Through The Barricades 2015 – Spandau Ballet Gig Review
On Tuesday, the 3rd of March, I went along to the 3 Arena to see Spandau Ballet on their “Lost Souls” tour. This band, originally from London, really smashed it on the night and were just wonderful to see live. The group came on to the stage at 8.20pm and were supported for about an hour by DJ Rusty Egan, who spun classic 80’s records to a lively crowd.
Any doubts that the band where passed their best quickly fell to the wayside after the first song, “Soul Boy”, was rattled off as if they had never taken a break! The line-up on the night included lead singer Tony Hadley, Gary Kemp on lead guitar, his brother Martin on the bass, John Keeble who was on drums and Steve Norman played the Saxophone and percussions.
We were treated to a 2 hour show with a great variety of material including all of the big number one hits, “Gold”, “True” and all the rest! Nobody was left disappointed.
Drummer John Keeble and Saxophone player Steve Norman really stood out for me on the night. The stage presence of the pair was incredible and some of the saxophone solos left me with goose bumps. I was totally blown away.
The Arena can hold 13.000 people sitting down, and apart from one section that looked empty, there must have been at least 12,000 fans from all ages there. The group has a good following and flags in the crowd suggested a good travelling fan base too.
It was my first time in the 3 Arena and our allocated seats were up in the very back row. Call them the nosebleed seats, call them the cheap seats, it really didn’t matter, once the band started up it felt like a front row experience. One little complaint was that the price of drinks was extortionate, €3.00 for a 500ml bottle of water and a whopping €9.50 for a small bottle of wine really is robbery.
I bought the greatest hits album straight after the gig! They’ve a new biggest fan.
9 stars out of 10……
