OAD 5th anniversary featuring
Midge Ure (acoustic set)
It was Only After Dark’s fifth
birthday. It was also my anniversary. I
had discovered this wonderful club a year ago.
Once again it was sold out and packed
out. You couldn’t move for it was full
of people with style and class. The darkling’s
were out in force.
Midge was to come on early so
unusually this meant the club opened up at 8pm. We got there about half past seven to find out
that it was happy hour. Boy did that make us happy!
We went in early to get a good spot
but that didn’t stop me from dancing to ‘The Bunker’ (Bollock Brothers) while
we were waiting for Midge to come on.
I had seen Midge with Ultravox last
November when they supported Simple Minds. I had written back then how impressed I had
been with Midge’s vocals. (See that blog
here: http://jasminestorm09.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/where-is-my-glittering-prize.html)
How he owned the room. (And that room was the O2!). How different would a small crowd of 200 be? What would an acoustic set be like when we are
used to hearing his songs with electronic backing? I was about to find out.
He came on and sang a range of tracks
including Fade to Grey (he was in Visage), many Ultravox tracks including,
Dancing with tears in my eyes, The Voice, Love’s great adventure and Vienna,
and some of his own solo stuff such as If I was and No Regrets. He even did a riff from an old Slick track. This man has style and fits into OAD
perfectly.
He gave an excellent vocal
performance….
but much more than that. He played
guitar. Not Ziggy but Midge! He played it amazingly well. A very talented man.
…But not only that, he was funny and
charming. He had the crowd eating out of
his hand. This must be challenging for a
man who is used to being in a band. And
playing to a small crowd who he could see the faces of. (Mine being right at the front!)
And finally he gave a rendition of
Lady Stardust. He told the story of the
night he was at the Blitz Club when David Bowie came in. He said everyone had thought themselves cool
until that moment. David Bowie is my
personal hero and I loved hearing this story. He played an excellent version of Lady
Stardust and I was truly impressed.
Impressed with his professionalism. Impressed with his sense of humour. Impressed with his talents. What a performance. What a gig. What a night!
My only disappointment was that Midge
did not meet his fans afterwards. We
have been very lucky and spoilt with many specials at OAD having the artists
meet you for a photo and signing. I know
I was not the only person who would have loved a photo and a word with Midge.
Well Midge…I didn’t get to speak to
you directly…so here are my words to you. I loved your performance. Come back and visit us again soon.
After Midge had gone, we all danced
and danced all night. I love OAD. I love my friends there, (I wrote a blog about
that: http://jasminestorm09.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/the-girl-who-daydreamed.html)
and I am proud to be a part of it.
A huge thank you to David, Sara and
Sam for all their hard work so I can travel back in time once a month. Long may OAD reign!
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