We were told there were to be no phones or cameras at the event, so I have no images or video from the performance, but as I couldn't find any reviews before I went I thought I'd post one.
I booked the event at a venue in Ringwood, a town I know fairly well, but had never seen a gig at. Frustratingly, a week or so after booking, I saw he was also appearing in my home town, which would have saved me some petrol!
The venue itself is part of a school (We'd have called it the Assembly Hall in my day, but it's a bit fancier than that). I was a few rows back, but the angle of the seating meant everyone had a clear view of the stage.
As we waited, clips from various videos throughout ABC's career played over an instrumental medley of ABC tracks - It was quite slick.
As you can see, a keyboard and guitar were setup to the left of the stage, with a leather stool centre stage and a comfy armchair and another chair to the right.
At 7:30 (this was no music gig timetable!), the keyboard player and guitarist quietly appeared and took their places and then the lights went down and a voice asked us to welcome Martin Fry to the stage.
Mr Fry is now 67, but is still looking fit and trim, unlike some of his contemporaries.
I forget now if they started with a song or did some chatting first, but he did all the songs from the stool and chatted from the red armchair, where he was interviewed by a bespectacled man.
We got ABC's first single "Tears Are Not Enough", "Poison Arrow" and "All Of My Heart" from "The Lexicon Of Love", their iconic debut album, along with reminiscences of recording the album and the early days of the band.
Martin talked of their initial gigs in the UK and then touring around the world on the strength of the album and then coming back to Sheffield and the stark contrast that provided to their glamourous hotels and sights around the world, which impacted the style of their (difficult) second album, "Beauty Stab" - I'll admit it was a bit of a disappointment to me when it was released and didn't get played much, but it stands up better on relistening now, without the expectation of more of the same as "Lexicon".
They played "That Was Then But This Is Now" from that album and "(How to Be a) Millionaire" and "Be Near Me" from Zillionaire, which was a spell of greater success in the States for the band.
Martin then talked about his cancer and subsequent recovery, which fell between that and what I think is their second best album, "Alphabet Street", from which we got the famous "When Smokey Sings", the song that bought them back into the mainstream in the UK. Sadly we didn't get "King Without A Crown", one of my favourite ABC tracks.
A funny anecdote about Lady Gaga at the Royal Variety performance followed, along with some recollections of working with Hollywood and a significant missed opportunity to do so and then we had "Viva Love" from the "Lexicon of Love II" (Interestingly he mentioned it started life with the title "Lexicon of Lost Ideals", which might have lessened the burden of expectation the final title gave it) and a new song, "Never get to be the King" before the set rounded out with what Martin described as his signature song, "The Look Of Love".
Someone did video Look Of Love at another event on the tour
After a prolonged applause, Martin said that "It's all about the songs. The ones that changed the world like "What's Going On" and "Blowing in the Wind", but also about the ones you hear once and can never get out of his head and I'm going to pretend I wrote this one" and then performed the chorus of "Escape" by Rupert Holmes.
Sitting down the experience was quite passive, a dislike I have of all seated gigs generally, but in the context of an "Intimate Evening with..." it was acceptable - I've not been to see ABC for some years now, because all their gigs (with a full orchestra) are all seated, which I think is a shame and I wish Martin would tour with a more stripped back lineup again, although I'm sure the orchestral format is more lucrative.
I had no real expectation of the evening, imagining that it'd be a lot of chatting with a handful of songs, so the balance was a pleasant surprise and Martin's voice has held up well (As he mentioned at one point, there is 'nowhere to hide' in an acoustic gig) and I came away pleased I'd come along. #ABCMartinFry
Setlist:
Tears Are Not Enough
Poison Arrow
All of My Heart
That Was Then but This Is Now
(How to Be a) Millionaire
Be Near Me
When Smokey Sings
The Luckiest Man in the World
Viva Love
Never get to be the King
The Look of Love (Part One)
Pina Colada (Escape) - Rupert Holmes Cover
