Soft Cell

O2 Arena, London - 30 September 2018

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"Truly fantastic"

Now I have seen Soft Cell a few times over the years and technically they have often been rather interesting. I remember seeing them at the Hammersmith Palais and for the first half of the set Dave Ball's Prophet 5 seemed to just emit farting sounds, until they fixed a dodgy cable, but such is the way with live gigs. Whilst the audience was being admitted we were treated to an excellent DJ set. I have to say this as it sounded like they had raided my record collection.

Then the gig began, and it was a fairly simple setup with Dave on synths and Marc on vocals. Just as it should be. With the exception of a guest appearance from Mari Wilson for one track and Gary Barnacle playing some excellent brass, it was just that - a Soft Cell gig. Dave's set up (sponsored by Korg) consisted of a Roland Juno 60, a pair of Korg MS20s a (Korg) ARP Odyssey and I believe a Prophet 5.

Photos: Tanya Raftery

Dave seemed to oversee starting backing tracks as well as playing along over the top, which was evidenced by the fact he had to restart a couple of times either because he started before Marc was ready, or Marc missed his cue.

The set list was extensive: O2verture, Memorabilia, Monoculture, Darker Times, Together Alone, Torch, Forever the Same, Baby Doll, Insecure Me, Where The Heart Is, Numbers, Barriers, Loving You Hating Me, Last Chance, Frustration, Youth, The Best Way To Kill, Meet Murder My Angel, Surrender To A Stranger, Somebody Somewhere Sometime, So, Martin, Heart, The Art of Falling Apart, Northern Lights, Divided Soul, Soul Inside, What, Bedsitter, Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go, Sex Dwarf and Say Hello Wave Goodbye.

Truly fantastic - but they could have given Dave a full size ARP Odyssey.

Photos: Mark Smith

So yes, the performance could have been slicker. It would have helped if Marc had a set list he could see. If Marc had not forgotten the words to Where The Heart Is (luckily picked up by the audience) and miscued The Best Way To Kill a couple of times. But, you know what, even though it's the O2, it is live and that's what makes it worth going to see such gigs, and I for one would have been a bit disappointed if it all went perfectly. After all - this is a Soft Cell gig. 10/10

Setlist: O2verture, Memorabilia, Monoculture, Darker Times, Together Alone, Torch, Forever the Same, Baby Doll, Insecure Me, Where The Heart Is, Numbers, Barriers, Loving You Hating Me, Last Chance, Frustration, Youth, The Best Way To Kill, Meet Murder My Angel, Surrender To A Stranger, Somebody Somewhere Sometime, So, Martin, Heart, The Art of Falling Apart, Northern Lights, Divided Soul, Soul Inside, What, Bedsitter, Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go, Sex Dwarf, Say Hello Wave Goodbye

 

Review: Mark Smith

Photos: Tanya Raftery + Mark Smith

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