930 Forums
=> GENERAL DISCUSSION => Topic started by: Bombay Chutney on May 02, 2005, 01:22:00 pm
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Anyone?
We'll be there tonight.
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Do you always refer to yourself in the plural?
We'll be there, too.
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I'll be there-- wearing Phantasmagorical black shirt, with daughter wearing pink erasure shirt from OP tour!!! Leaving in 11 min!!!! Yeeeeeeeehhhhhhaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D
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i wonder what happened? both shows postponed?
upside is, i bet not everyone will be able to make the new dates and maybe now i can get a ticket! they did a really great article on the post on friday about them.
Erasure's Edge: Still Sharp
By Richard Harrington
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 29, 2005; WE07
THINGS THAT are unlikely to happen anytime soon: Erasure toning down its act.
Specifically singer Andy Bell toning down his act, since the synth-pop band's only other member is keyboardist and occasional guitarist Vince Clarke, who tends to be stock-still, deadpan and taciturn.
Not Bell, who sings like a choirboy but has been known to ride atop a gigantic prop penis while dressed in a tutu. One of the first openly gay pop stars, Bell used to cover Tammy Wynette's "Stand by Your Man" sporting bell-bottom cowboy chaps with the backsides cut out, long before Prince or Christina Aguilera struck that ex-pose. With a 3 1/2 -octave range ascending to sweet falsetto and a penchant for eye-popping outfits that might seem more appropriate to a drag-club revue, the flamboyant Bell has brought lighthearted lunacy to the rock stage: The stage set for Erasure's last tour in 2003 was an Edwardian drawing room, with Bell favoring the look of a grand lady, this just a few years after insisting to England's Daily Mirror that it was time for Erasure to tone down the act.
For the tour that brings Erasure to the 9:30 club Monday and Tuesday after a string of 10 sold-out concerts at New York's Irving Plaza, Bell suggests "it's kind of toning downish, a little bit. We haven't got that many props. I do look forward to someday being dressed all in black with just one spotlight -- that's what everybody does . . . "
Not yet, thankfully, and certainly not Erasure.
For this show, Bell says, "we have an inflatable Grimm brothers fairy forest and two little risers on there with Vince and myself. I come on as an angel and we have two little fairy backing singers. And Vince just has his computer with him in front, and halfway through I go off and, during 'Rapture' by Blondie, come back on dressed as a matador Elvis. And the singers go off as I'm doing 'Ave Maria' and they all come back on dressed as Marilyns having their skirts blown up, and then I strip off for the finale and have my sparkling pants and two fanny fanners."
In other words, it's Erasure as usual.
The mystery, of course, is what Bell, once described as "as camp as a row of tents," will talk the generally reserved Clarke into wearing on stage.
" Vince chose his outfits," Bell insists. Let's just say they involve, at various times, gold lamé, Indiana Jones wear and satellite dishes.
Clarke has become quite the good sport about such things in the 21 years that Erasure has been together, though he seems to abhor the spotlight as much as Bell seems to love it.
"He hates being on stage," Bell confides. "I think he quite likes being famous for his music, but he hates being on stage and doing all those things where you have to interact with the public."
It's something Clarke has been doing a few years longer than Bell. He and fellow keyboardist Andrew Fletcher formed No Romance in China back in 1976, and French Look with guitarist-keyboardist Martin Gore; when singer Dave Gahan signed on in 1981, the group changed its name to Depeche Mode and helped invent synth-pop. Though Clarke wrote most of that band's bouncy debut, "Speak & Spell," he quit after that one album and, looking to offset the impersonality of synth-pop, sought out warm-voiced vocalists. Clarke first teamed with Alison Moyet in Yazoo (soon shortened to Yaz and only a bit longer-lived), and then with Irish singer Feargal Sharkey as the Assembly (lasting only a single).
In 1985, Clarke began auditions for a new project, originally intending to use 10 different singers. The 42nd to audition was Bell, whose timbre and emotional quaver were remarkably similar to Moyet's. Bell's reading of "Who Needs Love (Like That)?" impressed Clarke enough that Erasure was formed on the spot; the song would become the duo's debut single.
Though Bell was probably chosen at least partly for his frontman potential -- there simply wouldn't be much else to look at otherwise -- he says Clarke was himself "pretty wacky. I saw him playing the Space Invaders machine [at the audition], and he had a completely bald head except for this fringe coming out from the front, back combed so he looked like a peacock in reverse. So he's pretty bizarre himself. "
Bell, now 42, had come out at 16, which was a fairly brave thing to do in the '70s. So was walking down the street in hometown Peterborough, England following the local bagpipe and drum band while wrapped in faux-tartan (actually his mother's old curtains). Turns out the Pipes & Drums & Military Band of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards was a major early influence with its British No. 1 of "Amazing Grace." But so was Klaus Nomi, the gay German-born cabaret artist known for singing arias in a glass-shattering falsetto (he was also a major influence on David Bowie). And so was Blondie, whom Bell once called "the soundtrack to my coming out," happily blaming Debbie Harry for "[giving] me the confidence to be the person I am."
A shared influence with Clarke, now 44, was Abba, and Erasure anticipated the worldwide revival of interest in that group with the 1992 EP "Abba-Esque." By then, Erasure had enough hits of its own that the Swedish Abba tribute band Bjorn Again was able to counter with "Erasure-ish." That was also the year of Erasure's infamously over-the-top "Phantasmagorical Entertainment" tour, captured on the recently released concert DVD, "The Tank, the Swan and the Balloon Live!" That's the one where Bell sports a fringed and spangled leotard and high heels and covers idol Judy Garland's "Over the Rainbow" teetering on a pair of ruby slippers with nine-inch heels.
"I tend to go gung-ho when I'm on stage, and apart from singing and wanting everything to be perfect and in tune, I'm kind of flaming around and dancing, if you can call it that," Bell admits, adding, "I think sometimes that has taken away from the music. People have only just kind of started talking about my voice after 20 years -- and I think my voice is quite good! At the same time, if I'd just stood there with Vince and the synthesizer and just sang, I think it would have been too boring. Maybe I would have bored myself."
By the middle of the '90s, it seemed as if Erasure was, in fact, a bit bored with itself: 1995's "Erasure" was a tad too experimental and uninvolving. Aside from an empowering single, "In These Arms," 1997's "Cowboy" felt indifferent; 2000's "Loveboat" wasn't even released here.
Yet Erasure's most recent album, "Nightbird," has been acclaimed as a return to classic form. It's the group's sunniest, most optimistic and upbeat collection of songs, the last judgment reflecting the album's content more than its tempos. Erasure's first set of original songs in five years, it's very much the result of the two albums that preceded it in 2003: "Other People's Songs," a covers album that refocused Clark and Bell as writers, and the two-CD "Hits! The Very Best of Erasure," which reminded them of their gift for melancholy yet highly danceable synth-pop. They did some writing together in England and New York early last year but constructed "Nightbird" mostly by sending songs back and forth over the Internet, from Maine (where Clarke lives after marrying his long-time girlfriend) to Spain (where Bell lives with his partner of 20 years, Paul Hickey).
Also factor in the attention paid in the past couple of years to such bands as Scissor Sisters (who had the best-selling album in England last year), Fischerspooner, the Postal Service, Goldfrapp and Ladytron, all of whom celebrate the joys of synth-rooted music.
According to Bell, "we were enthused by all the electro-clash material going around, especially in London, where it's kind of an underground scene, with lots of kids doing this minimal electronic stuff like the early '80s, before Erasure were formed. We wanted to nod and make a reference to that. After having done 'Other People's Songs,' we wanted our melodies to be really strong.
"And also there was a certain maturity," he adds. "I don't know if that was from being 40 or from having a major operation that kind of tilted the songs."
What Bell is referring to is the double hip replacement he underwent last year to replace hips that had been weakened by drugs while Bell battled pneumonia in 1998. Soon after, he was diagnosed with HIV, though Bell didn't make that public until December. On Erasure's Web site, Bell wrote, "my life expectancy should be the same as anyone else's so there is no need to panic. There is still so much hysteria and ignorance surrounding HIV and AIDS. Let's just get on with life . . . making music, doing a live tour and generally having a good time."
Bell also notes the poetic irony of a band known for synthesizer sounds now being fronted by a semi-cyborg who still favors high heels.
"If I couldn't move, they could just put a magnet under the stage and people could draw me across," he jokes before adding that "with Vince's music, especially when you're working in the studio the kind of frequencies that you get, it feels like a holistic massage but with laser beams of sound, so it's like acupuncture needles. I really do feel like that."
Later this year, Bell will finally release his solo debut, made with British DJ and production duo Manhattan Clique, and Erasure may finally release its acoustic album, "ballads done with violins and guitar, a different way of singing," Bell says. "It's lovely, so beautiful. It sounds like Billie Holiday!"
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Originally posted by lily1:
i wonder what happened? both shows postponed?
http://www.930.com/cgi-bin/ubb-cgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=010017 (http://www.930.com/cgi-bin/ubb-cgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=010017)
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Originally posted by Miss MArKiE?:
Do you always refer to yourself in the plural?
Only when more than one of me will be attending.
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bombay's entourage is a sight to behold...
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VERY cute entourage....
I may try to get tickets to the new shows...
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FYI - It looks like people are starting to return tickets. They're starting to show up on tickets.com.
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Chutney, what show are you going to?
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June 6
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fyi: i spoke to the staff at the club last night. if you have tickets and you can't make the new dates, you can get a refund at the club. in turn, the club is putting those tickets back on sale for the general public. however, its on a piecemeal basis, so the few tickets that were returned, as of late last night, were already sold. of course, if folks are selling their tickets over on the other part of the site, that's an option as well!
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Hey, give a little respect (http://tinyurl.com/cojmb)...
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Originally posted by kosmo vinyl:
bombay's entourage is a sight to behold...
I can only imagine....you have bombay, his 930 board alter-egos and all the voices in his head. Quite the grand entrance I'm sure.
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Just wanted to point out that tonight's start-time for Erasure seems to have changed. This morning the front page said 10:00pm. It now says 9:30pm.
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Thanks for pointing that out. I looked this morning, too. I guess that gives me even less time to cram in some food.
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Originally posted by Miss MArKiE?:
I guess that gives me even less time to cram in some food.
well, i'm sure you could pack in some fudge at the show :D
(sorry, too easy)
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Originally posted by HoyaParanoia:
well, i'm sure you could pack in some fudge at the show :D
(sorry, too easy)
I didn't know you were going?
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Originally posted by Miss MArKiE?:
Originally posted by HoyaParanoia:
well, i'm sure you could pack in some fudge at the show :D
(sorry, too easy)
I didn't know you were going? [/b]
*rim shot*
[pun intended]
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anyone have any comments about the show?
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Originally posted by poorlulu:
anyone have any comments about the show?
do you?
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My opinion....Very, Very good show.
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how long is erasures set? are they done by 11:30ish?
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'twas 9.30 start done at around 11.15.
Although I thought they normally played three encore songs, not the two we had last night.
I thought it was a great show. So many of those songs have been stuck in my head for so long.
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thanks... the over by 11pm Kraftwerk show really spoiled me, was nice to be able to catch the 11:30 metro without cutting out early..
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so was the setlist like the one you posted earlier? a mixture of old singles and new stuff... does the new stuff standup against the classics?
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Originally posted by kosmo vinyl:
so was the setlist like the one you posted earlier? a mixture of old singles and new stuff... does the new stuff standup against the classics?
from what i recall the setlists have been very similar. although last night, victim of love was not played (apparently its being rotated). lots of old stuff, as always. and their new stuff is sounding great. i dont recall any songs off of cowboy, but i could be wrong on that one. also, star wasnt played last night, not sure if thats on rotation or if theyre playing it. used to play it all the time. and i love hearing hideaway live. :)
vince and andy are looking in top shape. glamorous costumes as always. you should def. be able to catch the 11:30 metro.
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There is not an awful lot of new stuff. If you have POP! the first 20 singles then you are in for a good time.
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By complete surprise, I will be at the concert tonight (someone GAVE me a ticket earlier today)! :)
So if anyone from the board will be there as well, look for me! I am the girl with the purple hair and I'll be dressed all in black (laugh). ;) I'll also have a blue pin on my shirt which reads, "All That Glitters ..."
Cheers
DJ Medusa.
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sweet medusa,
did you get to the instore signing?
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Yes, I went to the signing and that is where someone just GAVE me a ticket! It was so awesome! I got to meet Vince and Andy, and had them sign my "Nightbird" and "The Innocents" CD sleeve. Also got my picture taken with them.
Just got back from the concert, and the after-party (which Vince and Andy were at - very cool!) held in the Back Bar at the 9:30 Club. Got my tour program signed by them both as well. And I told Andy that it was "too darn hot." :)
Cheers
DJ Medusa.
* My favorite songs of the evening.
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Erasure sure can put on a show but most importantly they know how to write a great pop song... Hearing "Hideaway" early in the really set the tone of the evening. I might have been bouncing, singing etc along but never once did I play air keyboard. ;) Echoing Medusa's comment, this would be have been a tough show for me to DJ as Vince Clarke is reponsible for a big chunk of my Synthpop collection.
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Erasure Rubs 9:30 Crowd Right Way
Wednesday, June 8, 2005; C02
Just after doffing his angel wings Monday night at the 9:30 club, Erasure vocalist Andy Bell apologized for the duo's two-night stand having been rescheduled from last month. "I'm not a diva, honestly," he insisted.
In fact Bell did have plenty of legitimate reasons for postponing the gigs, including recuperation from double hip-replacement surgery last year. But of course he is a diva. That's the whole point of Erasure's campy, pulsing music, which combines synth-pop, disco, cabaret, light opera and a bit of English choirboy sound. This show wasn't the most elaborate Erasure has ever staged in Washington, but it did include an enchanted-forest set, two backup singers in Marilyn Monroe dresses and several costume changes for Bell, who finally returned to the stage as a fan dancer, dressed only in gold-spangled trunks and matching boots.
While Bell pranced, composer Vince Clarke supervised the music, which was mostly programmed, and inaudibly strummed an acoustic guitar.
His big moment came during a cover of Blondie's "Rapture," when he vocodered the rap interlude while Bell was offstage switching outfits. Yet the capacity crowd was cheering Clarke at the sound of every familiar synth pattern, introducing the Erasure standards "Hideaway," "Chains of Love" and "Sometimes," among others. Bell rode these simple and upbeat (if often plaintive) dance-floor anthems with glittery panache, but it was Clarke who provided the locomotion.
-- Mark Jenkins
<img src="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2005/06/07/PH2005060701676.jpg" alt=" - " />
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Originally posted by Bags:
While Bell pranced (http://tinyurl.com/cojmb)
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Originally posted by Ellis D. Fleischbach:
Originally posted by Bags:
While Bell pranced (http://tinyurl.com/cojmb)
[/b]
NOT work safe!!!
Dude, you need to warn....
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warn of the tired joke.
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My pictures from Tuesday night's Erasure concert are up here now: http://www.flickr.com/photos/medusa242 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/medusa242)
Unfortunately, I could not upload them all but at least you get a smattering. ;)
Cheers
DJ Medusa.
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and the most ironic t-shirt award goes to the guy wearing the ac/dc at the erasure show...