Hadley, Norman & Keeble – An Evening Of Gold
Angel Air
http://www.angelair.co.uk/

Rating:  B-

Spandau Ballet was arguably one of the most successful bands of the so called New Romantic movement that peaked in Britain during the 80’s.  The group, which released six albums from 1981-89 also managed to crack the top ten in the U.K. on quite a few occasions, even scoring a number one hit with “True” in 1983. After they split up at the end of the 80’s things got a bit ugly for members Tony Hadley, Steve Norman and John Keeble. Their lawsuit against principal songwriter Gary Kemp for back royalties backfired, which then forced them to sell their share of the band’s name over to Kemp when they couldn’t cover their legal costs. Because of their inability to use the band’s name they adopted the moniker of Hadley, Norman & Keeble when they began touring together in 2000.

On An Evening Of Gold, a live concert recorded in the fall of 2002, the trio is augmented by truly cracking band, which comes complete with female backing singers, as they perform all of Spandau Ballet’s hits and choice album cuts from their back catalogue. What is somewhat surprising here is just how ballsy some of these songs come across live. Tracks like “To Cut A Long Story Short”, “Highly Strung” and “Chant No 1” have some fairly heavy, driving guitar work and are bolstered by the solid rhythm section of drummer John Keeble and bassist Phil Williams. Singer and master of ceremonies Tony Hadley is also in fine form both vocally and personally, as he seems to be thoroughly enjoying himself by chatting up the ladies between songs.  The show reaches its climax with two of the biggest chart toppers of Spandau’s career, “True” and “Gold”, along with   a decent run through of “Hey Jealousy” originally done by The Gin Blossoms.  Save for an ill advised cover of Duran Duran’s “Save A Prayer” early on, An Evening Of Gold provides a solid evening worth’s of Spandau Ballet’s music. It’s ironic though because eleven of the fourteen songs that were performed at this concert were penned by Gary Kemp, so he managed to cash in without actually taking part.  

If you’re a fan of Spandau Ballet’s music An Evening Of Gold will probably be a welcome addition to your collection. However, it might be something of a moot point in the wake of the trio patching up their differences with Kemp and reuniting in 2009.

    -Ryan Sparks