omd live los angeles in-store performance

Share

Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark are in the midst of their first world tour in more than 20 years. And as a friend of old waver can attest, they are killing it.

Thanks to slicingupeyeballs and L.A.'s Amoeba Music, you can see for yourself how well Andy McCluskey has aged.

Yesterday afternoon, OMD did an in-store performance to a packed house. It's roughly a 30 minute set — or as McCluskey calls it "a seven song history of the band." The magic begins at the 18:45 mark:




Good times, eh?

omd kicks off us tour in nyc

Share

Consummate old wavers OMD began a month long US tour in support of History Of Modern last night at Terminal 5 in New York City.

Originally scheduled at the 1,400 capacity Webster Hall, the show was moved to Terminal 5 where around 3,000 took in the sold out show. An old waver operative was in attendance taking copious notes, and youtuber aldovernal was rolling digital to bring you the clips you'll see here.

According to our ears on the ground, Andy McCluskey seemed genuinely amazed by the reception and turn out — even getting a little choked up at the end before declaring they'll definitely be back.

The crowd was an equal mix of old wavers and young kids, and both enthusiastically greeted the classics like "Enola Gay":




Before breaking into Pretty In Pink's "If You Leave," McCluskey cracked “we were doing great as an alternative band until we wrote this":




McCluskey worked the stage like a cross between Molly Ringwald and David Byrne throughout the show. His quote, “my dancing wasn’t dignified 30 years ago — but I still do it.” Here's the final encore "Electricity":




See the full setlist below. The only complaints we heard were the prominence of syrupy ballad "Walking On The Milky Way" and the exclusion of "Secrets." Regardless, we're certainly glad they're back.

1. New Babies; New Toys
2. Messages
3. Tesla Girls
4. Radio Waves
5. History of Modern (Part 1)
6. Forever Live and Die
7. If You Leave
8. Souvenir
9. Joan of Arc
10. Maid of Orleans
11. New Holy Ground
12. Green
13. Talking Loud and Clear
14. So in Love
15. Sister Mary Says
16. Locomotion
17. Dreaming
18. Sailing on the Seven Seas
19. Enola Gay
20. Encore: Walking on the Milky Way
21. Encore: Electricity

omd enola gay flashback

Share

As I was purchasing my trenta iced coffee (don't judge) at Starbucks this morning, a familiar keyboard line hung in the air. It took a moment and then I realized, that's "Enola Gay"!

I'd like to personally shake the hand of the music director at Starbucks for taking a break from James Blunt and Colbie Caillat long enough to share the OMD classic with the morning drive masses.

To pay it forward, I'd like to share it with you. There's a fine live version out there, but I'll stick with the studio track. Boy Andy McCluskey looks young:




As a bonus, here's McCluskey and Paul Humphreys from the wonderful BBC documentary "Synth Britannia." At 1:33 you'll see the original mail-order Korg on which "Enola Gay" was written:




You may now carry on with your day enriched and informed.

OMD's comeback manoeuvres

Share

The classic lineup of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark has been split since 1989. Founding member Andy McCluskey carried on the OMD name for a few more years and three more albums, but they became more or less a forgotten second tier new wave act.

Now McCluskey, Paul Humphreys, Malcolm Holmes and Martin Cooper have sensed the groundswell of synth pop resurgence and decided to reunite for a new album and tour.

You can't blame them for trying, and really, studio album number 11 isn't a total miss. In fact, History of Modern has plenty of what made OMD a chart topping success in the 80's.

The elementary synth sounds and McCluskey's signature voice are given a modern production sheen that puts them somewhere between latter day Depeche Mode and the Pet Shop Boys on the "is this too gay to like?" continuum.

There are some soulful numbers and dance floor thumpers that may make your wince, but there are moments that make you fondly remember OMD's place in your childhood soundtrack.  For instance, "History Of Modern (part II)":

History of Modern (part II) - OMD by oldwaver

And if that doesn't get you all glassy-eyed nostalgic, how about their one true classic in a fan-made Pretty In Pink video mashup:



Jon Cryer peaked with Ducky.


FJ8C7QBM4KNA