Culture Club :: Howard Jones :: Berlin (8/20/23)
The βLetting It Goβ Tour
Toyota Pavilion at Concord
Shot by Fiestaban Photography
βTime is precious, I know.β
Forty years have passed since the release of Culture Clubβs chart-topping 1983 album Colour by Numbersβrocketing them into fame and making the gender-bending drag artist Boy George (born George Alan OβDowd) a household name across the world. But time flew Sunday night, when Culture Club took the stage for the last stop of their Letting It Go Tour at the Toyota Pavilion at Concord for a crowd of die-hard Bay Area fans. Explaining what the tour was about, George reflected on a life lived to the fullest, and seeing some of the cultural trends toward equality that he himself helped push forward manifested in the crowd, he bemused about the past forty years, ββ¦Being up on this stage is a really different experience, itβs more fun reallyβ¦Iβm always having a good time up hereβ¦what do I need to get upset about? What do I need to carry around me? Thatβs what βLetting It Goβ is aboutβ. With scandals as harmless as Pete Burns claiming that he invented a look similar to Georgeβs years before, or a pre-Boy George βLieutenant Lushβ exiting the band Bow Wow Wow to form his own band, to more serious/problematic ones like βOperation Cultureβ, a false imprisonment conviction in 2008, public court battles, substance abuse issues, long musical haituses, and coping with a history of domestic violence and mental health issues in his family, there was plenty for Boy George to let go of. More importantly, after rediscovering Nichiren Buddhism in 2013, George has been able to let more and more go, choosing sobriety and happiness over drugs and dependency. Anyone in the audience on Sunday could feel that this concert was something special, something invigorating, something to remind us that life is worth living. George joked on Sunday that for him, ββ¦I know what itβs like to be 16. I know what itβs like to be 60. I know everythingβ¦β.
With several super-fans dressed head-to-heel in Georgeβs legendary regalia, the rest of the crowd was clad in original 80s band tees, lots of mascara and ever-widening smiles. Touring with original members Mikey Craig on bass and Roy Hay on guitar, Culture Club was a tour de force of queer-centric genre-blending sonic mastery. Fleshing out the rest of the band, keyboardist Carl Hudson, saxophonist Steve Frieder, drummer Jermaine Whyte (who joined the band after the acrimonious and litigous departure of original drummer Jon Moss in 2018), along with two impressive backing vocalists Roxy Yarnold (whom has the pipes of a Pink or Christina Aguilera) and Vangelis Polydorou (who joined the band after winning the 2016 The Voice UK with his version of βDo You Really Want To Hurt Me?β) are altogether seamless. Stepping down from the crown of darkened stage stairs, George opened the show with a glamorously cheeky cover of The Rolling Stonesβ βSympathy For The Devilβ, then launching right into New Wave/Blue Eyed Soul hits like, βItβs A Miracleβ, βIβll Tumble 4 Yaβ, βTime (Clock Of The Heart")β, βChurch Of The Poison Mindβ, a heart-wrenching acoustic version of βDo You Really Want To Hurt Me?β, along with ballads like βThatβs The Way (Iβm Only Trying To Help You)β, some of Boy Georgeβs solo album gems like, βAngel of Mercyβ and brand-new βMelodramaβ (a duet with Polydorou), and the wonderfully reggae, βEyeliner Voodooβ. On top of an already virtuosic set, Culture Club performed two encore songs: an over-the-top arrangement of T. Rexβs βBang A Gongβ (featuring solos from each member of the band), then finishing the night with Terri Nunn (of Berlin) and Howard Jones joining in to sing mega-hit, βKarma Chameleonβ. Nothing beats Culture Club, even forty years on, you know youβre going to miss them blind.
Howard Jones
Another β80s gem from the UK, the Sotonian Howard Jones is not to be overlooked among his New Wave peers. With fifteen Top 40 singles spread over 15 albums, hits like βNew Songβ, βLike To Get To Know You Wellβ, βWhat Is Love?β, βEverlasting Loveβ, βPearl In The Shellβ, βNo One Is To Blameβ (produced by Phil Collins) and βThings Can Only Get Betterβ made Jones a superstar for at least three decades. Jones played the first Live Aid; he played the Grammys with Stevie Wonder; he is a choir director for the Nichiren Buddhist organization Soka Gakkai International; his first album Humanβs Lib went double Platinum; all the while, he has been happily married for 46 years. Though his synth-pop sensibilities endeared him to millions of younger fans whom later ensconced him in with other adult contemporary crooners like Paul Young, Richard Marx or Chris De Burgh, Jones the lyricist, all the while hopeful and positive, is just as incisive and subversive (βAnd maybe love is letting people be just what they want to be/The door must always be left unlockedβ¦β) as the bands he came up with (e.g. OMD, Thompson Twins, Propaganda, Human League). Commenting on his fanatic fanbase of yesteryear, Jones mentioned that the last time he played the Pavilion several decades ago, over 100 people rushed the stage (βThat will not happen again,β he joked/promised). Forty years later, with an all-star backing band including Kajagoogooβs Nick Beggs (whom according to Jonesβbecause Kajagoogoo never toured the U.S. during their heyday, his performance of their mega-hit βToo Shyβ along with Beggs on this tourβwas the first time the song has ever been played by a member of the band in the States), along with Robin Boult (whom has played with the likes of Phil Collins, Tracey Ullman, Dave Stewart and Roger Daltrey), Jones brought down the house. Playing hit after hit with various unique arrangements (a somber keyboard-only βEverlasting Loveβ, a metal-esque, βCelebrate It Togetherβ or closing his performance with a monster EDM-infused version of βThings Can Only Get Betterβ), Howard Jones gave us a touch of what it means to live a life uncynically and with love first. Check out his 2022 album Dialogue here.
Berlin
When it comes to New Wave punk bands to come out of Los Angeles, at the top of the list is Berlin (formed by guitarist John Crawford as The Toys in 1978). Winning both an Academy and Golden Globe award for Best Original Song in 1986 for the movie Top Gun and possibly defining an entire generation of music with their Giorgio Moroder-produced, βTake My Breath Awayβ, their other hits βThe Metroβ, βNo More Wordsβ, βMasqueradeβ and the still-controversial βSex (Iβm Aβ¦)β help defined the KROQ-lead L.A. punk music scene throughout the 80s. With a current lineup featuring nearly all original members, including the sempiternally gorgeous and talented frontwoman Terri Nunn, along with founder and guitarist John Crawford, guitarist Carleton Bost (aka Carlton Megalodon), keyboardist David Schultz and Ric βRoccβ Roccapriore on drums, Berlin treated fans to a hits-parade that left everyone wanting more. On top of all the singles, Nunn included Berlinβs dance-pop explosion βAnimalβ from their 2013 album of the same name; the tear-jerking elegiac βTranscendenceβ (written about Nunnβs mother's final days in her battle with cancer); then finally closing with a ripping cover of The Cultβs βShe Sells Sanctuaryβ that saw Nunn roaming through the crowd to roaring applause. If you havenβt already, check out their 2020 album Strings Attached.
