SummersRadio™ 500th Post Celebration! Concert Review + Rare Remixes! The Human League! Part 2!

SummersRadio™ 500th Post Celebration! Concert Review/ Rare Remixes! The Human League - '(Keep Feeling) Fascination' (Groove Collision TMC Mix)/ 'Don't You Want Me' (Tommy Reye Remix) 

If you're more than just a casual Human League fan, you'll know that they've actually had quite a number of hits - and they just kept coming Sunday night - along with numerous costume changes as well! After playing a couple more singles from their new album "Credo' they played their North American number one hit from 1986 'Human' - followed with 'Love Action (I Believe In Love)', then 'All I Ever Wanted' from their 2001 album 'Secrets' and 'Tell Me When' from their 1995 comeback album 'Octopus'. They pretty much stuck to the original versions of songs - no radical remixes - although a couple songs were extended a bit.

Hearing the opening bassline of '(Keep Feeling) Fascination' always cheers me up - here's a rare remix included on the U.K. bonus disc of their 2003 'Very Best Of' collection - this is the 'Groove Collision TMC Mix'... Enjoy!



'(Keep Feeling) Fascination' was followed with 'Mirror Man' and by the time they got into 'Don't You Want Me' the band was at risk of being totally drowned out by the crowd singing along! They did pretty much every song a fan would want to hear - the only other songs I wished they might have played were 'The Things That Dreams Are Made Of' and 'Louise' - which I have a total soft spot for - but then it wasn't much of a hit here in North America anyway.

The first encore featured Philip alone for a rendition of one of their earliest singles 'Being Boiled' - which was first released in 1978. Susan and Joanne then returned for a song originally credited to Giorgio Moroder and Philip Oakey - that has since become a concert staple for the band - 'Together In Electric Dreams'.

              

As a massive fan I loitered around afterwards in hopes of getting my '21st Anniversary Edition' of 'Dare' & 'Love And Dancing' autographed but the band slipped out too quickly. Luckily they were selling copies of 'Credo' - both regular and autographed - earlier so I picked up an autographed one (and a t-shirt of course) just in case they were in a hurry.

All in all it was pretty flawless show - my one small criticism would be that they didn't have any high tech lighting to match their high tech equipment - they just used the rather outdated house system at the Rickshaw. And no disrespect intended as both Joanne and Susan are amazing - pure class, but Susan needs to eat more or something - some of her outfits did not flatter her near anorexic frame. More importantly though, everyone's vocals are in fine form and if The Human League comes to town I highly recommend checking them out!

Here's the most extended of all the extended versions I've ever found of their signature song 'Don't You Want Me' - clocking in at 11 and a half minutes - this is the super extended 'Tommy Reye Remix'... Enjoy!



Here's the full 17 song setlist performed on Sept. 11th, 2011:

Never Let Me Go
Open Your Heart
Sound Of The Crowd
Heart Like A Wheel
The Lebanon
Egomaniac
Empire State Human
Night People
Human
Love Action
All I Ever Wanted
Tell Me When
(Keep Feeling) Fascination
Mirror Man
Don't You Want Me

encore:

Being Boiled
Together In Electric Dreams

              

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SummersRadio™ 500th Post Celebration! Concert Review! The Human League! Part 1!

SummersRadio™ 500th Post Celebration! Concert Review! The Human League - 'The Lebanon' (12" Extended Version) As our 500th Post Celebration continues I thought I'd try something a wee bit different - a concert review - I certainly go to enough shows!

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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