phishtaper Posted March 5, 2011 Report Share Posted March 5, 2011 snoozed, sold out. very disappointed. then god smile ... grabbed a pair on the ipad on the gardner on the way in to gaga on thurs. gotta love living in 2011 and reliving 1981! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewRider Posted March 5, 2011 Report Share Posted March 5, 2011 Nice! Have a blast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phishtaper Posted March 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2011 Orchestral Manoeuvres in the DarkPhoenix Concert Theatre, Toronto, ON, Canada March 5, 2011Reviewi thot winter was over but toronto got a healthy blast of the vancouver/whistler version last night with cold rain turning to white out. wiser folks might have hesitated a drive from guelph, but this show sure turned out to be worth the effort. oh land, fresh from their letterman performance, was already on stage when we arrived. if one thing is certain about this hallowed venue, its that ticket times mean nothing. alas, two and a half songs was enough to get that this is a decent band worth checking out further. earthy pop female vox with a drummer and keys. simple, fun, tasty, but only an appetizer tonite. set break was a comfortable 30 min (hello, ms gaga) sufficient to grab a beer and scan the largely 40-something, white male crowd. most looked like financial analysts or lawyers. not inspiring. eavesdropped conversations suggested some were bumping into old friends, 20 years past, and catching up. cool. the four piece band, led by founders andy mccluskey and paul humphreys along with original reunited members malcolm holmes on drums and martin cooper on keys, took the stage to the obvious, albeit reserved, delite of the crowd and immediately launched into the opening track of the new album, new babies: new toys. hmmmmmmmm, new songs? ugh ... ok, ill give it a try. hey, this is good. mmmm, this is really good, and so were the other four new tunes. but i, like most here, came to hear our old favourites and that we got, in abundance. our trip down memory lane began with messages, the 'other' song from their 1980 debut album and the ride never stopped. crowd favourites, if you leave, so in love, locomotion and (forever) live and die danced us up and showed that mccluskey can still wildly swing his arms, groove out his sexy bass, and sweat it up like he is in his twenties. granted, the venue was warm, but he managed to soak his shirt and remove his signature, new wave skinny black tie by only the third song. not all that unusual in rock, but its still quite impressive to witness 50yos dance non stop for an hour and a half. and sing too. my own special treat came halfway thru the show ... souvenier, joan of arc, followed by joan of arc (maid of orleans), omd's help/slip/frank. the lawyers and analysts like it too. humphreys tends to stay behind his keys, offering up beautiful vox and classic keys on tunes while mccluskey shamelessly hogs the spotlight. owning up to their semi-cult status, he mused, 'this one is for the intelligentsia in the crowd' before the artrock, quirky radio waves but warned us not to expect much of the obscure stuff because their mandate tonite was to make up for a 20 year absence and deliver more of the 'hits'. often thanking the now quite energetic crowd, mccluskey gushed that toronto, like for so many UK bands in the 80s, paved their way into the north american markets. we all smiled with pride. fittingly, this phoenix date opened the 17-date north american 2011 tour, their first here in years. ending the set with the groovy sailing on the seven seas and the genre-defining, enola gay, the band received a well deserved roar. barely enough time to wipe foreheads, they were back with a three song encore, ending with the first big single, electricity. 'thank you so much for coming out tonite, toronto! drive safely'.quick goodbyes to old friends, then out into winter wonderland for a crazy drive home. drive safely indeed. thanks omd. that was fun. SetlistIntro: History of Modern Parts III & IV New Babies: New Toys Messages Tesla Girls Radio Waves History Of Modern (Part 1) (Forever) Live and Die If You LeaveSouvenir Joan Of ArcJoan Of Arc (Maid Of Orleans)New Holy GroundGreenSo In LoveSister Mary SaysLocomotionPandora's BoxSailing on the Seven SeasEnola GayEncore:Walking On The Milky WayDreamingElectricity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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