Celebrating their 40th year, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark sold over 40 million albums and toured the world. They hadn’t been down to sunny Bournemouth for 26 years and a
A patient Pavilion politely clapped OMD on stage to the sounds of ‘Stanlow‘, but this calm was brief and as their 1980 classic ended singer and bassist Andy McCluskey grabbed the mic and asked us to get on our feet, there was an essence of confusion throughout the theatre. But by the end of ‘
The security probably expecting a quiet evening were called into action as some of the more outgoing of fans wanted to actually dance in the aisles, but don’t worry health and safety fans, as the security made a stop to that – rules be rules- and most of us were just going to have to dance safely and calmly at our dedicated seats.
McCluskey reminded us that it said bring your dancing shoes on the ticket and by
Of
For the second half OMD changed it up by playing a few b sides and new tracks which is totally fine as their loyal fans don’t want to pay to see the same set each tour. But the more fair weather fans were obviously less impressed and many found themselves back in their seats with one lady to my right completely asleep. Not the best review, but things turned around when they produced some more radio friendly tracks like ‘Locomotion‘, ‘Sailing on the Seven Seas‘ and ending with their trademark ‘ Enola Gay’, a track that many had learnt to play using one finger way back in the early 80’s. OMD hadn’t finished yet and battled through a couple of tech mishaps to play ‘If You Leave‘, ‘Pandora’s Box‘ and the place where it all started 40 years before ‘Electricity‘ with McCluskey dancing with his bass like he was still a teenager up in the Wirall. A great night and a band who have used modern technology and charisma to become a better live act now than ever before.