THE HUMAN LEAGUE + SOPHIE ELLIS-BEXTOR + T’PAU – BRIGHTON CENTRE 9.12.24
Can you believe it, my journey with The Human League has thus far lasted no less than 45 years and yet the band are still at the top of their game when it comes to performing live, and this is exactly why, yet again, they have filled the Brighton Centre and have brought along Sophie Ellis-Bextor and T’Pau along for the ride, more on them later.
Wind the clocks back and I’m 17 years old and I arrived back home on Tuesday 6th November 1979 and turned on the TV and there on the BBC was episode 5 of 11 of a 30 minute show entitled ‘Mainstream’. Sadly there was only one season of this weekly magazine programme ever made, and on that fateful night I was greeted by the opening notes of a terrific performance from the original Human League lineup (Philip Oakley, Ian Craig Marsh, Martyn Ware and Philip Adrian Wright), who were performing ‘The Path Of Least Resistance’ from their debut album entitled ‘Reproduction’. Talk about being gobsmacked, this performance was way ahead of its time. This was re-broadcast several years later and you can enjoy it HERE.
I immediately purchased their new ‘Reproduction’ album and then current ‘Empire State Human’ 7” single, as well as a copy of the previous year’s ‘Being Boiled’ single and their recent experimental ‘The Dignity Of Labour’, which is my least favourite of their material. I was well and truly into their electronic sound and as it happens, so were more and more people, with their band name making it into the Top 10 of singles chart (before they themselves did) on March 1980’s ‘My Perfect Cousin’ by The Undertones “His mother bought him a synthesiser; Got the Human League in to advise her; Now he’s making lots of noise; Playing along with the art school boys”. When I picked up their excellent ‘Holiday ’80’ double 7” EP on 18th April 1980 and then their ‘Travelogue’ long player a month later, (both of which I caned to death), there were certainly rumblings afoot! By that I mean, not only in the band’s popularity in heading towards the charts, but in amongst their ranks! There were personal and creative tensions within the group and these reached breaking point by the end of that year (1980) and keyboard players Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware both left the band, ceding the Human League name to Phil Oakey. Thus the Human League were a band with just a vocalist and a non-musician, Adrian Wright. I was very worried that it was for the band….history has more than proved that to be wrong!
Thankfully, I somehow ended up with two favourite bands as Ian and Martyn formed the production company British Electric Foundation (B.E.F.) as well as Heaven 17 with their old mate Glenn Gregory, and Phil Oakley famously recruited young vocalists Joanne Catherall and Susan Ann Sulley and their ‘Boys And Girls’ single sign-posted the future. Bassist and keyboard player Ian Burden and guitarist and keyboard player Jo Callis were added and then the hits started coming fast and furious and the band have never been away since! The band have become a ‘Great British (Synthpop) Institution’ and something to be treasured.
This evening, we were in The Human League’s company for 88 minutes, from 9pm until 10:28pm and during that period they rewarded us with no less than 20 songs! The lights shine through the black curtain as the intro notes of ‘Hard Times’ from 1981’s ‘Love Action (I Believe In Love)’ single blast out. The sound is crisp and clear as you would expect from a quality venue. The curtain drops and we can see the musicians, to our left we have Nick Banks on keyboards, keytar and guitar and Ben Smith on keyboards, keytar and occasional backing vocals; and to our right there is Rob Barton on electronic drums and percussion, with a fourth member of the team David Beevers on programming. But where are Phil, Susan and Joanne?
“Oh my God!” How uber-cool is this! The trio are slowly descending from the roof above the stage on a central platform. In all the 46 years I’ve been coming to gigs here, I’ve never witnessed this before! Showbiz has arrived!!!
The whole rear of the stage has a video screen which mixes graphics and live images of the band in action. Phil is wearing black and still looking as slim as ever, and he is flanked by the girls who are both looking resplendent in bright pink different outfits. Like the record ‘Hard Times’ segues straight into ‘Love Action (I Believe In Love)’, which is just about my favourite ever Human League tune! There’s audience hand-clapping aplenty on their 1982 ‘Mirror Man’ single, which comes next. I had actually forgotten how much Phil moves from far left to far right of the stage and back again and up and around the stage set. The crowd were well behind them, singing along to their heart’s content and I’m included as one of those, and I honestly can’t recall singing out loud to so many tunes at any gig all year long!
There’s the sound of sharp electronic pulses, just like Kraftwerk, for the intro of ‘Heart Like A Wheel’ which is found on 1990’s ‘Romantic?’ long player. One of tonight’s surprises came next in the form of ‘Behind The Mask’ which was originally written and recorded by the sadly underrated Japanese electronic music band, the Yellow Magic Orchestra in the tailend of the 1970’s, but I suspect others will know the Michael Jackson version that came out after his untimely death. After which Phil divulges that Jackson wrote the lyrics and that he (Phil) “improved them!”. The smooth ‘Life On Your Own’ from their ‘Hysteria’ album came next and there was more singing along from the audience and was followed by another cut from the same LP, this being the much more powerful ‘The Lebanon’ which sees Nick strap on the guitar and head on out the front of stage.
There were the inevitable costume changes by all three band members throughout the performance in order to keep things fresh and exciting and the opportunity fell to Phil to vacate the stage whilst Susan took to lead vocals on ‘One Man In My Heart’ from 1995’s ‘Octopus’ record. Sing along kids “One man in my heart; One man in my head; Oo la la la oo la la la”.
The mood then changes with a couple of Human League Mk1 ‘Reproduction’ album tunes, which sees Phil in action whilst the ladies go for a change. The first of these being ‘The Path of Least Resistance’ which features some immense synth sounds and minimal electronics and I receive my first tingles of the evening as the hairs of my arms stand upright and those on my head follow suit. The second selection is ‘Empire State Human’ which amazingly sees Phil clamber off the stage and lean on the crowd barrier in the photographers pit, where we at Brighton & Hove News incidentally had the only approved press photographer on the night! Phil was making himself small behind the barrier and then popping up again, as in enacting the lyrics “Tall, tall, tall, I want to be tall, tall, tall”. I suspect that Phil has wished that he hadn’t strayed so far from the rear of the stage! Anyone at the gig will know what I mean!
We were now at the halfway point and the tempo was taken back down with the arrival of ‘Louise’, (which is also from ‘Hysteria’), and also Susan who is sporting a white outfit and Joanne is sporting a black outfit. “Holy cow!” It’s the funky disco vibes of ‘Soundtrack To A Generation’ from 1990’s ‘Romantic?’ album which comes next and they keep the funk action flowing with the arrival of ‘All I Ever Wanted’ from 2001’s ‘Secrets’ album, which witnesses some excellent vocoder work from Ben. There’s more singalongs to be had for ‘Open Your Heart’ from their famous ‘Dare’ album from 1981. My second tingling sensation of the night arrives as they start to play another cut from ‘Dare’, ‘The Sound Of The Crowd’, the second line of which is “Pass around” and not “arse around” OK! ‘Tell Me When’ from ‘Octopus’ sounds blimmin’ marvelous tonight as does 1983’s ‘(Keep Feeling) Fascination’ single. Before playing this, Phil said that he was in a great mood as he had caught an episode of the late 1960’s British spy-fi adventure series ‘Department S’ on Channel 95, which must have been back at the hotel after his walkabout around “The Lanes” where he was obviously recognised. Phil referenced lead character Jason Kind and then referred to his own flares! The musicians in the band then get introduced to us as well.
They signed off the main set with an extended long intro 12” version of ‘Don’t You Want Me’ (from their ‘Dare’ album), which allows Nick and Ben to stand out front with their keytars, whilst Phil is away having a swift costume change, he returns and looks uber-cool and they deliver their most famous song!
There’s a two tune encore tonight and the first of these sees just Phil and the band on the go as they perform the lesser known ‘Good-Bye Bad Times’ which is on the ‘Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder’ album from 1985 and a tune I don’t ever recall having heard them perform before. The beat is unmistakable Moroder-esque with some decent bass synth notes part the way through, followed by some choral ones. The final number is another from the same album, this being the well known singalong ‘Together In Electric Dreams’ which the girls return for in their new costumes and this was originally written for the 1984 ‘Electric Dreams’ film and the track peaked at No.3 on the UK Singles Chart. Phil mentioned that he’s also been trying to also get ‘Good-Bye Bad Times’ used in a film or advert, which no doubt would make it wider known. It’s now 10:28pm and that’s our lot! The Human League are a British treasure and this evening’s concert has been one of the very best I’ve witnessed all year!
The Human League:
Phil Oakey – vocals
Susan Ann Sulley – vocals
Joanne Catherall – vocals
David Beevers – programming
Rob Barton – drums, percussion
Ben Smith – keyboards
Nick Banks – keyboards, guitar
The Human League setlist:
‘Hard Times’ (from 1981 ‘Love Action (I Believe In Love)’ single)
‘Love Action (I Believe In Love)’ (found on 1981 ‘Dare’ album)
‘Mirror Man’ (found on 1982 ‘Mirror Man’ single and 1983 US import ‘Fascination!’ mini-album)
‘Heart Like A Wheel’ (found on 1990 ‘Romantic?’ album)
‘Behind The Mask’ (found on rare 1993 Japan import ‘YMO Versus The Human League’ EP)
‘Life On Your Own’ (found on 1984 ‘Hysteria’ album)
‘The Lebanon’ (found on 1984 ‘Hysteria’ album)
‘One Man In My Heart’ (found on from 1995 ‘Octopus’ album)
‘The Path of Least Resistance’ (from 1979 ‘Reproduction’ album)
‘Empire State Human’ (from 1979 ‘Reproduction’ album)
‘Louise’ (found on 1984 ‘Hysteria’ album)
‘Soundtrack To A Generation’ (found on 1990 ‘Romantic?’ album)
‘All I Ever Wanted’ (found on 2001 ‘Secrets’ album)
‘Open Your Heart’ (found on 1981 ‘Dare’ album)
‘The Sound Of The Crowd’ (found on 1981 ‘Dare’ album)
‘Tell Me When’ (found on 1995 ‘Octopus’ album)
‘(Keep Feeling) Fascination’ (found on 1983 ‘(Keep Feeling) Fascination’ single and 1983 US import ‘Fascination!’ mini-album)
‘Don’t You Want Me’ (found on 1981 ‘Dare’ album)
(encore)
‘Good-Bye Bad Times’ (Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder cover) (from 1985 ‘Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder’ album)
‘Together In Electric Dreams’ (found on 1984 ‘Electric Dreams’ soundtrack album by Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder and 1985 ‘Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder’ album)
There were two support acts for this evening’s show, with the first of these being T’Pau who are spearheaded by Carol Decker and her band who originally formed in Shrewsbury (Shropshire) back in 1986. They had no less than 8 UK Top 40 hit singles, before calling it a day in 1992, but then in 1998 Carol resurrected the name – which by the way is taken from a Vulcan elder in Star Trek – six years later in 1998 as the sole surviving original member and has toured the nostalgia circuit ever since, but their new material has not troubled the pop charts ever since.
I’ve never been a fan of the band and the only thing I have in common with them is the love of Star Trek and both Carol and I have been on ‘The Weakest Link’. But we always cover all the bands on the bill and so I arrived in plenty of time in order to witness their 7 song 35 minute set, which ran from 6:45pm to 7:20pm.
I know it’s the Christmas season, and the Brighton Centre have ‘spared no expense’ and have erected their own Christmas tree to the left side area by the stage with its continually white flashing lights and as a result of this eye-catching display I found myself drawn to this during the T’Pau set.
The musicians take to the stage all clad in black and are from left to right, James (who is the only member of the band that Carol names, although we have listed what is believed to be the current lineup below) on guitar, then there’s keyboards, the Carol in the centre, then drums, bass guitar and second guitar. They are all positioned to the front of the stage ahead of the giant black curtain hiding The Human League’s stage set design. Luckily for them, there is already a decent amount of punters inside the auditorium in order to watch the T’Pau performance.
They kick off with the first of a handful tunes from their ‘Bridge Of Spies’ No.1 charting album from 1987, this being their ‘Sex Talk’ single which was well received. After this Carol says “Let’s get you warmed up”, which was the cue for some of the audience to clap along to the ‘Secret Garden’ single from their 1988 ‘Rage’ album. Selection three was the slower UK Top 10 ‘Valentine’ hit single and Carol informs us that it’s “good to be back in Brighton” and then she pointed to the rear top right hand corner of the South Balcony and informed us said that she was in the audience last year for a Ricky Gervais show (which would have been either 31st October or 1st November) and that she fell asleep on account of already having been out for a meal with many drinks. I wish I had seen that!
The middle-of-the-road 1991 single ballad ‘Whenever You Need Me’ from ‘The Promise’ album came next and was followed by the more gospel-like ‘Heart And Soul’ No.4 debut hit single found on the ‘Bridge Of Spies’ album. It’s fair to say that Carol still can blast out the vocals when required and this must be pleasing to her fans. Their penultimate selection was the album title tune ‘Bridge Of Spies’ and then they signed off with their sole UK No.1 ‘China In Your Hands’ single, which I must confess I hadn’t noticed this before by vocally it sounds like Cher and tonight’s keys were sounding not too distant from Enya’s ‘Orinoco Flow’ in some parts. Suffice to say, there was much waving of arms in the air from side-to-side from the audience and Carol had tried hard to win over those gathered and in fairness she had, but I had actually found the Christmas tree lights just as entertaining!
T’Pau:
Carol Decker – vocals
Ronnie Rogers – rhythm guitars
Spencer Cozens – keyboards
James Ashby – lead guitar
Luke Burnet-Smith – bass
Dave Hattee – drums
T’Pau setlist:
‘Sex Talk’ (from 1987 ‘Bridge Of Spies’ album)
‘Secret Garden’ (from 1988 ‘Rage’ album)
‘Valentine’ (from 1987 ‘Bridge Of Spies’ album)
‘Whenever You Need Me’ (from 1991 ‘The Promise’ album)
‘Heart And Soul’ (from 1987 ‘Bridge Of Spies’ album)
‘Bridge Of Spies’ (from 1987 ‘Bridge Of Spies’ album)
‘China In Your Hand’ (from 1987 ‘Bridge Of Spies’ album)
After a 25 minute live music hiatus, we were seated back in the auditorium for the delights of Sophie Ellis-Bextor, who as a child sometimes occasionally appeared on ‘Blue Peter’ alongside her mother, Janet Ellis who co-presented the programme. Sophie’s first foray into music was with a rock band called ‘theaudience’ when she was in her teens. She fronted the band from 1996 to 1999 and they dropped one self-titled album and 4 singles. Sophie then embarked on a solo career in major label artist-driven dance-pop music following the success of her collaboration with Spiller on ‘Groovejet (If This Ain’t Love)’ in 2000. Sophie met her future husband, the Feeling bassist Richard Jones, when he auditioned for her tour band in 2002 and they now have no less than 5 children!
Tonight is my second encounter with Sophie, having seen her here at the Brighton Centre on 4th February 2003, where I have it in my head that she played sections of both Moby and Ramones tunes as parts of her set, but I don’t seem to be able to verify these songs, and so going solely by memory. Maybe someone out there can clarify?
Tonight, Sophie and her band are allotted a 45 minute set, which ran from 7:46pm to 8:31pm, in order to get the audience up for it. Her band, who are named during one of the tunes, but are sadly inaudible as they are still playing, are from left to right, guitar and keys on the left and drums and bass guitar on the right. There’s a wide gap between the musicians, which affords Sophie the room to dance and skip in the space (in front of the giant black curtain) in her golden dress and high-heeled shoes. Unusually, for their opening number ‘Crying At The Discoteque’ (from the 2020 ‘Songs From The Kitchen Disco’ compilation album), the four musicians are wearing pigeon head masks. The basis of this tune borrows heavily from French disco outfit Sheila B. Devotion’s ‘Spacer’ hit single, which featured the talents of Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of Chic
Sophie is seriously intent on getting in her daily 10,000 steps as she’s on the go throughout the whole performance and if there was a Mr. Men & Little Miss character and book about her, then she would be called “Little Miss Motivator” and be gold in colour with very long legs – Maybe a project for one (or more) of her 5 kids to create! Sophie is as bubbly as her mum and easily gets the whole audience onside within minutes of her arrival. Tonight is special for Sophie as she informs us that she’s got her family in attendance tonight, which includes her dad in the crowd and hubby at the side of the stage.
The energy levels in the room increased with the arrival of her UK No.2 hit ‘Take Me Home’ single which is from her debut solo ‘Read My Lips’ album from 2001. After this Sophie joyfully informs us that she has this afternoon finished her Christmas shopping in town and that Brighton is a special place for her on the account of visiting many times during her teens.
Song three is ‘Hypnotized’, which sadly isn’t The Undertones (yep them again!) tune of the same name, but a cut from the deluxe version of last years ‘Hana’ album. This has a bangin’ dance beat and features choreographed dance moves from Sophie, one’s which could have easily been enacted when she was a teen in her bedroom and in fact she later indicates exactly this. Her ‘Ready For Your Love’ 2024 single is the next selection and this has a definite Euro disco holiday vibe going on, something akin to Stockholm’s Army Of Lovers ‘Obsession’ or ‘Crucified’ singles. The catchy earworm of ‘Get Over You’ (yet again not The Undertones hit) but the tune from 2020’s ‘Songs From The Kitchen Disco’ compilation album, is performed next and we are encouraged by Sophie to sing “Eye-eye-eye-ah” which goes down well.
Things were to go up yet another notch with the arrival of a 4-tune medley consisting of ‘Lady (Hear Me Tonight)’ / ‘Groovejet (If This Ain’t Love)’ / ‘Can’t Fight This Feeling’ / ‘Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)’. Sophies’ No.1 hit ‘Groovejet’ witnessed many fans rising from their seats and clapping along and it was as though Sophie was the headliner. Newbie single ‘Freedom Of The Night’ came next and wasn’t too far off the Hi-NRG sounds of Bobby O, and after which they gave us another uplifting number, ‘Heartbreak (Make Me A Dancer)’. I suppose there was only one way for Sophie and the lads to bow out and that was with UK No.2 hit single ‘Murder On The Dancefloor’ which literally witnessed tons of folk up on their feet with their mobiles out. Sophie has been quite possibly the best warm-up artist out there. All hail Little Miss Motivator!
Sophie Ellis-Bextor:
Sophie Ellis-Bextor – vocals
(And might have included:)
Phil Wilkinson – drums
Richard Jones – bass
Ciaran Jeremiah – keyboards
Seton Daunt – guitar
Sophie Ellis-Bextor setlist:
‘Intro’
‘Crying At The Discoteque’ (Alcazar cover) (from 2020 ‘Songs From The Kitchen Disco’ compilation album)
‘Take Me Home’ (from 2001 ‘Read My Lips’ album)
‘Hypnotized’ (from 2023 ‘Hana’ deluxe edition album)
‘Ready For Your Love’ (Felix Jaehn cover) (a 2024 single)
‘Get Over You’ (from 2020 ‘Songs From The Kitchen Disco’ compilation album)
‘Lady (Hear Me Tonight)’ (from 2014 ‘Wanderlust’ album) / ‘Groovejet (If This Ain’t Love)’ (from 2014 ‘Wanderlust’ album) / ‘Can’t Fight This Feeling’ (from 2011 ‘Make A Scene’ album) / ‘Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)’
‘Freedom Of The Night’ (a 2024 single / from ‘The Invisible Line’ album)
‘Heartbreak (Make Me A Dancer)’ (Freemasons cover) (from 2011 ‘Make A Scene’ album)
‘Murder On The Dancefloor’ (from 2001 ‘Read My Lips’ album)
It was a great show, for a man who turns 70 next year Phil is quite simply unbelievable, energetic and vocally flawless. An almost perfect setlist by the league and the mishaps made it all the more enjoyable. Sophie was also superb and of course with her husband on bass and fellow Feeling member Ciaran on keyboards it was really very polished.
Loved your write up. I was there too and really enjoyed the show (you didn’t mention the failed guitar). The League were in a good mood and the show was superb.
Cheers Paul. It’s about the only thing I didn’t mention!