ABC with Anne Dudley and The Southbank Sinfonia

Venue:

The London Palladium

Date: 17/02/2024

A Saturday night out at a packed London Palladium with a crowd of guys and gals dressed up to the nines in glittery suits, spangly dresses and heels, all there to see ABC and an orchestra conducted by Anne Dudley, playing the album, Lexicon of Love? What could be better?

Well, nothing, actually.

The Southbank Sinfonia take their seats and Anne is introduced to wild applause; she is pretty much ‘80’s pop royalty, after all. The orchestra strike up an overture of the themes and melodies from the album, and the seven musicians who make up the ABC live band take their places on the packed stage.

As the overture comes to an end, Martin Fry walks on, immaculate in a white jacket, black trousers, white shirt, black tie and black, patent leather shoes. The band hit the opening chords of When Smokey Sings and we’re off to the races.

Fry looks and sounds exactly like he did in 1982, the missing link between Jarvis Cocker and Bryan Ferry. The band are well-drilled, (several of them have been with Martin for 25 years,) and the orchestra lifts the sound from the exciting to the truly uplifting.

The first half concentrates on the band’s later albums, especially Lexicon of Love II, with highlights like Viva Love, How To Be A Millionaire and the beautiful Ten Below Zero. It’s a strong setlist and the audience sing along, in anticipation of the main event.

Show Me starts the second half, Anne Dudley now resplendent in a glitter-jacket and Mr. Fry in a pink suit, and the audience is dancing in the aisles; despite some over-zealous security. Poison Arrow loosens the fixings on the roof of the old place; Martin seems genuinely taken aback at the volume of the audience singing the chorus; and Many Happy Returns leads into Tears Are Not Enough.
That roof is beginning to shake.

Valentine’s Day is a terrific appetiser before the main course of The Look of Love. To be surrounded by fifty and sixty year-old pop fans, arms in the air, singing those wonderful lyrics back at Martin Fry, especially the backing vocals, without a care in the world, is everything that live music should be. The roof detaches from the Palladium and drifts off in the direction of Brick Lane in the East End, where Martin and Anne made the album, in 1982, at Trevor Horn’s Sarm Studios.

Date Stamp is next before 4 Ever 2 Gether is moved up the tracklist one place, (like the perfect cassette tape for your girlfriend,) to allow one of my favourite ever love-songs to close the show.

All of My Heart is sung, full-throated, by all 2,286 pop fans in the place. I adore the song so much and find tears stinging my eyes as I sing;

“But I hope and I pray that maybe someday
You’ll walk in the room with my heart
Add and subtract that as a matter of fact
Now that you’ve gone, I still want you back.”

The encore is the orchestral Look of Love Part 4 followed by a repeat of The Look of Love, Martin looking around the theatre and shaking his head at the sea of happy smiling faces, singing, waving their arms and dancing like it’s 1982.

And then, on the dot of 10pm, it’s over and we tumble out of the theatre into the pouring rain, running for the Tube and giggling like a couple of teenagers.

And happy; so happy.

The audience:

Friendly, funny, raucous, happy, joyous company.

It made me think..

I’ll be at dozens of gigs this year but none of them will be as wonderfully uplifting as this one.

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