Hypnotica's Gig Reviews 2007

OMD Live @ Hammersmith Odeon Friday 18^th May 2007

Architecture and Morality Tour

Setting the Scene:

Well after a lifetime of regretting ‘not’ seeing OMD in the 80’s I was granted a second chance. As soon as tickets were announced I got booking as fast as I could and finally secured tickets for the Hammersmith gig (there was only the one date initially)

It meant a trek down to the smoke as there were no dates near Derby (surprise surprise) but it was to be well worth it!

Arrival:

Doors opened at 7pm – and as we arrived in London at about 4 we had plenty of time to peruse Berwick streets finest record shops and even a drive by the huge HMV.

Fuelled with Junk food we finally arrived at the venue not long after 6pm, enough time to soak up the atmosphere and check out the merchandise stall. T-shirts were the order of the day but unfortunately only 1 CD by OMD, one by Paul Humphreys spin off project with Claudia Brucken ‘OneTwo’ and one by the support act ‘Lovers Electric’.

Seems strange to me that with a captive audience of feverish fans on a gig-happy mission to spend, there is hardly ever any CD’s for sale at gigs – weird....

The Venue:

Like most of the venues I have been to in London, the Hammersmith Odeon is like an old 70’s theatre - faded with drab décor and very dated, but I must say it was clean & not nearly as grubby as some others I could mention. Whether it was the in house acoustics & PA or the equipment OMD brought I don’t know but the sound quality was superb, very crisp with no distortion at all.

Warm up:

Around 7:15pm, the support group came on, ‘Lovers Electric’. With a name like that as the group themselves admit, you would expect a Synth act to appear – especially given who they are supporting.

Not so. David Turley & Eden who make up the group came on stage looking very youthful. They were bright and bubbly Australians who made a point of talking to the audience in between tracks – a warm up act if there ever was one.

I had very briefly checked out their site before the gig and liked the design – again hinted at electronica to me but when I flicked through the audio on the site I was surprised that they sounded pretty much a guitar band.

True to that expectation, the act comprised Eden on vocals & David on guitar. After ‘getting into the groove’ I was pleasantly surprised – the vocals were both very good and Eden especially reminded me of Imogen Heap. The melodies and songs were strong and both sounded excellent live – some groups can’t pull that off but it appeared at least, totally unplugged and excellent for it

I think the main difference from the tracks on the website (& CD) was the lack of a drummer live. I will give the CD a chance but first impressions are that I preferred the music live. Being a friendly couple they did a signing after their show and I got to meet them – they seemed the same on & off stage, friendly & entertaining. I asked what the connection to OMD was and who introduced who; the answer was – not sure! their ‘people’ spoke to OMD’s people.

In summary, I enjoyed ‘Lovers Electric’, they reminded me a lot of Frou Frou without the electronics – ok they had a Casio keyboard for a few numbers but can’t say they are an electronic group really.

Enter OMD!

The first part of the concert was ‘Architecture and Morality’ and the start was very Kraftwerk like – an empty stage with stunning visuals accompanied by the start of the album – ‘The new stone age’

I can’t get over just how good the visuals were, I have been into electronic music since the early 80's and seen loads of bands, Kraftwerk, Karl Bartos, Tangerine Dream, Orbital, Human League, Chris & Cosey, Gary Numan, John Foxx, Depeche Mode etc etc and I must say the visuals were up there with the best - really bleak & futuristic

The crowd went mad as the band emerged – Andy waiting in the wings to come on slightly later to sing the vocals to 'Sealand'

The Main Course

I watched in awe as the gig unfolded until suddenly mayhem broke out in front of us as a drunken thug started lashing out at people – as soon as someone intervened he punched them in the face – poor bloke looked in quite a state. Not particularly quickly the officials removed the thug and medics dealt with the victim. Felt really sorry for him – he was barely minutes into the gig and he gets smacked and taken away! nightmare – I hope he got another chance to see OMD on the tour.

Anyway…….with the distraction removed we could enjoy the gig again. Music, sound quality & vocals were excellent and as the gig progressed I could tell they were having a great time too especially as Andy said "If we'd known it would be like this we'd have come back sooner!" :-))

Of course 'all' the tracks were superb and I have been waiting all these years to see Enola Gay, Joan of Arc, Maid of Orleans, Messages & So in love live, but Hearing 'Souvenir' was simply a dream come true! It sounds cheesy but it’s an emotional electronic masterpiece – a direct link right back in time to my life in the 80’s and one of my favourite tracks of all time. I could have gone home happy at that point regardless of what was to follow

Luckily though, I didn’t have too! With A&M complete Andy said that was that for the “Arty piece for the reporters to write about” and “for those of us who are staying, it’s time for 12 hits one after the other!”

So with that in mind they started piling through a barrage of great tracks. By then the ‘seated’ Hammersmith Apollo was very much on their feet and joining in – it was a great atmosphere.

Andy’s legendary dance technique was in full effect even if he apologized for it saying he “just couldn’t help himself”!

After really going for it and a short break in between tracks Andy said “Right time for more embarrassing dad dancing at a disco stuff!” Despite the hi-tech start and superb visuals, this was not your typical techno-pop gig where the band doesn’t interact with the crowd – this was real feel good stuff. It's nice to hear a band that can cover both serious and emotional Electronica to light hearted and upbeat

The gig came to an end with what "was meant to be the epitaph for Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark” according to Andy, but evidently wasn’t. Rapturous applause forced them back on stage to do an encore which included their first single “Electricity” and the timeless "Romancing the Telescope". Superb.

The merchandise stall said the band were unlikely to be coming out to sign autographs at the end of the show & we had a train to catch so we couldn't hang around but I have managed to get good tickets for the Nottingham Royal Centre gig on 21 Jun :-) Lets hope they put in an appearance afterwards!

I have not yet managed to find a confirmed set list for this gig so I will have to use an unconfirmed one courtesy of the OMD Tour 2007 forum

Sealand
The New Stone Age
Georgia
She's Leaving
Souvenir
Joan of Arc/Maid of Orleans
The Beginning & The End
Messages
Tesla Girls
Forever (Live and Die)
If You Leave
Walking on the Milky Way
Talking Loud and Clear
So In Love
Locomotion
Pandora's Box
Sailing on the Seven Seas
Enola Gay

encore
Electricity
The Romance of the Telescope

If I ever get a confirmed playlist I will amend this review!