Review: Spandau Ballet in Auckland
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Tears for Fears and Spandau Ballet took Auckland on a trip down memory lane at Vector Arena. Reviewer Tracey Bond was there.
Tears for Fears and Spandau Ballet
Where: Vector Arena, Auckland
When: Thursday, April 29
Justin Beiber was a distant memory for the crowd at Vector Arena.
From the moment Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith opened with the classic 80s hit Mad World, they had the crowd out of their seats and in the palm of their hand.
The lights were brought up on Sowing the Seeds to reveal a near-capacity arena.
And the classics kept on coming.
Orzabal and Smith were confident and relaxed on stage and had an easy banter with the crowd.
"I got your Facebook message," Smith told an enthusiastic fan.
"Spandau Ballet might be a little late coming on stage tonight, we put super glue on their toilet seat," Orzabal admitted.
Throughout the set the pair proved that they still have the talent that took them to the top of the charts 20 years ago, Orzabal's voice has changed little over two decades.
One of the biggest cheers of the set came for Head Over Heels.
By the time they got to Shout, the whole of Vector was singing along.
The few remaining empty seats were quickly filled by the time the lights went down again for Spandau Ballet.
The definition of the word 'reform' was projected onto a massive white backdrop at the front of the stage, followed by a trip down memory lane as newspaper clippings and images of the band from their heyday filled the screen.
Then the curtain dropped to reveal Tony Hadley, The Kemp brothers and Steve Norman at the front of the stage and a very muscular John Keeble at the back of the stage on drums.
Without further ado Hadley launched into To Cut a Long Story Short to massive cheers from the crowd.
The band all seemed to have a blast on stage, moving around a lot and playing to different sections of the crowd with huge grins affixed to their faces.
"Whose house are we going to afterwards for a party?" Hadley asked.
Every time Steve Norman took up his saxophone, or the myriad of other instruments he picked up throughout the set, he was pure gold.
Tony Hadley was the consumate showman, dashing around the stage and trying to out-dance the lithe backup singer.
"This is our first time in New Zealand," Hadley told the adoring crowd.
"Why?" yelled someone from the front seats.
"Cos you lot are bloody brilliant. And I'm not just blowing smoke out of my ass saying that." Hadley replied.
The sound mix meant that the power of his voice at times lost its nuances over the speakers.
But this wasn't all about the old hits. The band proved they'd been back in the studio, playing a reworked version of She Love Like Diamond and new song Once More.
Hadley sounded a little hoarse when he stopped to talk to the audience, but when it was time to belt out a tune he gave it his all.
His smooth, timeless voice and the song-writing talent of Gary Kemp really shone on tracks With the Pride and Through the Barricades.
They truly seemed to find their stride three quarters of the way through the show, playing Instinction, Communication and Lifeline and Chant No. 1 (I Don't Need this Pressure On) in quick succession.
Hadley still seemed to have boundless energy, matching young back-up singer Dawn Josie step for energetic dance step.
But the show wasn't all about Hadley, each member of the band got plenty of opportunities to take the spotlight, and to talk to the audience - the common theme being apologies for not getting here sooner and how great it was to finally be in New Zealand.
The band ended on classic party anthem True and after a protracted goodbye to the crowd nipped off stage for a quick change of shirt.
For the encore the crowd was treated to a version of Fight for Ourselves which stopped suddenly, leaving the crowd a little bemused.
To add to the confusion, Keeble got up from the drums and ran round the stage like an airplane.
"You don't think we'd end the song like that do you?" Hadley teased the crowd, before the band picked up where they left off.
Then the lights were back on, and the band began thanking the crowd again.
There was only one way to finish the evening - and the floor around Vector starting reverberating with the thumping of feet and the faint chant of "Gold".
With grins firmly in place the band were only too happy to oblige. Pure gold.
* Were you at the show? Post your comments below.
- © Fairfax NZ News
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Tears for Fears were good as usual. BUT Spandau Balet just out did them selves. Tony's voice is something on it's own. Had a great evening. Very very pleased.
I went to this concert pretty much for a bit of fun. I did not expect to see such a fantastic performance. Songs which I thought were pretty naff and used to hate (True), came totally alive in a stunning show. Pressure could be released now and no one would know it was an old 80s tune. Brilliant job. Loved it!
WOW WHAT A FANTASTIC CONCERT!!! I have been a fan of both bands for so long but never in my wildest dreams thought I'd see you in person. My husband & I bought tickets to Spandau Ballet in Holland but unfortunately had to come home to NZ due to unforseen circumstances and when I found you were coming to NZ I screamed with joy. Thank you guys :)
My wife & I went to the Brisy concert. Absolutely the best live performance I have ever seen.
Both TFF & SB blue us away. My ears are still ringing, especially my left one, ouch!
Great value for money. The acoustic Boom Crash Opera warm up was an unexpected treat. Thankyou for a wonderful night.
Nice work Guys come back soon.
I am an 80's child, and really only went cause my wife wanted to go, I knew some songs but wasnt really a fan. BUT, wow, this was the best concert I have been to in years and years. Both TFF and Spandau were brilliant. And they sung songs which I hadnt realised they had written. I'll be 2nd in line if either come back again (behind her indoors), hopefully they do.
Am originally from UK and Spandeau Ballet and Tears For Fears were two of my favourite 80's bands so we made a nostalgic trip up to Auckland from Tauranga. Tears For Fears gave an incredible performance and almost eclipsed Spandeau Ballet with Shout which had the whole stadium moving. Tony Hadley's voice however is amazing and the whole band are 24 carat gold! PS. We stayed at the same hotel and I was impressed how gracious the bands were in posing for photos etc.
The lucky guy who got the beer from Tony kindly gave it to me! So I did the only proper thing and drank it! Unfortunately security made me give the bottle back :(
We are the group that had the banners and gave Tony the yfronts
What a fantastic night
Hey Rachael, I was standing next to you in the front row before getting busted(had a quick chat with you in the interval about it)! Thanks for making them look our way - what a trip down memory lane... So glad you had an awesome night, we did too, got awesome value for money and danced our little feet off. Great gig guys, wish we got more concerts I wanted to go to down in Wellington. But it was an awesome trip to Auckland - here's one Wellingtonian that actually likes Auckland, and the arena was great, easy to get to and out of. Here's hoping both bands come back (and to Welly this time).
@ Nelly #24
OooooH! Handbags at ten paces..........;-)
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What an amazing concert! Tears for Fears were fantastic and had everybody singing along. I thrashed their first album "The Hurting" back in the 80's and never thought I would get to see them live having missed them the first time round. Roland's voice was so strong and their NZ backing vocalist on "Woman in Chains" was incredible. I had just finished reading Gary Kemp's autobiography which brought back so many memories of the 80s music scene. I was expecting Spandau Ballet to have aged and was not sure if they would still have it to be honest. Boy was I wrong. I would have to say they put on the best show I have seen in years. They were a class act and only wish they had been sooner and can't wait for them to come again. What was so great to see was a packed out Vector Arena with so many people (not all that old either!) showing their love and appreciation for a band that started a fresh new look and sound that was the oh so fashionable 80's. (And look in all the clothes shops now-it's the 80's all over again)!