The Au-Rene is a large theatre in the style of the Royal Opera House or Festival Hall with boxes at the side. It’s an all seater but certainly the people in the front section of the stalls were up dancing for most of the set and its testament to the band they generated enough atmosphere to keep this going for the most part. All seated gigs are always more difficult to get the crowd going but there was no problem here tonight.
Resplendent in the black and white, the tamest of his three suits tonight with matching hats, Boy George enters stage left and we’re straight into ‘Church of the Poison Mind’. What follows is about 90 minutes of 80s pop nostalgia. None of the band look like they’ve aged at all and supported by a great horn section, backing singers and additional guitarist we are treated to all the hits and more.
They’re all there, Victims, Time, Hurt me, Karma Chameleon and The Crying Game. For the last two songs of the encore we leave our seats and rush down to the front for Bowie’s ‘Starman’ and a rocking good version of Bang a Gong (Get in On) with Boy George boogieing all decked out in Rainbow suit. It’s nice to see the voice is still strong and he’s ably supported by Messrs Moss, Hay and Craig.
A top evening and good to see they haven’t become a parody of themselves and can still deliver the goods.