Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark – at The Music Box – Los Angeles, CA

One of Los Angeles's most anticipated shows for many months after it sold out in a blink of an eye and then a second show had to be added to accommodate the demand was finally here. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. Tonight would mark the first time OMD would perform live in Los Angeles in 23 long years and Los Angeles came out in droves to thank them for coming. A band such as this tends to bring out people for various different reasons.

Be it they were die hard fans back in the day and still are, they are new fans of the band that discovered them because of other bands they are listening to that were influenced by them, there are those that remember the music being played in the background as the soundtrack for special times in their lives, along with the casual observer. This show’s attendance was truly a multi generational, crossed members of various musically genres and diverse backgrounds.

By 7:30 the entire place filled up even as space in front of the stage was quickly snapped up and every seat throughout the place had been claimed. Oh Land who comes from New York via Copenhagen opened up the show. Their sound is somewhat likened to a European electronica vibe with all the back up music coming from the keyboards and the stand up drummer. Stand out song they played was, "We Turn It Up" which was very melodic and catchy, certainly a guilty pleasure song.

OMD started at a little past 9, and months of waiting was finally over. It seems that with any band that has had a strong career 20 or more years ago and then pops back on the scene there can always be some apprehension that the band may dash fond memories of the past. Tonight’s performance would host what is called the classic OMD line up of Andy McCluskey, Paul Humphreys, Martin Cooper (keyboards) and Malcolm Holmes (drums). Under the haze of a blue darkness the members of OMD took their places on stage with vocalist Andy McCluskey taking the stage last to a welcoming applause.

They opened up with History of Modern from their latest album but the same title. Granted there were many in the audience that had not heard the new album, the song is a very progressive one with all the classic OMD fingerprints all over it and the crowd was eating it up.

The set bounced around a lot of the band’s catalog of songs while mixing in the songs from the new album. Nine songs in they performed the song that introduced even more fans to OMD when the song, “If You Leave” was played toward the end of 80’s movie “Pretty in Pink”. Before they performed the song, Andy commented about how Hollywood had come calling and wanted this song for the movie. As the song was played, people throughout the theater were either singing along or cheering.

At this point in the show some things were every clear. Any apprehension that anyone had about if the bands performance would not be up to par was gone. The band still posses the talent to perform these songs live in 2011 as they did over 20 years ago. However the glaring point was that Andy McCluskey vocal prowess has held up and remains to silky smooth and vibrant.

To top that off, Andy at the age of 51 he was dancing and moving all over the stage throughout the show with the same vigor you would expect from performers half his age…. It was impressive. A little know tid bit about Andy is that he learned to play bass guitar on a left handed bass guitar even though he is right handed and out of those early learning days, he plays with the strings upside down with the lowest-pitched string on the bottom and the highest-pitched one on top, which is normally not done.


The hour and a half set was starting to wind down as they played 1980 song Enola Gay that originally came out as a single and then later appeared on the bands second album Organisation. This song like many of the others performed tonight were completely intoxicating to hear live. As Enola Gay wound down the band unceremoniously left the stage as the roar of cheers filled the void.

After being off stage for a few minutes, OMD returned to the stage for a two song encore that included Walking on the Milky Way followed by the band’s debut single, Electricity. Perhaps the best song to end on as the crowd was taken back to where it all started with OMD with this song that was first released by Factory Records. When the song concluded the band thanked everyone for coming out before exiting the stage for the final time. As you looked around at the faces of the people that just experienced the show the reaction of joy were very different with some crying to others standing in amazement as to what they just witnessed, all the way to others that wanted to go out and party to celebrate being at a great show.

OMD would again play another night at the Music Box on Tuesday March 29th on the show they added after this night’s show had sold out so fast and the Tuesday show sold out as well. We have a feeling that next time they come back to Los Angeles that they will need to play three or more nights in a row to be able to accommodate the high demand for this band’s performance.

Setlist:
History of Modern Pt II - New Babies - Messages - Tesla Girls - Radio Waves - History of Modern Pt I - Forever Live and Die - If You Leave - Souvenir - Joan of Arc - Maid of Orleans - New Holy Ground - Green - Talking Loud and Clear - So In Love - Sister Marie - Locomotion - Dreaming - Sailing on the Seven Seas - Enola Gay
Encore:
Walking on the Milky Way - Electricity

 

                            More photos of the show can be seen HERE

 

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