STOKE 2004 REVIEWS

 

www.bbc.co.uk/stoke November 2004

Stuart George

LISTEN TO THE VOICE OF BUDDAH

After a long wait, those pop music futurists The Human League finally returned to The Victoria Hall in Stoke-on-Trent to fill the audience with Electric Dreams...

It's been around twenty five years since the Human League played in Hanley, so this gig was long overdue.

As the crowd gathered in the entrance to the Victoria Hall it was great to see so many people trying to be Gary Numan or Siouxie Soux… an eclectic crowd, some were goths (many years ago), others looked like they'd spent the day working in a bank.

White coats

Anyway, to the gig.  The support band were indifferent, but sounded similar to Tubeway Army. Why they were wearing white coats remains a mystery.

The Human League were much better. This was the fourth time I'd seen them and they didn't disappoint. 

Laptop

Three keyboardists (one doubling up on guitar), a chap with a laptop and vocoder, and Philip Oakey, Susan Sulley and Joanne Catherall in all their glory.

The set had all the old favourites; Mirrorman, Don't You Want Me, Love Action, and Human, as well as a song Phil did with All Seeing I (First Man in Space) and a couple of tracks from their pre-Dare days (Empire State Human was great).

Being Boiled

Highlight of the night (for some) was the woman who took her top off - for others it was the brilliant rendition of Being Boiled. The fact that they occurred at the same time may well suggest it was her favourite song too!

All in all, a great show - I just hope they come back to Hanley sooner rather than later.