gold!!

last night was the long awaited concert by spandau ballet at sandalford winery and it was one worth waiting for. the opening act was tears for fears who played all of their big hits including shout, everybody wants to rule the world, head over heels (my fave TFF song), mad world, pale shelter, woman in chains (my least fave TFF song) and sowing the seeds of love. they were pretty good without being spectacular.

but i wasn't there to see tears for fears... i was there to see one of my fave bands when i was growing up. only a couple of years ago the idea of the original five members playing together was pretty remote as tony hadley was still rightfully very bitter about his treatment at the hands of gary kemp but it seems they've patched up their differences and are good mates again. i'm sure the big bucks this tour is bringing in would've helped with that. regardless, i was very excited to finally have the chance to see the band play live. in a word, they were wonderful. they were as tight as though they'd been playing together for years and tony's voice is still golden. they played everything i wanted to hear and even a couple of great tracks off the 'parade' album. with a back catalogue including such great songs as round and round, true, gold, communication, lifeline, to cut a long story short, only when you leave, through the barricades and highly strung, we were guaranteed a show packed with familiar songs and all were played. they didn't have quite the same excitement factor as duran duran had when i saw them on their big comeback shows in london in 2004 but i still have no complaints. i reckon the venue probably detracted from the atmosphere as it's so big and having the hoi poloi sitting at the front of the stage is no way to have a gig with any sort of atmosphere as the people who know how to enjoy a concert are stuck up the back. i doubt they'll be back here any time soon so i'm really thankful for the opportunity to see one of the great bands of the early 80s