Midge Ure & Ultravox

[philsunset]

I used to like Vienna the best but now it's the albums with Foxx. When You Walk Through Me is probably my fav Ultravox song.

[Library Jon]

I just called the WCL box office today and they told me that the fenced in lot below the venue is completely free.There is an additional lot next to it that costs $10 flat rate.

Library Jon

[Library Jon]

The Philly Midge Ure show is tonight (Jan. 10). I will post my thoughts on the night tommorow.

Library Jon

[80s were ok]

thanks for the reminder!

[Mythos]

I saw Ultravox back around 82/83 and they were tight, practically a Prog band.. I may try to see Midge this time round, but if not I will go see Ultravox if they tour in 2013...!

[Library Jon]

I finally had time to post my thoughts on the Midge Ure Philadelphia concert last week. Excellent concert. Midge played all the songs that fans would want to hear. Plenty of solo material. Dear God, Cold Cold Heart, If I was, etc. He included a few Ultravox classics. Vienna, Dancing with tears in my eyes, etc. The encore was Midge doing an acoustic version of Band Aid's "Do they know its Christmas" which he actually wrote. The opening act was a newish group called Right The Stars which were actually Midge's backing band. I was entertained. Anyone else go to this concert or plan to see Midge in another city?

Library Jon

[spotprog]

Thanks for the post Jon. I'm going next week to see him at The Coach House here in Cali. I was curious about whether we'd be seeing a full band or acoustic show, and I'm glad it's the full band version.

And glad to be finally seeing one of my fav artists. Going back to my high school days, if someone forced me to pick a favorite band, I'd have been hard pressed not to pick Ultravox (with OMD right up there as well). I enjoy all phases of the band and even find some value in the Billy Currie versions with other singers (the guy on Ingenuity sounds remarkably like Ure at times, and the songs are there too).

[Library Jon]

Please post your thoughts on the Midge Ure show that you are attending in California afterwards. I love OMD, too. I just started a thread about their new album and Spring UK tour which you are welcome to join in the conversation.

Library Jon

[spotprog]

Alright, finally getting around to posting some thoughts on Thursday night's Midge Ure show. Careful, this might turn into a daytrip review...

Opening bands, plenty of 'em. At The Coach House you get a healthy helping of local talent (?) before any show. Of course this is intended to maximize food & beer consumption but at the end of the day you mostly get a late night for your efforts. Such was the case this time with a misplaced gothy outfit called Former Humans starting the festivities. Talk about wearing all of one's influences on your sleeve. Think Dave Vanian with less range on vocals and a guitar player who evokes early Sisters of Mercy. Later the style evolves (?) to include some blatant Bauhaus (and vocals thanks to Dave Vanian channeling Peter Murphy). And you can't end this without a cover version, this one compliments of The Mission's Sacrilege. Despite all of the cliches, the band was actually enjoyable, probably because I have a soft spot for this scene. The next band however, Smiling Face Down, I cannot say much good about. The band had some chops but they were dragged down by their singer who was all show & no go.

Mercifully this gave way to Annabella of Bow Wow Wow. To my surprise, she did a really fun show although I cannot quite figure out the 80 year old dude on keys, sporting a bathrobe and a steel grey fauxhawk. Annabella hit a lot of memorable notes in showing her vocal range in a musical style that is not likely to age well. In other words, Debbie Harry can pull off Blondie in her 60's, I have a hard time picturing Annabella doing so with her current crop of tunes (I believe she's 46 now). Still, I'm glad to have seen her performance. It may seem like an odd pairing, Annabella and Midge Ure, but I came to an unverified conclusion that I'd bet they knew each other back in the day. Bow Wow Wow was a Malcom McLaren vehicle and Ure's Rich Kids bandmate was one Glen Matlock, ex-Sex Pistols which of course is another McLaren creation. This assumed connection aside, what I didn't know is that Ure was originally asked by McLaren to be the vocalist for The Sex Pistols, or at least this is what's alleged in Wikipedia!

At any rate, the stage then began to reset for Midge Ure's performance when we were then treated unexpectedly to a brief set by Ure's backing band for this tour, Right The Stars. What a talented bunch of guys they are. Although their set meant we would be glued to our chairs for that much longer, I'm glad they did a few of their own tunes. My only regret is that I didn't buy their disc at the merch counter on the way out. Unfortunately, the venue sucked most of my cash away via expensive beer.

On to Ure. Despite Ultravox being a fav of mine since Quartet was released, I have never seen the band or even Midge live. Some things I concluded...

• Damn, he's short!
• He is a pretty entertaining performer.
• His guitar playing is certainly underrated.
• His voice sounds incredible.

Ultravox songs he performed included Vienna (duh), Hymn, One Small Day, Love's Great Adventure & Dancing With Tears In My Eyes. I guess the pleasant surprise was that if I could personally pick two UV songs for him to perform (knowing Vienna was a default choice), it would have been One Small Day and Hymn.

As for his solo stuff, we heard a couple neat surprises (the non-album single "Call Of The Wild" and his Walker Brothers cover "No Regrets") along with album tracks If I Was, Answers To Nothing, Dear God, Just For You, Breathe, Cold Cold Heart and I See Hope In The Morning Light (which had a distinct Peter Gabriel vibe in terms of arrangement that I had not really detected in Ure's music before). He also did the Visage tune "Fade To Grey". All in all a very cool set list, not much missed due to time constraints although strangely there was nothing played from Move Me, his most recent solo album of his own material. I'd have included "After A Fashion", his collaboration with Mick Karn but I'm far from splitting hairs on this, the show was that outstanding, made even better by Ure's decision to have Right The Stars back him up.

Well done!

[jlneudorf]

That sounds like a great evening! Would love to see Ure and his band. Thanks for the interesting Sex Pistol connections.

Regards,
Jon