Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark – Diamond Rings – at The Fonda Theatre – Hollywood, CA

Most people dread Monday, it’s the beginning of the long work week and that first night of the week where most people opt to stay home and rest for the upcoming weekend. This past Monday was the exception though as Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark brought their exciting synth show to the magnificent Fonda Theatre in Hollywood where they drew a large audience who wasted no time in dancing and singing the night away.

How large you ask? So large that by the time the support band hit the stage the venue had more people in it than most headliners draw on their own at the Fonda.

Diamond Rings had the pleasure of opening up the show for O.M.D. and it’s clear that they are a band (solo project) who are making quite a splash on the indie electro dance music scene.

It’s a rare sight to witness a crowd sing along to an opening bands first song of the night, but that can now be checked off Diamond Rings list of accomplishments as they had the crowd in their grip right from the first note. That grip never let loose throughout their 45 minute set and with that they probably will find themselves with a larger fan base of their own next time they play LA.

 

By the time O.M.D. hit the stage the crowd had already began to let loose and move around quite a bit, especially for a Monday audience, there was no holding back. Andy McCluskey busted out a few dance moves of his own as he introduced the audience to tracks off the new O.M.D. release “English Electric” which went over so well you’d think everyone had owned the new album much longer than the two weeks its been in stores. It was the classic hits that drove the audience into a frenzy nonetheless, especially the uber 80’s high school prom appropriate “If You Leave” which Andy acknowledged as a song you likely danced to at high school.

The night would endure on as a memorable dance party as the hits kept a coming intertwining with the few new tracks that deliver the same catchy hooks and vivacious rhythmic beats that make O.M.D. such a fun band to see in a live setting. Keyboardist Paul Humphreys even took over lead vocals on a few tracks which saw Andy switch from handling mic duties to either playing lead keys or bass guitar which rounds out the full band sound they’ve evolved into over the last couple of years.

Not ones to shy from an epic finale, O.M.D. would close out their set with Electricity, the bands first single dating back to 1979. Choosing to close with their first classic was quite the nod at the bands own legacy and how they’ve grown into synth pop legends who refuse to shy away from their teenage chart topping roots.

If you missed O.M.D. at the Fonda you can still catch them this weekend at the Coachella Festival in nearby Indio, CA, although it will be with thousands of fans at your side opposed to the intimacy of the Fonda Theatre.

Set list - Decimal

P.R.S. - Metro land - Messages - Tesla Girls - Dresden - HoMI - Forever Live and Die - If you Leave - Souvenir - Night Café - Joan of Arc - Maid of Orleans - Our System - Kissing T. Machine - So in Love - Sister Marie - Locomotion - S.O.T.S.S. - Enola Gay -W.O.T.M.W. - Secret - Electricity.

 

            More photos of the show can be seen HERE

-Louie Bones-
Big Wheel Staff Reporter

 

 

 

 

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