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Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphries of OMD (Photo by Tom Oxley)
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) announces “Live From Your Sofa!” — an online performance featuring never-before-seen footage of the whole of last year’s Hammersmith Apollo London show. The OMD concert film screens on YouTube on Saturday, May 9.
The B-52s perform at The Anthem on Sept. 17, 2019. (Photos by Jason Nicholson; Words by Mickey McCarter)
“Forty years ago, we used to stay up all night and drink coffee to make big plans about the future,” said Kate Pierson of The B-52s. “We called ourselves the Deadbeat Club.” With that, the band launched into the song bearing the title “Deadbeat Club” from 1989’s Cosmic Thing in the middle of their concert at The Anthem recently.
Touring on a 40th band anniversary, which coincides with Cosmic Thing’s 30th anniversary, The B-52s could have stuck to that sunny album of earworms and pleased the bustling crowd at The Anthem. But delightfully, The B-52s took the opportunity to celebrate their entire career with the anniversary show, and played selections both familiar and quirky from across six of their seven studio albums.
Joined by openers Berlin, the California new wave collective, and English synthpop quartet Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, The B-52s tour proved consistently entertainingly and downright beguiling while turning The Anthem into a nonstop dance party.
The B-52s (Photo by Pieter M. van Hattem)
The B-52s are traveling on a 2019 world tour to celebrate the 40 years since their self-titled debut album, heading to The Anthem on Tuesday, Sept. 17 before wrapping up on Sept. 24 in New York.
Accompanying The B-52s are California new wavers Berlin, with all three classic members reunited, and English synthpoppers Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. This is the show of the month if not the year!
OMD performs at The Fillmore Charlotte on Aug. 31, 2019. (Photo by Mickey McCarter)
You could feel the “electricity” in the air long before you heard the song of the same name when Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, or OMD, played a headlining show at The Fillmore Charlotte recently. OMD thrilled the very full house to its core as the quintessential English synthpoppers hit the second of four solo shows in a break from opening for The B-52s.
“You may ask yourself, well, how did I get here?” David Byrne ponders being my No. 1 concert in 2018. (Photo by Mickey McCarter)
Editor’s Note: This year, we asked our bloggers to name their Top 10 shows of 2018 or choose their Top 10 photos of the year. We will run them over the course of mid-December as our Best of the Year posts.
Hi, I’m Mickey, editor of Parklife DC. I’m an MTV-bred New Wave and Post-Punk kid at heart, and it will come as no surprise to you that my Top 10 concerts of 2018 mostly burst right off your television screens in 1985.
Paul Humphreys and Andy McCluskey of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark pose in San Francisco for NME in 1981. (Photo by Chester Simpson)
Urgh! A Music war, a cult-classic concert film, straddles divides across new wave, punk, and post-punk acts performing in 1980. Parklife DC screens the film at Black Cat on Monday, Oct. 1. Admission is free!
Andy McCluskey fronts Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) at 9:30 Club on March 6, 2018. (Photo by Mickey McCarter)
Few bands command the power and precision of new wave pioneers Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), who stopped by 9:30 Club for a sold-out performance on March 6. Parklife DC previously published a review of that show, but we have a second set of pictures to share, and there’s no such thing as too much OMD in our opinion.
Andy McCluskey fronts Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark with some signature dance moves at 9:30 Club on March 6, 2018. (Photo by Paivi)
Andy McCluskey moved like a man possessed. As frontman for Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Andy danced up a storm during a sold-out show at 9:30 Club on Tuesday. And with that distinctive dancing, Andy threw wide his arms, hugged himself, and generally windmilled around the stage frenetically.
OMD (Photo courtesy Tell All Your Friends)
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, aka OMD, are one of the best modern English bands to emerge from the UK new wave scene, and I would go so far as to say one of the best bands ever anywhere period. OMD play at 9:30 Club on Tuesday, March 6, and you can win tickets to go with Parklife DC by joining us at Dodge City on Thursday, Jan. 11.
Paul Humphreys and Andy McCluskey (right) of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (Photo courtesy Ticketfly)
The brilliant Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) released The Punishment of Luxury, their 13th studio album, on Sept. 1 via 100% Records subsidiary White Noise. The album fared very well commercially, hitting #4 on the UK Albums chart as well as #7 on the US Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart.
I had the genuine pleasure of again chatting with Andy McCluskey, vocalist, bassist, keyboardist, and songwriter for OMD, as the band will launch a North American Tour with a performance at 9:30 Club on March 6, 2018. (It’s not officially announced by 9:30 Club yet, but buy your tickets online here.)
In our chat, Andy provides insights into songs on The Punishment of Luxury, shares his feelings on recent work by Gary Numan and New Order, and reveals artists (with some surprises) with whom OMD would like to collaborate (particularly as they approach their 40th anniversary as a band).
I babbled a bit more than usual because he’s a personal hero, and as such my interview covered a lot of ground. I’ve edited the order of the questions to improve their logical flow and trimmed them where necessary for brevity. (Also, perhaps read our previous Parklife DC interview with Andy McCluskey from May 2016.)
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