This is one of the best shows I have ever seen. There will be a couple this year. I remember the red velvet curtain behind a throne sat in the middle of an otherwise empty stage. Marc came out in a crown and cape and did the entire show around those props. It was amazing. No Soft Cell songs but his solo material at this time was rich and full of that french story telling feel. I found online an review of the show from the L.A. Times. I will include it here. I wish I had found the set list though.
Almond's Cabaret Cocktail With a Twist of Mae West
Pop Capsules
April 24, 1989
CHRIS WILLMAN
Remember "Liza with a Z"? How about "Marc with a C"--as in Marc Almond, would-be heir apparent to Judy Garland, Jacques Brel and Frank Sinatra?
Opening a two-night stand at the Pantages on Friday, the fey British popster unveiled a highly theatrical show, revealing his weaknesses for German cabaret-style balladry and old-style show-biz oversinging while not forgetting the equally mannered modern techno-pop on which he made his name.
Though Almond ignored his Soft Cell material, which tended toward a kinkier side than his more sophisticated solo material, he's hardly given up pandering. "How good it must be in your . . . bed," he drawled in one song, with a spin on the phrase that was less Liza than Mae West--or Dr. Frank N. Furter.
Yet Almond can lay off the camp long enough to suggest hedonism-as-transcendence, a la (Depeche) Mode. A well-staged transition had him reciting the closing words of "The Sensualist"--"ecstasy, ecstasy, ecstasy"--and slumping back into a throne as lights began to spin round, suggesting the real ecstasy of a dizzy head. Then the band launched into "Tears Run Rings"-- sumptuous pop complete with "sighing angels."
Almond headlines the Celebrity Theater in Anaheim tonight.
It really was one of the best shows....
Update 04/29/10
In the comments for this show it was mentioned that we went to
meet Marc Almond at a signing at Tower Records.
I spent the afternoon searching through boxes till I found the
autograph. I am so thrilled that I still have it!
Also, here is a cd long box. These too were mentioned in a post.
I still have some of those!
What a concert! Remember it like it was yesterday! Made me a fan still to this day! And the Pantages theater! Could not have chosen a better venue! And remember when we went to tower records to get his autograph!
ReplyDeleteWas I at this show? I remember his CD for always cause it was the last CD I remember coming in the long box. Damn environment.
ReplyDeleteNo, I don't think you were at this one Bianca. I still have that long box! I kept a few of them. And yes, I remember going to Tower Records. Wow, I went to a lot of signings as well as concerts! Maybe that should be an addition to the blog, autographs! Hmmmmm......
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