Gig Review: Ultravox - Hammersmith Apollo ✭✭✭✭

Ultravox

Photo by Andrew Upshall

Hammersmith Apollo

Thursday 27th September 2012: I was taken back to my nostalgic roots tonight, the early 80's and the New Wave sounds of the brilliant Ultravox. Split into two sets, tonights concert was a staggering 27 songs long, and the sound was just awesome. Gut thumping bass, sizzling synths and great guitars ensured the fans were in for a great night.

The band came on and sang the title track from their latest album Brilliant, with drum solo from Warren Cann, stark white lighting and the band dressed in black. Midge Ure was in fine voice playing guitar and instantly had the audience on their feet. New Europeans was up next, and Chris Cross went from bass onto synths, and there was a great keyboard solo from Billy Currie, who then went on to play violin in the following number Mr X.

Photo by Andrew Upshall

By the time Reap The Wild Wind was being performed, the whole audience were on their feet dancing and clapping along, and they remained on their feet throughout the 1st half which ended with The Voice, at which point three snare drums were brought onto the front of the stage, one each for Chris, Midge and Billy to play along with to a resounding end of the act.

The set was simple for tonight, just a black box with nice projections at times on either a black or white backdrop, nothing too dramatic, they blended in nicely with the songs. After the interval, they were back on with a more uptempo feel, Live sounding rather spectacular. Half way through the 2nd act, Midge's powerful vocals soared through the classic Vienna, with the added reverb it was a haunting yet splendid rendition.

Ending with another classic Dancing With Tears in My Eyes, followed by Contact, there was a member of the audience who decided to come on stage right at the end of the set and splat Midge with what looked like green custard. Very bizarre, I'd not seen that before at a gig.

Besides that, it was a fantastic night for Ultravox, proving they have great songs and a fantastic sound.

4 stars out of 5 ✭✭✭✭

Remaining tour dates

September 2012

SATURDAY                 29      GUILDFORD G LIVE

SUNDAY                      30      MANCHESTER PALACE THEATRE

October 2012

TUESDAY                     2        SOUTHEND CLIFFS PAVILION

WEDNESDAY              3        IPSWICH REGENT THEATRE

THURSDAY                  4        SHEFFIELD CITY HALL

SATURDAY                  6        BLACKPOOL OPERA HOUSE

SUNDAY                       7        GLASGOW CLYDE AUDITORIUM

MONDAY                      8        GATESHEAD SAGE