Pseudo Echo @ The Gov, Adelaide 25/11/2022
After trying to negotiate the last couple of years during Covid with numerous reschedules along the way Pseudo Echo finally made it back to Adelaide to play to a bumper Friday night crowd at The Gov. There is no denying the influence this band had on the 80s with their stylised look and electro sound firmly establishing themselves as one of the most iconic and influential bands going around that had a kit bag so full of big hit singles so catchy and likeable that even if you didn’t follow the band you still knew who they were. Tonight was no different, great tunes, great sound, done well!
Pseudo Echo has a different line up these days led by main stay Brian Canham (vocals and guitar) but the signature keytar sound is still very much there. Joined by James Mudd (keytar), Matt Ray (keytar) and Cameron Smith (drums) is was a rock solid two hour set initially focusing on debut album Autumnal Park (1984). It is no surprise why this album charted so strongly with a slew of popular hits starting the set off with Stranger In Me, His Eyes, See Through and Destination Unknown. The crowd were up and about when the recognisable A Beat Of You, which was for all the teenage girls of the 80s started then followed by Dancing Until Midnight.
The band looked great, sounded great and played this iconic hits with such precision. Their second album Love An Adventure was put under the microscope as well and it was a real treasure trove of gold considering the hits played such as the title track, Don’t Go, Living In A Dream and Try. Canham mentioned that some of these songs played over the course of the evening had not been played in years and described them as being like old friends.
The journey continued giving fans a glimpse in to their third album Race which saw the band change direction musically which reflected what was going on at the time. The tunes in the set from that album included the likes of Eye Of The Storm, Take on the World, Over Tomorrow and Fooled Again. It was definitely great to hear some of these tunes that we ordinarily wouldn’t expect to hear in the live set.
Canham spoke of the songs that influenced and “moulded” him from a very early age particularly with the use of synthesisers. One such hit was Ike and Tina Turner’s Nutbush City Limits which the saw the crowd break in to the Nutbush followed by Real Life’s Send Me An Angel. Absolutely stellar! The longest Canham spoke was when he spoke about that moment when the band broke having been on Countdown when they played Listening. That was preceded by the story about supporting Siouxsie and the Banshees and doing a flyer drop to five hundred cars in the carpark advertising their next gig which worked and the infamous Molly Meldrum was there who altered their career trajectory. So, the song that started it all Listening went off as did the extended version of Funky Town.
The crowd wanting one more got it with the band returning to play Ultraviolet from the album of the same name. Great way to kick off the weekend, let’s hope they make up for lost time and see them again over the summer.
Live Review By Rob Lyon