80's Triple Scoop: Naked Eyes, English Beat, ABC

[spacecircus]

Who would have ever thought that you'd see those 3 bands playing together...in Springville, Utah! For those who don't know, Springville (aka Springerville) is located 10 minutes from the striving metropolis of Provo (anyone seen Fletch?) and about an hour from Salt Lake City. Anyway, my wife and I went with some friends to this show on Saturday. Wow, what a great time!

Peter Byrne has aged a lot but still sounded good. He opened with a great rendition of Emotion in Motion and played pretty much any song that was ever released. I liked their version of the Stones' Paint it Black too. The new version of What in the Name of Love was different but great.

English Beat and Dave Wakeling were in top form. He still looked young and acted like it. He and the band were having a fun time on stage. Lots of energy and great songs from Specials, English Beat and General Public. I wish they had played longer.

After a slight delay ABC and Martin Fry finally made it on stage. He too had a few more wrinkles but had the same haircut and a nice flashy orange suit. He crooned, danced and looked like Martin of old. They mixed up their show with old and new songs before ending with The Look of Love.

A GREAT time!!!

[marie3]

Sounds like it was a great show.

[drsevrin]

I was there too, Spacecircus. Awesome show, awesome time. I've been seeing alot of the nostalgia acts lately in the Salt Lake area and this show more than any other made me feel, for a few fleeting moments at least, like it was 86 again. I always wondered what has become of the crowds of the old scene - for this show, they came out of the woodwork.

The show was well attended, unlike many of the club shows up north in Salt Lake (perhaps just under 1000 people). I absolutely love ABC, who played last summer as well in Salt Lake as did Naked Eyes, but I have to credit the local, enduring Ska community for coming out in droves to see the English Beat / Specials combination. It's been almost exactly 22 years since I last saw Dave Wakeling - when he appeared with General Public at the University of Utah. He predicted Ranking Roger will be on board by the end of the year. Notable songs from the set: Tenderness, Mirror in the Bathroom, Twist and Crawl. Wish they had played Save it for Later, I Confess, End of the Party . . .

Naked Eyes put on a better show than last summer - more energy and some great new tunes.

A late start unfortunately meant many folks drifted out before seeing all of ABC, which was a shame.

The Salt Lake City area has remained a New Wave / Synthpop mecca for 20+ years, surprisingly. Check out local synthpop label A Different Drum:
http://www.adifferentdrum.com/

Cheers.[:)]