Erasure- Ventura Theater, Ventura, CA 10/26/14 (SHOW REVIEW)

The English synth pop duo known as Erasure that formed in London in 1985, brought their Electronic Dance roots music to an adulate full house at the Ventura Majestic Theater, on a warm Sunday night, October 26th.  Although the duo had only three hits on the US charts, A Little Respect”, “Chains of Love”, and “Always”, from the late 80’s to 1994, the band have been virtual superstars in most of western Europe for the last four decades. From 1986 to 2007, Erasure achieved 24 consecutive Top 40 hits in the UK. By 2009, 34 of their 45 singles and EPs had made it into  the UK Top 40, with 17 soaring into the Top 10. Erasure just released their sixteenth album, The Violent Flame on September 23rd and their show at the Ventura theater, featured 20 songs spanning their long and illustrious career.

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The unlikely pairing of the flamboyant lead singer and champion of the LGBT community, Andy Bell, and the shy and sultry synth music visionary, Vince Clarke proved to be a winning combination at Sundays nights show, augmented by a pair of talented back-up singer dancers and an enormous light show, that enveloped the historic old theater. The show was not unlike the springtime concert at the same venue featuring the iconic English duo the Pet Shop Boys. The show featured the same dynamic between a behind the scenes electro synth master creating an orchestrated crescendo of dance music with an animated lead singer as the front man. But where the Pet Shop Boys played a darker type of early EDM popular with many 80’s bands, Erasure has always opted for a more upbeat lighter dance beat. In fact, Vince Clarke was the original keyboardist and lead singer for Depeche Mode back in 1980, and was responsible for their first three hit singles “Dreaming of Me”, “New Life” and “Just Can’t Get Enough”.  Clarke then left the group because their music was taking a turn towards a darker tone that was not his preferred style. According to Clarke, “I mean, we were a lot younger. We didn’t really know how to handle what was happening all at once, and I didn’t feel that the band were doing what kind of music that I wanted to do, I guess. There were a lot of personal conflicts, and there were egos flying around like crazy, you know? It doesn’t help that you’re like eighteen or nineteen.”

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Following a short but successful collaboration with female singer Alison Moyet, in the band Yazoo, Clarke went on to form Erasure with Bell and the band has sold over 25 million records since their collaboration began together. When asked about how he felt about the new album in comparison to the scope of his work, Clark stated  “Once you’ve made the record, it’s very hard for me to put it into context with everything else that I’ve done, because it’s so new. I think certain songs take on different meanings as we grow older. That’s certainly been true for the songs we’ve done in the past. Or something that you don’t really understand, perhaps, suddenly takes on it’s own kind of meaning when it’s performed live”.

Whether they were playing new songs or their oldest hits, in Ventura, the crowd danced and clapped in joyous synchronicity for the entire show. While Clarke stoically played his keyboards or occasional guitar, Bell pranced around like the veteran Diva that he is. His famous onstage antics have been toned down over the years by a condition that has led to double hip replacement, but that didn’t stop him from dancing to nearly every song. Bell appeared on stage in a large sequenced top hat and a sparkly outfit with a Joy Division Unknown Pleasures T shirt underneath. A few songs into the show he pulled a toy rabbit out of the hat before disposing of it. As the show progressed he slowly shed his clothes ending up only in the t shirt and tight sequenced shorty shorts, looking much like a Vaudeville stripper. Despite his over the top antics it was his crisp clear high note voice that kept the crowd enthralled with his performance. Joking early on that his voice seems to be getting lower and lower as he gets older, his exquisite vocal skills from his youth remain largely intact. By the end of the second encore the duo even had the fans dancing in the balcony like a Saturday night in a trendy 80’s dance club. The sound that has evolved into today’s EDM is still really fun to dance to.

Setlist

Setlist
1. Oh L’Amour
2.Star
3Reason
4Breath of Life
5You Surround Me
6Elevation
7I Lose Myself
8Drama!
9Victim of Love
10Ship of Fools
11Sacred
12Breathe
13Joan
14Blue Savannah
15Chorus
16Love to Hate You
17A Little Respect
18Chains of Love

Encore:
19.Always
20.Sometimes

 

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