The “Ten Crowns” of Andy Bell
Concert Review
Artist: Andy Bell
Supporting Act: Savannah Pope
Venue: The Marquis
City: Park City, Utah
One of the first Gay Artists I ever knew, well, that was openly gay, was in 1987 when I heard Erasure, having heard this high tenor voice, and the song “Hideaway”, Andy Bell seamlessly filled that position, and I have loved his music ever since.
I have seen Erasure several times over the years, twice in Park City, Utah and I’ve met him, and even interviewed him twice for Instinct.
In 1988, at their first show in Utah, Erasure packed the Park West Amphitheater, with an estimated crowd of 13,000 people and Erasure has been a favorite in Utah ever since, getting radio play several times a day between at least 3 stations. The band had cancelled their North American Tour for NEON during the pandemic which was to play at the Maverick Center (a huge arena), and they never rescheduled. So, naturally Andy Bell is going to come and play here again, supporting his solo album Ten Crowns, if anything, it’s going to be a solid payout. It was a good move for Andy, but I’ll call it out as a bad move for the venue; it was too small, even over two nights.
I got to Park City, and while walking down the main street to the Marquee Club, I walked past two women posing with Post Malone. Now, I have seen him pumping gas into his SUV, or even at the grocery store, so he is around a lot. The first time I met him, he was sighing my daughter’s t-shirt. Every time I see the guy, I just say, “Oh! Hey man,” hold out a fist, exchange a fist bump, and I guess he could be called my neighbor. Ten steps past him was a very long line going into the club. From everyone outside, I could tell it was going to be packed, and it was.
I got to the front to shoot the opening act, Savannah Pope. She is an amazing singer, with a gorgeous set of pipes, singing some very harsh, aggressive rocking songs that were just wonderful. She is nothing like what you would expect to hear opening for the synth pop singing God Andy Bell, but hey, I really loved her. She played a short set, opening with a wonderful, haunting climb into your psyche song “Melancholic Goddess”. This is like if you had Florence + The Machine, meets Siouxsie Sioux (yes, I REALLY did say that) this song gets into your mind, and scares and excites you, like, you start watching a horror film, and can’t stop watching.
She took us through a couple of great songs, then got to this one that I think will define her to the Instinct crowd. She talked about being “strange” and accepting her weirdness, being eccentric, her queerness, and not fitting in, and played this magnificent piece called “Live Your Strange”. I am being honest here, by now, I was in love with her work, and I am her newest, loudest biggest fan. It was during this song that I stared at her in sheer AWE, thinking I was standing in front of the ’80s goddess Hazel O’Connor, just wonderful (a link to Savannah Pope‘s so you can all indulge, and I hope to find some healing).
Andy Bell’s band took the stage and started queuing up, with a keyboard line welcoming the royalty (a full band this time, different from the Erasure gigs of Just Vince and Andy), then Andy walked on stage wearing a mirror jacket, and gawdy ’80s glam sunglasses. Andy began by singing the opening lines, “We are flying high, at 36,000 feet, soaring through the clouds to another paradise” with his voice slightly phlanged, sounding as smooth as ever, then came the early 2000’s electronica synth lines building off each other. We were in “Interstellar,” and it sounded as if we were floating around with him.
The crowd heard a familiar synth line, but the sound was “new” as Andy took us into the Erasure classic “Blue Savannah”, that brought so many of us old guys back to the moments of just getting our drivers license and blasting tapes of the album (just copied off the vinyl) in the spring of 1990, or whatever anyone else did when the album was released.
Andy, in full form, took off his jacket, talked about being back in the mountains, and said, “I really need to go skiing. You know, I was out skiing in Switzerland, and the altitude was so high, I couldn’t finish. You know your partner REALLY loves you if he is going to carry your skis down the mountain for you”. Laughs continuing, he said, “You know, you hope it’s true love, even if it’s how they leave their clothes on the bathroom floor, or even how they lead you by the hand into the bedroom”. Giving us the lyrics for what’s next while he sang the opening, “Whooooooooooooo ooooooooooh ooooooohhhhh” and we were back in Erasure territory, with a full band playing “Sometimes”. The punters were loud enough to kind of overpower the opening measure, but within a few seconds, we were all behaving and could hear the band, and everyone, I mean EVERYONE was dancing and singing along.
With everyone feeling a good dose of Erasure kicking in, we got a more intense feeling danceable number “Don’t Cha Know”, one where I found myself focusing on his lyrics, as this new solo album ‘Ten Crowns’ has some of his best lyrics that grow on you, so when you are hearing them live, and in person. “Destination calling, will you catch me when I’m falling? ‘Cause I’m messing up down here”. I have my own ideas of what this song is about, having watched the video and knowing his stories. As wonderful as this song is, it still felt very serious, in a happy delivery. He might as well have played “Heart So Blue.” I’m not going to lie, it stung pretty hard.
While everyone was applauding, Andy did what he does best: he started talking and singing at the same time. If anyone has seen him in concert before, you know he sometimes just turns everything into a Broadway musical, singing what he is thinking. AND, he was thinking, “Who needs more drama in their lives?” With everyone cheering for what’s coming next. They gave us “Drama” from ‘Wild’, and it was such a hit back in 1990, that everyone was singing along with Andy, and the look on his face showed how thrilled he was to be back in a town that had always welcomed him.
Taking only a breath or two between songs, he said that, “Chelsea King is going to help me on this one”. In our recent interview, he talked about how excited he was about this band he was going to tour with. This was the moment for Chelsea King to strut her stuff; she sang the Debbie Harry part of “Heart’s A Liar”. I am a HUGE Debbie Harry fan, and Andy talked about how honored he was to have done that track with such a goddess who walks this earth. So, Chelsea had some huge shoes to fill for this, and did she ever. This one is now a fan favorite, just need to hear it once, but then live takes you to another level.
By this time, I was speechless, all the punters were dancing, with NO room between anyone, and everyone in the entire venue was sweating. Andy bantered with the audience, mentioned how thin the air was, then said something about a question… “How can I explain when there are few words I can choose?” The next line, everyone sang along with him, as “Chains of Love” brought us back to so many great times, and the nostalgia we all felt hearing this on the radio, hearing it in person is always the best.
Peppering Erasure songs in between his solo work showed how great his solo work is, and how different his lyrics can be, standing out against the Erasure. Though he has Vincent Clarke still doing remixes for him, there is just so much love in all of his music, and how he gives it to us (and Vince always has his thumb in someone’s pie).
After “Love To Hate You,” they played Erasure’s “Breathe” with Chelsea and keyboardist Dave Audé taking vocals, and Andy went offstage to do just that. I’m sure he got one of those little Oxygen cans and got back on his feet. Now, Dave Audé is the guy who helped Andy take on recording and producing the new work, and let me tell you all, he is not just a synth guru, he is a great vocalist as well, good enough to sing opposite Chelsea King, anyway, that should be enough. They played “Always” and sounded as good as ever, with different enough programming on the synths, it still sounded current, and almost NEW, with how they delivered it.
Andy and I have talked about how he often doesn’t like doing covers (Non Erasure songs), but when he said, “This one is XANADU”, all the punters were already dancing before he even sang the first lines. Xanadu is one of the catchiest and longest-living synthpop anthems; it has been a fave on everyone’s playlist since 1980. Michael Beck, the lead actor who had just been in a dystopian gang film called “The Warriors,” took the role. To his own regret, he said, “Warriors opened so many doors for me, then Xanadu closed them. I guess all we have to thank that film for giving us is an incredible soundtrack. With the audience singing along with every word, the campiness of the song had faded by now, and just had everyone feeling great to sing this one with Andy, and Chelsea, and Dave; it was a special moment. AND, there was no shame in singing along to it, 45 years after the disaster.
He played “For Today” from “Ten Crowns” with the same intensity as the album gave us. Songs like this really show us the strength of his solo work and how he is able to hold his own.
“Victim of Love” came next, from “The Circus” it was one of the oldest songs he played so far, and it didn’t matter, it just sounded perfectly in place sandwiched between his solo work, as it was quickly followed up by “Dance For Mercy”, showcasing Dave Audé’s skills, as a composer, this whole segment was seamless, everyone was waiting for the next song so they could start dancing again.
He talked about being in the forest and waking up not knowing where you are. With a few weird sci-fi movie sounds, the lines from “Chorus” fired up. This was a classic. I remember playing this in the clubs, and everyone miming out “And the color of the sun, till the birds have flown away, and the fishes in the sea have gone to sleep” as they danced to it. Some of the people I knew from my days as a DJ were there, and yes, a few were trying to do that same pantomime to it. I am positive I am not the only person with that same story. A Gem for everyone, hearing it from a full band, with synth, guitar, drums, and backup vocalists.
Closing out this part of the set, Andy stepped into the shadows for a moment, while Dave, Chelsea, and the guitarist all sang “HAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH” which only meant one thing: “O’Lamor,” the first single by Erasure to hit the airwaves, and has probably been played on electronica and dance radio enough to garner triple platinum status. A slow, dreamy electric guitar line, along with a powerful synth, supported and carried the voices. Andy gave us a very intense opening vocals, then the synth took over, and they played the song that everyone knew, note for note.
After a brief break in the back, probably getting more oxygen, Andy was not going to let the thin air interfere with his performance.
He sang “Thank You,” finishing out his ‘Ten Crowns’ for us, a song about looking over his life, friends, and stories that got him to where he is now. Not sure if it was a near-death experience, but it was powerful, about seeing and feeling the light coming, “Till death do us part”. Not sure they could top that one, they finished the evening off with “A Little Respect”, the first single from the pivotal coming of age album “The Innocents”, the album that broke Erasure into the mainstream in 1988. If there is a song to define the Erasure catalog, this song would be it. From the emotional depths of one solo song, and then the biggest Erasure hit, this setlist is now whole, perfect, and complete. With the few songs I would have loved to hear, that was more than made up for by this magnificent performance.
Thank you, Andy and crew, you brought so much love and shared it to everyone from that stage. Just pick a bigger venue next time, guys.
*While writing this article, some painful memories came back. I know so many of you have lost friends to AIDS, today on WORLD AIDS DAY, I wish to honor my friend “Mopsy”, she was a wonderful girl I knew in high school, she passed from AIDS in 1995. I hope we can find a cure soon, no one should have to die like that.
For more information, concert dates here in the US until mid December and internationally throughout January, and to buy your tickets, visit andybell.com/live/
