FAN REVIEWS!!!

[b] OPENING NIGHT: PHOENIX, ARIZONA THE DODGE THEATRE
80'S LINE-UP NOTHING BUT HITS!!!!!
The ReGeneration Tour kicked off last night at the Dodge Theatre in Phoenix,Arizona, bringing some of the biggest names from the New Wave era of the 1980's. On the bill,were L.A's Missing Persons, featuring Dale Bozzio, a re-vamped line of A Flock of Seagulls,ABC,Belinda Carlisle ( lead singer of The Go-Go's,with a successful solo career), and headliners The Human League.
Now, keep in mind that all tours have technical or timing problems.This is especially true of the first night of a tour of this size. The show started late,making it necessary for Missing Persons and Flock of Seagulls to play shorter sets,yet, the show was actually better for it.

Missing Persons opened the show. Slamming into their hit,"Destination Unknown",they were very well recieved by the audience.Dale Bozzio graced the stage clad in a black jacket, long blonde and pink tresses,an a plush,pink cowboy-style hat. Always known for her tonal vocal stlye, she was true to form. Her voice has help up very nicely, and from the opening beat,the band rocked....Miss Bozzio and crew delivered!

Time between sets was shorter than expected, so,if you step out between acts...make it quick.

A Flock of Seagulls were next, and, either they planned a very short set, or, due to the late start,had to cut some songs. Yet, in the 4-5 songs they played,I was satisfied. Let's be honest....unless you are a huge fan,only certain songs are really necessary. Don't get me wrong...they were good,but I was grateful for their short set,as I was ready fro ABC.

ABC vocalist Martin Fry has abandoned his 1980's gold lamay jacket, but his voice is still strong, and this crowd ate up every single note. Resembling a well-aging soap star, he wore a genuine smile as he belted out tunes like "The Look of Love" and "When Smokey Sings". The band were tight,and complimented the music behind Martin's crooner-style voice.Their set was longer than the 2 openinng acts,yet they didn't overstay their welcome. Very good, I must say. ABC has quite a large fan-base,and faithful music fans never forget.
After maybe a 10 minutes set change, ex-Go Go Belinda Carlisle took the stage. Dressed simply in all black,her hair worn in a brown swing bob,she recieved a very warm welcome.There has been speculation as to why Belinda would even be on this tour, as she was a Go-Go in the 80's,not starting her solo career until the early 1990's,and, given the (un-conscience) New Wave/Synth Pop theme of the tour, she seems out of place. Yet, she was a welcome break to the electronic, more driven sound of the other acts. Bottom line, with a few Go-Go's tune, and a greatest hits set of her solo material, Belinda, who has family in Phoenix,was very entertaining. Tambourine in hand, she gave a sultry vocal performance on hits like "Circle in the Sand". "I Get Weak",and "Mad About You", which featured an acoustic beginning. Belinda still has the beat. (She currently resides in France, where she has lived for the last 15 years.)

Then......it was time for The Human League. Complete with an all white stage set,and large screens above them,The Human League gave a stunning performance. Lead Singer Phil Oakley entered the stage in a long, priest like black coat,his eyes hidden behind black slim sunglasses. Female vocalists Susan Ann Sulley and Joanne Catherall slinked out, and the show was on. One thing became easily obvious.The Human League owned the stage tonight.
For a band who, self-admittingly, were never meant to be a "live band", The Human League fought their way through the difficult 1990's, even scoring a club favorite with the single "Tell Me When"
Phil and the Ladies blazed through the best of their catalogue. "Human", with it's haunting harmonies and soulful beat came acrossed with elegance.Crowd favorites "Electric Dreams", "The Lebanon",and the opening song "Mirror Man" kept the crowd on it's feet for their entire set.
Now, as you can see, I haven't listed every song done by every artist. I think it's important to have at least some surpirse at a show like this.
It really was a trip back...from the tunes, to the audience. If you looked around the venue, people wore their 80's fashion with nostalgic pride. It was a piece of magic......
Un-fortunatly, the merchandise booth did not get all the items they were supposed to have. Reduced to Regeneration Tour t-shirts,and the new cd by ABC, selection....well, it stunk. I love concert merchandise,so, for me, this was my only dissapointment.
So.please share your experience with us here on this thread. Give us your feedback! And don't forget to vote for your pick of acts for Regeneration Tour 2009 . Just go the home page for the tour, click on "Bands" and vote!
Special Thanks to Rick and Al from Red. Entertainment.
Marc Farr, Phoenix, Arizona

Fantastic review, but disappointed to see no mention of Naked Eyes and looks like Missing Persons stepped in? Anyone know if Naked Eyes playing tonight in Vegas. I love Dale and Crew but...

Great review! Thanks! Seeing the show this coming Thurs and getting more and more excited. Glad to see the new ABC CD was there....may have to bring a few extra $$! Hope the show goes well here. I've seen Naked Eyes a couple of times, as well as the original members of AFOS (we get NE, but no AFOS here) and looking forward to seeing NE again....but it's HL and ABC all the way baby! Whooo hooo!

thanks for your review Marc. Glad we could take care of you and that you enjoyed the show. We pulled into Vegas about 1/2 hour ago and all the gear is being loaded in here at the Planet Hollywood Theater for the Arts which is a beautiful venue! I slept 4 or 5 hours on the couch on the crew bus, all the bunks were full with crew so I am a bit cranky today however I have a room here at PH so while the crew is working hard today I will go and catch up on some sleep.


As you said, a tour this size has a lot of ligistics to deal with and without the benefit of a day/night for a production rehearsal (Ringo Starr was in the Dodge the night before us) a few hiccups and delays are to be expected on the first night as the crew works out their routine for getting everything loaded in, set up on stage and loaded out and as they discover problems with sound/light gear that is in our hands for the first time since leaving their respective shops on the East Coast 3 days ago. Overall is went fairly smoothly with the exception of having to cut the sets of MP and AFOS to avoid overtime charges and still allow ABC, Belinda and THL to do their full sets.

I was a bit disappointed that the rest of the merchandise did not make it for the first show last night in Phoenix, I had doubts the programme would make it as THL's manager did not sign off on the design proofs until the early part of this week. Hopefully by Monday we'll have them for the show in SD. I'm not sure why the other t-shirt design did not make it to Phoenix, it was the first one designed by the merch company but i did hear that 3 boxes that were shipped did not make it and will be here tonight, perhaps that is the other shirt, still.... where are the tote bags, badge/sticker sets and coffee mugs?? Well by Monday in SD we shall know more. IN THE MEANTIME, anyone from Phoenix and Vegas who did not have the opportunity to view or purchase these other shirts or items..... they will shortly be available on the website www.regenerationtour.com when you click on the link for "STUFF".

Oktoberfan wrote:Fantastic review, but disappointed to see no mention of Naked Eyes and looks like Missing Persons stepped in? Anyone know if Naked Eyes playing tonight in Vegas. I love Dale and Crew but...

Naked Eyes begin their run on the tour tonight in Vegas. Missing Persons were only on last night and the two FL shows at the end after THL and Belinda leave the tour.

Regeneration kicked off last night in Phoenix and it was a real treat to listen to some great music. There were several noteworthy performances but I wanted to give Martin Fry and ABC special mention for putting on such an engaging show.

The band sounded tight and Martin made sure that the band had an opportunity to shine, at one point playfully nudging one of the band members forward to enjoy the spotlight during a solo. The fact that they actually seemed to enjoy playing together made their performance even better.

Martin was the consummate showman, delivering a spot-on performance that was sprinkled with dance moves and stage banter. At one point Martin asked the crowd if it was really 2008. The question seemed moot since Martin's voice rang clear as a bell and he looked as suave as always. In these days of sweatsuits and celebrity meltdowns, he's a brilliant beacon of elegance.

The band performed When Smokey Sings toward the end of their set and the crowd was encouraged to sing along to the lyrics, "everything's good in the world tonight." With the band providing the beat and Martin singing pitch-perfect as his cufflinks glittered in the spotlight, everything was indeed good.

Thanks for such a great performance,

Art

So how was the attendence, stage show?

[b] Attendance was quite good. I would estimate that the Dodge Theatre was about 70% full. Many people, from young to people my age (37) and older,attended the show, and,with the right bands on the bill, Regeneration Tour 2009 will be even greater! The stage show was simple,until The Human League, who donned an all white stage, instruments and all, and 7 overhead screens.Very cool!

I loved your review but the part on Belinda Carlisle is not right. She had 3 solo albums in the 80's. The most successful is the Heaven on Earth album which was out in 1987 and she received a Grammy nomination for best female pop performance.

Mad about you, Band of Gold, Circle in the Sand, Heaven is a place on earth, i get weak, etc.... were all released in the 80's.

I have seen her solo and with the Go Go's in the 80's and she deserves to be in this tour.

Thompson Twins next year!!!!!

[b] You are correct. I stand corrected. My partner of 15 years, Ryan, pointed this out to me last night........
Thanks!
Marc

I already posted this on the Las Vegas thread, so please forgive the double posting. Looks like this may be the more active thread. Also, I wanted to add that overall I absolutely loved the concert.

Okay. Disclaimer--this was the first time I've ever seen any of these bands. I was saddened that it didn't seem like there were many people there. A co-worker of mine had won tickets and left after Flock of Seagulls--big mistake.

Anyway, here's my "review":

Naked Eyes opened (wisely I thought) with Always Something There to Remind Me and closed (again wisely) with Promises Promises. I think they may have played 3 songs in between. Their singer was pretty charismatic but suffered from nobody knowing any of the other 3 songs and being the first band on stage.

Flock of Seagulls seemed a bit flustered by some sort of technical difficulties. Their lead singer isn't really a showman either. They played 5 songs too I think, including Ran, Spaceage Love Song, and a couple others that I recognized. I definitely wish that Dead or Alive didn't have to cancel.

ABC was AWESOME. Martin Fry (name of the lead singer I think?) still has a great voice and puts on a good show. Not sure how many songs they played, but I believe it was more than 5? They played all their hits and sounded great. The crowd finally stood up during most of their performance.

Belinda was very good. I am not a huge fan of hers, but she put on a good show. She too has an excellent voice.

Human League was GREAT. They were the only band that had any extra visual aids so to speak--5 or 6 video screens behind them. Phil Oakey and the gals (don't know their names) are good performers and still have their voices. The encore was a song I'd never heard, but I guess was Together in Electric Dreams. The only song I wish they had played was Louise, but I realize that song isn't really a song that would get a crowd moving.

I'm terrible at remembering set lists, but if you have any questions, I'll try to answer as best I can.

I thought the show was amazing. Ironically I am a huge fan of all Human League, Belinda Carlisle and ABC. I couldn't believe I would get to see them all in one show. Naked Eyes were great as well. here are the set list in no particular order.

Naked Eyes-Always something there to remind me, promises promises, Voices in my head, when the lights go out, fortune and fame, ---and one new song--didn't catch the name

ABC--poison arrow, look of love, tears are not enough, how to be a millionaire, be near me, when smokey sings, ride, the very first time--go get the new album--its great

Belinda--mad about you, heaven is a place on earth, i get weak, circle in the sand, leave a light on, live your life be free, vacation, we got the beat, our lips are sealed

Human League--sound of the crowd, seconds, love action, dont you want me, the lebanon, mirror man, fascination, tell me when, human--encore--electric dreams

Nice review! glad to hear that everyone is enjoying the shows!

I'm glad to hear Belinda sang Live Your Life Be Free!!!! Hope she does this one in Raleigh! OR even better yet Do You Feel Like I Feel?

Rob wrote:I thought the show was amazing. Ironically I am a huge fan of all Human League, Belinda Carlisle and ABC. I couldn't believe I would get to see them all in one show. Naked Eyes were great as well. here are the set list in no particular order.

Naked Eyes-Always something there to remind me, promises promises, Voices in my head, when the lights go out, fortune and fame, ---and one new song--didn't catch the name

ABC--poison arrow, look of love, tears are not enough, how to be a millionaire, be near me, when smokey sings, ride, the very first time--go get the new album--its great

Belinda--mad about you, heaven is a place on earth, i get weak, circle in the sand, leave a light on, live your life be free, vacation, we got the beat, our lips are sealed

Human League--sound of the crowd, seconds, love action, dont you want me, the lebanon, mirror man, fascination, tell me when, human--encore--electric dreams

The venue was really cool. In the middle of a mountain top winery with an amazing view of the valley below. Kind of chi-chi, lots of wine being served, etc. I went with a friend in a wheelchair. We go to a lot of shows together. I have NEVER seen a venue that was so nice and accommodating to a handicapped person! The staff was wonderful. They kept coming over to make sure she could see (not great, once people stood up, but she's used to that). One staffer even went to get her a pretzel even though I was going to do it for her. Super people.

Anyway, the show is the main thing...

I've been a FOS fan since their MTV days, but I will say that Mike Score's voice was not good. The thing about FOS back in the day is that their sound was really digitized. Almost like it wasn't his REAL voice. Kinda robotic, which suited their style. Now he's singing in his real voice and it sucks. It was great to hear the songs, but the singing was hard to listen to. The crowd was only about 40% full at that point and only a few people were standing.

I thought we were going to get NE, but we didn't. I was bummed, but it did mean that I got home a little earlier (3 hour drive back for me!).

ABC - WOW, what a difference. I loved this set and so did the crowd, which had filled out quite a bit. The venue was only about 80% full for the whole show, but they stood the whole time and were enthusiastic. I loved hearing Millionaire. I wish ABC had done a few more songs. Martin Fry's voice was great. Why did the white keyboard player on the left hand side (same for Belinda) look so familiar?? Who is he?

Belinda - I'm not a fan of her solo stuff. Too Adult Contemporary for me. But she did OK and the crowd was really into her. Some of her songs seem sooooo long to me. Like they will never end. She dedicated Vacation to her fellow GoGo Gina who was in the audience (I never saw her, though a few people pointed out former football player Steve Young to me. I had no idea who he was). I liked the GoGo's songs better than her solo stuff, but it still wasn't the GoGo's for me, so it was just all right.

HL - WOW. Loved them and this set. Would have liked a few more songs from HL too. The crowd was way in to them, though a lot of people did leave after BC. We did not have any big screens. The backdrop of the stage is a 1871 (or something) historic building, so maybe that's why. The venue was pretty small, though, so it was still easy to see. I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED Don't You Want Me. It's a great live song. Phil did a great job moving around the stage so everyone could see him on the sides.

If there were tour books or merch other than tshirts and book bags, I didn't see them. My friend wanted a tour book, so I guess I will have to check out the web store.

Glad I went, even though I got home at 2 a.m. and had to go to work the next day.

Love me some 80s bands!

I want FRANKIE in 2009!!!

No Naked Eyes? So, you only had 4 bands on the bill? That's odd. Still, I agree with you about AFOS. Good review! Glad to hear that you enjoyed the show, and that the venue staff were very accomidating to your friend in the wheelchair. That is very inportant.
Still no programs? The tour is really losing $ by not having the merchandise available.Hopefully, this tour will be a learning experience for the promoters, and ReGen 2009 will be bigger and better.