New Spandau frontman, 30, is pure Gold!
SPANDAU BALLET ★★★★✩ Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith
REPLACING a well-loved singer with a newcomer can be a tricky move for an established pop act. And when Spandau Ballet were at their commercial peak in the Eighties, sharply-dressed frontman Tony Hadley was an integral part of their appeal.
Hadley, 58, is now no longer part of the gang. He parted company with them last year ‘ due to circumstances beyond my control’, and has been replaced by Ross William Wild, a young Scot who wasn’t even born when the band were in their flowery pomp. This was the new boy’s first major show, and he did well.
Monday evening’s one- off (for now) concert at the Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith was a sell-out, and Wild, 30, brought t a youthful energy to the stage. His background lies in musical theatre rather than pop – he came to the group’s attention n after starring with Spandau bassist Martin Kemp in a West End production of the jukebox musical Million Dollar Quartet – and his animated approach was sometimes too showy.
Like many performers whose talent was s honed in theatreland, Aberdeen-born Wild d can over-sing. His style was certainly a stark k contrast to Hadley’s air of studied cool, and d he became so worked up during the night’s s second song, Chant No 1, that I feared we e were in for a jarring evening.
Once his first-night nerves had died down, , though, he warmed to the task.
He also looked the part. While Spandau u Ballet have largely abandoned the e ostentatious frills of their heyday for more e casual, age-appropriate attire, Wild stole e the limelight in a stylish black jacket and d eye-catching shirt. His new bandmates, all l nearly twice his age, were clearly invigorated - by his presence.
Of all the acts to emerge in the new romantic era, the North Londoners – who formed in 1976 – were the most accomplished musically, and they showed it again here. In a set lasting just under two hours, nostalgic moments arrived thick and fast, from big singles such as Only When You Leave to overlooked gems like Lifeline.
For Virgin, a song played for the first time at Live Aid, the band were joined by backing singers Shirley and Dee Lewis – sisters of Seventies pop star Linda Lewis.
There was also a five-song, electronic seg- ment devoted to the group’s roots in The Blitz, the celebrated London club acknowledged as the spiritual home of new romantic pop. With guitarist Gary Kemp swapping his usual instrument for a synthesiser, the band excelled on debut single To Cut A Long Story Short, even if Wild lacked the icy detachment to truly do the song justice.
For all Spandau’s debts to club culture, though, they are fundamentally a rock group. It’s no coincidence that Gary Kemp has just finished a tour with Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason’s side-project Saucerful Of Secrets (he is a revelation in that band), and there was a touch of Floyd’s David Gilmour to the extended guitar solo he added to I’ll Fly For You here.
He was as pleased as punch to be playing an iconic venue, formerly Hammersmith Odeon, for the first time in his career. ‘I saw David Bowie doing Ziggy Stardust here,’ he enthused. ‘I also saw Kate Bush, plus two nights of The Who, with Keith Moon on drums. It’s a pleasure to be here.’ He knows his rock history. Pacing the night well, the band saved their best until last. Wild was pitch-perfect on the demanding True, although he was helped by the song becoming a mass singalong, while Kemp supplied another Floyd-like flourish on Through The Barricades. The show ended, as it had opened, with Gold.
It remains to be seen whether Spandau, like Pink Floyd, Genesis and AC/DC before them, can thrive with a new singer. To cut a long story short, this was a promising start.