Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark (OMD), Underground Lovers Moda Discoteca @ Entertainment Centre, Adelaide 18/2/2025

It has been nearly thirty eight years since Orchestral Manoeuvres in The Dark (OMD) last visited our fair shores, 1987 in fact. A lot of waters and a lot of music have passed under the bridge since then. The band released their first single, Electricity, way back in 1979 and even with a ten-year hiatus from 1996 to 2006, the band continue to release quality albums to this day.

Of all nights to be playing The Entertainment Centre, it had to be the night Kylie was in town, next door in the arena, which made parking a pain. So, it was a very early arrival and a coffee while trying to spot who were the Kylie or OMD fans, entering the Entertainment Centre.

Underground Lovers Moda Discoteca supported OMD on this tour and with a “How exciting is it, OMD and Kylie in the same venue” from singer Vincent Giarrusso, the band opened with Cold Feeling. Who ever had the role of finding a support band for OMD did an amazing job, as the band fitted the music perfectly. “Last time we were in Adelaide we played The Garden of Unbearable Delights. Is that what it is called?”, Vincent asked us. He was soon put right on the name. Losin’ It came next, the band playing to perfection, as was the mix. The music is soulful at times, mournful at others and loosely fits into shoe gaze music.

Your Eyes and Starsigns finished a thirty-minute, polished set with punters calling for more. Let’s hope the band return to Adelaide soon for their own headline show. Simply amazing!

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark began the set with Evolution of the Species from their latest album Bauhaus Staircase playing out on the big screen, with the video clip counting down to man’s extinction. When extinction came, four men in black walked on stage, taking up their positions behind their instruments, Paul Humphries on keyboards, Martin Cooper also on keyboards, Stuart Shaw on drums and Andy McCluskey on vocals, occasional bass guitar and self-confessed “bad dancing”.

Anthropocene from Bauhaus Staircase started, with the unmistakable OMD sound rolling out the speakers. Andy was indeed dancing (not too badly) to and fro across the stage. After 1980’s Messages, Adelaide was told “You have already won the award for being the noisiest crowd on this tour” by Andy. “Also, apologies for taking thirty eight years to get back here”.

Tesla Girls had the crowd dancing and when Andy asked everyone to “1, 2, 3 Jump” during History of Modern (Part 1), they did. Paul Humphries was invited down to sing (Forever) Live and Die, then Andy told us “The song from THE movie”. Phones were reached for without any clarification of the song, but then it could only be one song, If You Leave, from Pretty in Pink. Martin Cooper supplied some beautiful sax during the song.

“We are going to play some songs from 1981” started with Paul on vocals on Souvenir with Andy on bass, standing behind drummer, Stuart Shaw. How many bands can claim to have had two singles off the same album, with technically the same name? The two singles naturally were Joan of Arc and Joan of Arc (Maid of Orleans) (sometimes called Maid of Orleans (The Waltz Joan of Arc). The two songs were played back-to-back, the stage going dark after the first before being bathed in red for the Maid of Orleans version. The enthusiasm flowing from the audience was certainly radiated back from the band. A bit of trivia, the Maid of Orleans version was written by Andy McCluskey on 30 May 1981, the 550th anniversary of Joan of Arc’s death.

I guess that was Part One of the set as next up, the stage went dark again and a video called Rock Drill was played on the big screen before the band launched into an extremely beautiful ballad, Veruschka from the latest album. All four members were at the front of the stage playing small versions of their instruments. “It’s dangerous to do a new slow ballad in the middle of the set,” said Andy “but we will play another slow ballad, an old one this time.” The song was Talking Loud and Clear from 1984.
Then back to “mindless dancing music” with Don’t Go and Secret. More wonderful sax from Martin Cooper on So in Love before Locomotion, (no, not the song sung by the lady playing next door) and a drum driven Sailing on the Seven Seas. Enola Gay rounded out the main set and with the beat slowly fading at the end, and a “you have been fabulous Adelaide”, as the band left the stage.

The big screen behind the band had great effects on it all night, but never overpowered the music, rather complimenting the songs.

Back on stage, Andy told the story of “the lady next door stealing the Ivor Novello Award off them twenty four years ago, with her single Can’t Get you Out of my Head. Andy and Stuart had written a song for Atomic Kitten called Whole Again, which was also nominated, but Kylie won.

The encore was a backward movement through time starting with 2023’s Look at You Know followed by 1991’s Pandora’s Box and then “the oldest, fastest song we got, Electricity. Dance like it’s 1979” And dance we did. A final “thanks and we promise we will be back and it won’t take thirty eight years” the band were gone.

The show was advertised as their Greatest Hits Tour and the first-class music lived up to its name.
Two (basically) sold out concerts at the same venue, on the same night, shows Adelaide certainly supports live music if it comes to this town.

Live Review By Geoff Jenke