Anyway, I checked the career of OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark) and it was just a case of perfect timing that all their hits ran smack into my high school years, specifically from second year to fourth year high school. After that, their hits stopped. That's the reason why although I only knew six of their songs (and I don't remember ever buying any of their studio albums) - I decided to watch their show last night. I mean, whoever could forget Pretty in Pink's 'If You Leave' and Molly Ringwald and Forever Live and Die from Live and Die in LA! Imagine, those were the betamax years and I don't even think those movies reached Cebu theatres AT ALL!
As for the show, well, both guys still had IT! Except for the awful dancing, more like flailing really, they still had the vocal range and capability to reach the high notes of their songs. As for the synthesizer sounds, yup, it was pretty heavy that night and I guess all that was missing were seeing the ladies with big hair and the guys in multicolored layered shirts! It was 80's new wave night after all!
If only the band played all their six hits together in one ensemble, it would've turned out to be perfect 80's party - there's If You Leave, Secret, Forever Live and Die, Dreaming, So In Love and Locomotion! They did play all of that but kinda scattered it all over their 20 or so song setlist. Include Enola Gay and Electricity plus some of their new songs from their History of Modern album, and you get a heavily synthesized new wave concert which certainly made many in the, ok, I admit it, mature crowd very happy! It was like high school all over again and it was great to see many HS buddy groups around - very much like what I saw during the Human League-Howard Jones concert. Practically rows of seats would be taken by groups of men or women or a mixture of both.
I did listen to the band's History of Modern CD and although they only played 2 or songs in the concert, the new album doesn't really stray away from their signature sound. The heavy synth though might turn away the younger audience or if the boys really want it, they could invite a rapper or someone like Nicki Minaj or Jessie J into the mix to kinda update their music. Otherwise, they could just stick to what they believe works for them, and I'm sure their old fans will keep coming back for more.
As for me, once I heard the first few notes of If You Leave, Secret and Dreaming, I couldn't help but feel a sudden rush of nostalgia, which made the hairs of my arms stand! I felt like I was transported back to the summers and Christmases of 1985 to 1987 or thereabouts! Oh well, those were the innocent days and it was great to relive them even for a few minutes - definitely a part of the soundtrack of my life.
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