MUSIC

Colston Hall, Bristol (Sat 29 Oct)

Ron and Russell Mael. Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe. Gilbert and Sullivan, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Webber and Rice: when it comes to proper pop music, the unlikely duo (consisting, generally speaking, of an attention-grabbing spotlight reveller supported by a laconic, geeky-looking mastermind loitering in the almost-wings) is a winning combination that steers a showbiz ship to success. Having shared enduring pop chart domination with fellow dynamic duos Sparks and the Pet Shop Boys since the mid-80s, Erasure maintain that grand pop tradition in fine, full-on style.

No strangers to a crowded house packed to the rafters with adoring fans, Messrs Bell and Clarke bring their trademark brand of shimmering synthpop to the Colston Hall. Against a set that some would describe as suprisingly minimalist for such a Big Act, frontman Andy Bell strolls on stage wearing a feathered gladiator helmet and sequined pink blazer to open the show with an almost stately rendition of ‘Sono Luminus’, a subdued, melodic version of 1994 Top Ten hit ‘Always’ and a sparce, emotional airing of ‘When I Start To (Break It All Down)’, the first single from forthcoming new album ‘Tomorrow’s World’. Such understated overtures might pack less punch than expected from such a flamboyant frontman, but the set list is clearly designed to establish a foundation that supports the rest of the evening’s supremely grand design: over the past decades, Bell’s vocal skills have matured and refined to a level of rich, semi-operatic proportions that wouldn’t be out of place on a West End stage. Pop star to opera star? Perhaps.

Point made, the tempo raises considerably: the sparkly jacket is discarded to reveal a black leather corset (to be snipped off later on by Clarke, who steps out from behind the Romanesque gargoyle-fronted podium that obscured the laptop motherboard at the heart of the Erasure powerhouse to undertake the task admirably) and the hits just kept on pumping. ‘Blue Savannah’, ‘Sometimes’, ‘Victim of Love’. ‘A Little Respect’, ‘Oh L’Amour’ ‘Chains of Love’, ‘Ship of Fools’, ‘Drama!’ - those of a certain age are treated to an evocative, nostalgic blast from the past while the kids wonder how and why their own bland, sanitised generation of pop stars went so sadly wrong.

Unlike Erasure’s ‘Here and Now’ tour contemporaries, these 80s legends do not rest on laurels wrought in times gone by, as sparkling highlights - including a couple of acoustic ballads, no less - from their current album prove. Meanwhile, backing vocals supplied by a glamorous duo inspired, perhaps, by the Supremes’ finest moments, and Bell’s uplifting energy never miss a single, life-affirming beat. Utterly charismatic and unremittingly energetic, he’s one of the ultimate frontmen of the pop music world. By the time Erasure close the show with an almighty, life-affirming blast of 1988 mega-hit ‘Stop!’, a superstar had been born all over again. (Melissa Blease)

Copyright Melissa Blease 2011