Sunday night synth pop/ new wave pioneers The Human League performed in Vancouver for their first time ever at the Rickshaw theatre! The Human League formed in 1977 as an experimental all synthesizer band - featuring co-founder Philip Oakey on vocals. Although the band saw some acclaim - David Bowie told the New Musical Express that he 'had seen the future of pop music' after catching them live in December 1978 - they released two albums, but success eluded them.
It wasn't until after they added two teenage girls (that Oakley saw dancing together in a club!) as dancers/ vocalists in 1980 that the band were primed for mainstream success. With the addition of Susan Ann Sulley (then 17) and Joanne Catherall (then 18) the band went on to release their third album 'Dare' - which hit number one in many countries including the U.K. and here in Canada. It peaked at #3 in the U.S. - and it should be noted that Sunday night was also September 11th - the 10th anniversary of 9/11.
You could feel the anticipation in the crowd - we were about to see a truly influential and legendary electronic act perform in just seconds - which waned a bit as the pre-show music seemed to play forever. I wondered how many more times the roadie could move those same two water bottles around by the base of the keyboards. But the excitement level in the club quickly lifted when the covers were taken off the band's equipment - their set up looked like the future in the 80's - and it still does now! This photo is just of the right hand side of the stage - they also had more keyboards - guitars - and some massive keytars!
The band had four instrument players - Philip entered in a stylish hooded trenchcoat - and proceeded to zig zag all over the stage - while Susan and Joanne took turns singing and dancing on each side. The band opened with one of just three songs performed from their latest album 'Credo' - 'Never Let Me Go'. The sound was excellent - and the energy level of the crowd quickly escalated further as they followed up with 'Open Your Heart' and 'Sound Of The Crowd' from 'Dare'.
Philip gave a respectful nod to the fact it was 9/11 by mentioning that the next two songs dealt with war - and one can easily tell by their lyrics that they're certainly pro peace. In fact some might say that they were ahead of their time in more ways than one. The first of the two political numbers was 'Heart Like A Wheel' from their 1990 release 'Romantic? - a song about U.S. military imperialism - with lines like 'You can't keep the wheels turning anymore/ With anger, blood and fear/ Or make any friends with an M16/ When you blast your way through here' and 'Sell your soul to a holy war'. This was quicly followed with one of the evening's many highlights - 'The Lebanon' - one of their finest singles - from their 1984 release 'Hysteria'.
This is the '12" Extended Version' from the 12" vinyl single of 'The Lebanon' - which was quite rare for many years - until the release of their excellent 'Original Remixes & Rarities' compilation in 2005... Enjoy!
More to come in Part 2!
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