Judging by the elaborate make-up, the big hats and the ribbons in the hair, there can be no doubt that 80s British pop icon Boy George is in town. Trekking their way around the arenas of the UK in celebration of their first two albums, ‘Kissing To Be Clever’ and ‘Colour By Numbers’, it’s Friday night in Yorkshire and Boy George is ready for a magnificent 80s pop extraveganza.
Sadly, we missed openers Heaven 17 arriving to the sound of hit single “Temptation” ringing out around the venue as the Sheffield electro-pop favourites had fans up and out of their seats. Their big hit at the end of their set was met with plenty of smiles kicking things off to a great start and those smiles continued as Spandau Ballet frontman Tony Hadley strode out onto the stage barely twenty minutes later and had this crowd in the palm of his hand right from the opening tracks.
Recieved like a hero by this Yorkshire crowd, Hadley is in absolutely splendid form belting out a plethora of huge hits from the Spandau Ballet back catalogue. In fact, witnessing something of a mass exodus as the final notes of “Gold” shake the walls of this room, you begin to wonder who the big draw on this bill really was?
Those worries were put to bed thought as the lights dimmed and the room was up on their feet for the return of Boy George & Culture Club. Rising up from the back of the stage in a huge red telephone box, the iconic pop star stepped confidently out on the steps as the group belted through the two albums in the exact order they appeared on record. If you had any doubts who the star of this show was, there was your answer right in front of you.
Boy George was in fine form both vocally and as a host. Joking about a recent trip where he met Jedward who convinced him to include the Telephone Box in the stage production, to which the flamboyant frontman laughed “I spent a lot of my youth hanging around telephone boxes…”
Surrounded by a production that is almost as colourful as the singer himself, there are regular moments throughout where Boy George can be seen with a huge smile across his face. Of course there is always the risk that the audience aren’t too familar with the material in question but, there seemed to be no worries tonight as fans young and old were up and on their feet from the moment Boy George rose up from the back of the arena.
That being said, even if you weren’t overly familiar with that particular chapter of Boy George and Culture Club’s career, the extravegant stage set, the flamboyant host and there probably can’t have been many people who weren’t up on their feet and dancing as the 80s pop fave dished out a plethora of big hits like “Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?” and “Karma Chameleon” making sure that the dreadful weather outside on this dreary December Friday night in Yorkshire couldn’t have been further from anyone’s minds.
For details on all the remaining tour dates, head over to the Official Boy George & Culture Club Website .
Comments are closed.