THE HUMAN LEAGUE
Firstly an apology to T’Pau who I arrived too late to enjoy, dinner took far to long and I still had china in my hand…
I did arrive in time for the bundle of energy and chatter that is Sophie Ellis-Bextor and my word that lady can shift around the stage and fill the room with pop fun. She resembles a cantering circus pony and delivers her lyrics, not with the usual American twang of so many Brit-popsters but the tones of received English and a hint of Sloane Ranger, all very enjoyable.
Then after a break the room darkens to reveal The Human League, descending to the stage on a platform, the first time in over thirty years that I have ever seen an act flown in from above and very impressive it was too. The Human League always put on an epic show with very high production values, a brilliant set, stunning projections and amazing lighting. You go in with high expectations wondering how they might top their previous show, and yet they always do.
The band have always delivered perfect electro pop and they do an incredible job of reproducing live those hits, as fans that is what we want, not some spun out meandering new version, nearly every song is as it always was, and the audience love that.
Philip Oakey is amazingly energetic striding and loping around the stage, running up the stairs, he loves the stairs, and always drifting into the semi darkness to allow his band and the wonderful Susan Ann Sulley and Joanne Catherall their moments in the limelight. And those two ladies are just marvellous, better than ever, The Human League would be nothing without them and they look fabulous too – amazing frocks!. As of course does Oakey, ever stylish in amazing suits, black and white, flared trousers, angular shoulders and cinched waists.
But it is the music that triumphs, hit after hit, timeless pop that is as good in 2024 as it was in the late 70s and early 80s and then on. And they are not mean in delivering the hits we want to hear, unlike some bands who will play their less familiar new material and favour the audience with a parsimonious smattering of hits as an encore.
Hats off too to a razor sharp band who create the sound we love to hear in the way we want to hear it and with such clarity, loud but with no distortion, unlike poor Sophie’s sound in which she was rather swamped by her band.
There’s no need to list the songs here, we pretty much got the tracks we were all hoping for, the spectacle that we have come to expect and that sense of disbelief that Phil, who will be 70 next year, Susan who is a girlish 61 and Joanne 62 will still get up there and deliver a set that has the same magic. It’s also wonderful to see a capacity audience of original fans still there, up and dancing, well most of us. This band is in a league of their own, long live synth pop!
Andrew Kay
9 December
The Brighton Centre
Rating:
