Tom Bailey performs at Rams Head on Stage in Annapolis, Maryland, on July 24, 2018. (Photo by Jason Nicholson)

Tom Bailey’s return to pop music has been nothing short of inspired.

As a vocalist and guitarist of the Thompson Twins, Tom has a wealth of well-regarded material that largely laid dormant until he picked up those songs and started performing them live again in 2014. Inspired by the experience, he’s released a new album while venturing out for some solo dates during a big tour with Culture Club and the B-52’s!

In the area for The Life Tour with those fellow new wavers, Tom played a solo show at Rams Head on Stage in Annapolis on Tuesday. (And he returns for a solo show in Rockville on Aug. 2!)

On July 13, Tom released his first solo album, Science Fiction. In concert on Tuesday, he and his band performed a few songs from that album, including the title track, in addition to a number of the best songs from the Thompson Twins — songs like “Love on Your Side,” “King for a Day,” “Lay Your Hands on Me,” and “Doctor! Doctor!”

The man sounds absolutely great, and he looks terrific! Clad in a white suit that offsets a shock of grey hair, Tom is aesthetically coordinated with an equally striking band of three ladies he humorously called “The Sisters of Mercy,” after the Thompson Twins song of a similar name, on at least one occasion. (He also jokingly acknowledged the name was in use by another band.)

The band — drummer Paulina Szczepaniak, keyboardist Charlotte Raven, and bassist Alice Offley — play the Thompson Twins’ songs quite well and they are equally at home on Tom’s new stuff. It is a sincere pleasure to hear them bring their talents to the stage.

Listen to Science Fiction by Tom Bailey on Bandcamp:

[bandcamp width=100% height=120 album=3123423910 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 tracklist=false artwork=small]

Tom Bailey and his very cool band return to touring with Culture Club and the B-52’s tomorrow, July 27, in Boston, but Tom and company also have some solo dates on the horizon. Indeed, they return to DC metro on Aug. 2 with a show at the Robert E. Parilla Performing Arts Center at Montgomery College in Rockville, Maryland. Buy your tickets online.

Here are some pictures of Tom Bailey performing at Rams Head on Stage on July 24, 2018. All photos copyright and courtesy of Jason Nicholson.