Soft Cell singer serves up grandiose platter in Perth
Soft Cell legend Marc Almond is celebrating his 60th year with his Hits and Pieces tour ... and he chose Perth as his only Scottish date.
A capacity crowd of 1200 descended on the Fair City’s Concert Hall for the singer’s tour which featured highlights from a recording career started in 1981.
Almond’s accompanying compilation album went straight into the top 10 on its release last week and the strength and diversity of his back catalogue was quickly in evidence at Saturday’s show.
Opening with the infectious 1993 single Adored and Explored, Almond served up a grandiose party platter that was fit to satisfy the hungriest pop purist.
His band included guitarist Neal X - formerly of electropunk shock troops Sigue Sigue Sputnik - with Jools Holland vocalist Louise Marshall one of two female backing singers.
The line-up was in the groove from the off, with the pink flamingo-carrying audience - including fans in the £58 per head best seats - up and dancing along.
Dressed casually in an opennecked, untucked black shirt and matching loose-fitting slacks, Almond proved an effervescent and still sprightly presence, embellishing his performance with his trademark theatrical flourishes.
He was clearly enjoying himself, smiling and encouraging the fans to sing along as he delivered bouncy renditions of The Days of Pearly Spencer, Tears Run Rings and Where the Heart Is.
Almond has become something of a regular Perthshire visitor in recent years having appeared three times at Rewind Scotland, and at Perth Festival of the Arts with bandleader Holland in 2014.
Here fans could enjoy the Southport-born singer’s powerful vocals on lesser heard singles such as the epic ballad Child Star and The Desperate Hours, replete with Flamenco rhythms.
Something’s Gotten Hold of My Heart - Almond’s number one with the late Gene Pitney - further raised the bar, before he showed some nifty dance moves during Soft Cell classic Torch.
Chat was kept to a minimum, but he earned a huge cheer when told the fans, “It’s nice to be back in Perth, and doing a fuller concert for you than a few
The Flicks numbers at Rewind. You’re a great audience.”
After support band The Flicks had joined in on his feelgood new single A Kind of Love, it was anthems all the way.
Famed for making other people’s songs his own, the show’s finale included his much-loved covers of Jacques Brel’s Jacky and HB Barnum’s What!, as well as crowdpleasing Soft Cell touchstones Bedsitter and Down In the Subway.
Ever-playful, the singer happily accepted gifts passed up from the stalls including fluffy toys and a pair of funky pink Dame Edna-style glasses, which he briefly tried on.
Euphoria greeted Soft Cell’s million-selling electro-classic Tainted Love - sounding gigantic in the cavernous venue - which segued into another fans’ favourite, Where Did Our Love Go.
That cleared the way for surely one of the loudest roars of approval Perth Concert Hall has ever witnessed as Almond closed his set with the joyful My Hand Over My Heart.
There was still time for him to cheekily exhort his followers Marc Almond to “wave your pink things around” as he returned with his signature tune Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
For someone who’s sold over 30 million records Marc Almond appears to have kept his feet on the ground. He nearly died following a motorcycle smash in 2004, but has clearly retained his sense of humour.
Hence his parting shot : “I know what you’re thinking, you can’t believe he’s 59. It’s incredible!”