Howard Jones/ABC/Haircut 100 N. American tour 2024

Apropos of nothing I went to abcmartinfry.com today to see that ABC ★ ★ ★ were touring America this summer with Howard Jones and Haircut 100. Two of those bands mean little to me, but I've been pining to see ABC ★ ★ ★ ever since the glory of "Skyscraping" and their [okay, his] trickle of strong albums following on from that point. And Boy Howdy, they will be playing the Masonic in Cleveland on the 31st of August. The weekend my wife and I are in Akron for a family reunion/cookout the next day. Here are the dates:

Howard Jones/ABC ★ ★ ★/Haircut 100

Aug 14 Wed | Marymoor Park Concerts | Redmond, WA
Aug 16 Fri | Sandy Amphitheater | Sandy, UT
Aug 17 Sat | Sandy Amphitheater | Sandy, UT
Aug 18 Sun | The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas | Las Vegas, NV
Aug 20 Tue | YouTube Theater | Los Angeles, CA
Aug 21 Wed | The Sound | Del Mar, CA
Aug 22 Thu | Celebrity Theatre | Phoenix, AZ
Aug 24 Sat | ABC & Howard Jones with Haircut 100 | Oklahoma City, OK
Aug 25 Sun | Uptown Theater | Kansas City, MO
Aug 26 Mon | The Factory | Chesterfield, MO
Aug 28 Wed | The Athenaeum Theatre | Columbus, OH
Aug 29 Thu | The Colosseum at Caesars Windsor | Windsor, ON, Canada
Aug 30 Fri | OLG Stage at Fallsview Casino | Niagara Falls, ON, Canada
Aug 31 Sat | TempleLive Cleveland Masonic | Cleveland, OH
Sep 1 Sun | The Paramount | Huntington, NY
Sep 4 Wed | The Wellmont Theater | Montclair, NJ
Sep 5 Thu | The Capitol Theatre | Port Chester, NY
Sep 6 Fri | The Paramount | Huntington, NY

Apparently Haircut 100 is the original lineup. They've not been on US soil since 1982! Never meant too much to me but the singles were not offensive. As for Howard Jones, I've always considered him a Prog guy slumming in synthpop. We only ever caught 2 songs of HoJo on the OMD/Barenaked Ladies tour of 2016. We then got cringeworthy EDM versions of songs I didn’t like to begin with! But I also see that his band includes Nick Beggs on bass! He's now part of HoJo's band? Has anyone see this lineup of Jones, and does he allow Beggs to play that funky music he does so well? I might need to stay and see Jones even if he's on last with Beggs doing the magic he's capable of doing. After all, why would you hire Beggs if you didn't want Beggs? Hopefully ABC ★ ★ ★ will play for more than an hour on this jaunt, but as I'll be 45 minutes away, I'd like to go.

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What do the four stars following ABC mean? Are any original members besides Martin Fry left? (Bring back Trevor Horn and Anne Dudley, even if they weren't an official part of the band!)

It's a riff on the ABC logo I always use online, which typically has three vertical stars, but I can't achieve that look online.

Fry has effectively been the band since 1997, though original drummer David Palmer returned to co-write/co-produce 2008's great "Traffic" album.

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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/30/2024 07:32AM by Post-Punk Monk.

Post-Punk Monk Wrote:
Has anyone see this lineup of Jones,
> and does he allow Beggs to play that funky music
> he does so well?

I've seen this lineup before and yes, Jones does acknowledge Beggs and they do a pretty good version of 'Too Shy'. The crowd went wild for that song, I had no idea that there were that many Kajagoogoo fans here.

I'm not a Kajagoogoo fan…I'm a Nick Beggs fan. I like the Beggs-fronted, post-Limahl version called Kaja in America. But even in the googoo, Begg's bassline for "Too Shy" was so dextrously supple to as to make "Too Shy" somewhat bearable. In recent years. Beggs has become a go-to bassist for many a Prog and Neo-Prog act for a good reason.

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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/30/2024 08:17PM by Post-Punk Monk.

Since Nick Heyward is back with Haircut 100, that might be interesting. Their Pelican West album is solid, light weight stuff, and Nick is (or was, at least) a really good singer.

(pause)

OK, I had to go check. Looked up some recent live recordings on YouTube, and Heyward sounds fantastic. The band as a whole does, actually. I would definitely check out this show if it was coming anywhere near me.

A joyous, New Wave era-affirming concert arrived last night, Sept. 4, in Montclair, New Jersey, with the dynamic threesome of Howard Jones, ABC and Haircut 100.

The sold-out show in the Wellmont Theater teemed with HoJo acolytes who filled the sizable theater with a thousand singalong voices and melodic responses, encouraged by Jones to share in his memorable music.

As other posters here note, the bassist Nick Beggs was superlative in his riffing ... as too were guitarist Robin Boult and keyboardist/sound arranger Robbie Bronnimann.

Jones himself is a deft keyboardist and arranger, though for several songs he stepped away from the center-stage keyboards and handled vocals while Bronnimann filled in with keys; synth-drums and other electronic sounds were prerecorded. At times the quartet produced thunderously synth-beat heavy music akin to Depeche Mode, but ominous pounding repetitions contrasted with Jones' upbeat lyrics, warm voice and equally warm personality.

Attending were plenty of ABC fans. Dapper and swank, Martin Fry and his touring quintet -- guitar, bass, drums, and two keys, one member also playing sax --provided much music from ABC's brilliant 1982 debut, "The Lexicon of Love," and select tunes from ensuing albums. Fry repeatedly thanked the audience and joked that, when he first formed ABC (with Mark White and Stephen Singleton), the members vowed to always wear tuxedos when performing, a commitment he now wryly regrets.

Fry retains his powerful delivery, although at times the powerful music behind him blotted out some of his lyrical turns-of-phrase. It's a concert problem encountered by many singer/songwriters when the instrumentation feeds are set on "11" and the vocal mic at a mere "9."

Still, Fry and his ensemble performed with excellence. One seatmate unfamiliar with ABC compared Fry to David Bowie. Yup, to a degree, during Bowie's "Berlin Trilogy" period. A more apt comparison is to Bryan Ferry during the later, less-avant-garde Roxy Music. But really, Martin Fry is a singular performer, and he imparted his own enthusiasm to the admiring throng, standing ovations included.

Last night's wondrous surprise was Haircut 100. Regrouped with its original singer/songwriter/guitarist Nick Hayward and three other original members, the lineup also includes a trio of two horns and a percussionist, all of them awesome musicians in their own right.

Hayward excelled. The seven performers together excelled.

Often dismissed by caustic critics as lightweight popsters when the band debuted with "Pelican West" in 1982, Haircut 100 in 2024 is an immensely tight, immensely entertaining band. "Pelican's" hit songs, heard live in 2024, sound familiarly fresh and exciting. On ultra-rhythmic electric guitar, Hayward sang with impeccable relish, hitting flawless falsetto and energetically bounding across the stage.

Haircut 100 members repeatedly beamed smiles at the audience and, more significantly, at one another. A talented and successful solo artist, Heyward rejoiced at once again being a member of his original band.

Noting that "Pelican West" was released 42 years ago, Heyward, too, expressed the audience-shared exuberance of New Wave music's sustained popularity.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/05/2024 03:31PM by Marko.

Thanks for the review, Marko! Glad you had such a great time.

Did Haircut 100 play their reunion single "The Unloving Plum"?

I saw the show in CLE last week and H100 were way better than the handful of singles I'd heard. Apparently Blair Cunningham was having health issues that precluded his participation, so there were only three of five original members onstage. They played like their lives depended on it and were an excellent 30 minutes. Always leave 'em wanting more?

ABC ★ ★ ★ played an hour and had a set that was close to being 1990 "Absolutely" compilation, but better. Biggest thrill of the evening was a thunderous "That Was Then, But This Is Now" but all of it was great. I was up for a lot more recent material, but all we got there was the admittedly excellent "Viva Love" which does slot in comfortably next to "Lexicon" material. I had been hoping for the title track to "Skyscraping," now my fave song by the band. The five piece band [bass, drums, guitars, 2 keys w/one player doubling on sax] were definitely rocking it! Adding bass and guitar solos where appropriate. The weirdest thing? The drummer [who also was the BVs] resembled third album "member" David Yarritu! I have been trying to find the band member's names online to no avail, but they delivered.

The revelation was Howard Jones. His portfolio of material I never much liked went from mushy, past-sell-by-date synthpop into Art Rock territory thanks to Jones building the band around Beggs' Chapman Stick. He was as upbeat and personable as ever, but the music was rather more complex and engaging to my ears! I could have bolted if I was not having a good time, but that sure didn't happen! I was thrilled that HoJogoogoo gave a berth to "Too Shy" as it took on a Jazz Funk flavor with Jones' piano and his singing wiped the floor with Limahl's. Would I see him again without ABC ★ ★ ★ on the bill? With this band, hell to the yeah. The only gaffe all night was Jones penchant for doing a raved up EDM version of "Things Can Only Get Better" that was incredibly sad as the closing encore.

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