lost but with such an important album I'd be surprised if that had been allowed to happen
Another possibility is that the task of recreating and playing the patches has been passed on to newer band members or engineers and maybe they couldn't spot the difference or interpreted them differently (unlikely)
The most likely guess is that they were 'intentional' changes but it just didn't 'sound' like genuine improvisation as the different patches didn't really add anything extra
I hope people don't take offence at these comments but that's how it sounded to me. It was still a brilliant show and I bet most people probably wouldn't even have noticed! it's just that I have heard the album 'so' many times that any deviation screams out to me
It's a tough one for bands to win. If it's 'identical' you get people moaning that they might as well have played the CD. If it's radically different you lose that nostalgic element.
I have always felt the best approach is to keep it 'very' close to the original and only make subtle changes which 'really' add something and don't sound out of place - charging in with the latest Synth sound presets for example would sound 'too' different
As I am having to finish this review off retrospectively I can now add that out of recent retro gigs like this one, OMD, Jean Michel Jarre and the SPARKS - it is the SPARKS who took the best approach (in my opinion). It was a 'full on' nostalgia trip, but the drums and bass Synth sounds were seriously fattened up making the whole thing more powerful but not 'too' different
Visuals
The layout of the screens were good and the three faces in DARE style that greeted us at the start of the show were very striking
Looking back at the pictures now, the content looks quite good but my impressions at the time stated that they were a bit disappointing apart for superb 'lava' effect which accompanied "Being Boiled".
I don't think however, that visuals are much of a big deal at Human League concerts as the group move around stage a lot and really put on a show, unlike many other electronic groups who often just sit there...
Summary
I can tick another box. Another of my all time favourite albums seen live. Not the real deal as I would have to have seen it back in 1981 but still, definitely the next best thing and a big "Thank you!" to the group for doing it. Hope to see you live again soon....
Review copyright Mat Mckenzie www.hypnoticbeats.co.uk
