RECAP – Retro Futura Tour August 26, 2014 @ Kool Haus – Toronto

The last time I attended a concert was back in 1986. It was Expo ‘86 and Depeche Mode headlined at the concert hall at the PNE. Like most teenage girls at the time I was obsessed with everything David Gahan. But that night as thousands of spirited sixteen year olds screamed with excitement I breathed a colossal sigh of relief when it was all over. Concerts, it turned out, were not my thing. Fast forward 28 years and I’m offered a free ticket by a friend to attend the Retro Futura Tour 2014, a reunion featuring music from 80’s bands such as Ultravox, Howard Jones and The Thompson Twins. I agree to go but with a great deal of trepidation. To my surprise my 40-year old self absolutely loved it.

The venue was Koolhaus, which is rumoured to close its doors soon to make way for you guessed it – condos. Koolhaus is your typical music hall – large, dark, standing room only with a stage and couple of bars on the side. As I scanned the crowd one thing became glaringly obvious. The average patron was north of 40, if not closer to 50 years of age.

First up was Katrina, as in Katrina and The Waves (minus The Waves). She had just started playing “I’m Walking on Sunshine” when I arrived. I thought it sounded good, very close to the original. Come to think of it that’s one reason I never much cared for concerts. For me live music always lacked the depth and subtlety that you could achieve through digital enhancement and manipulation. But Katrina’s energetic performance delivered right on target.

Immediately after Katrina exited the stage China Crisis vocalist Gary Daly launched into his performance. I didn’t recognize any of his music unfortunately but my girlfriends did and they happily sang and danced along to his new-wave-meets-synth tunes. Personally, I was more amused by his outfit (skirt? dress?) but found myself counting down the minutes until the next band came on.

I was completely blown away by the next artist Midge Ure (former vocalist for Ultravox). At one point I turned to my friend with awe and said “the dude can belt out a tune.” She agreed. Sometimes with aging rockers their voice can get hoarse, weak and with decreased range. But not Ure, his voice was unchanged. He sang “Vienna” and “Fade to Grey.” The song you’d recognize right away was “Dancing with Tears in My Eyes.” It brought back memories and for the first time that evening I felt a sense of nostalgia.

After what seemed like an eternity (an intermission) that’s when the real party started. Howard Jones burst into an unsuspecting crowd (whether by design or by accident is unknown) and caused a brief frenzy as everyone tried to capture a Facebook-worthy pic with their smart phone. Within seconds he was back on stage with a new band and electronic equipment in tow. Suddenly we had a massive multi-media screen as a backdrop and the energy in the place took on a new level of excitement.

Jones’ music didn’t disappoint. He played “Like to Get To Know You Well,” “What is Love,” “The Prisoner,” and just when you thought things couldn’t get any better they did, literally. “Things Can Only Get Better” came on as usual but concluded with surprising twist – a modernized electronic/techno version that turned the place into a rave. The crowd went wild with 50-somethings jumping up and down like 20-year old ravers. It was a moment of awesomeness I’ll never forget.

As a finale, Thompson Twins’ Tom Bailey took the Stage. I had to leave by the third song but I later found out that he played all the favourites such as “In the Name of Love,” “Doctor, Doctor,” “Love On Your Side” and “Sister of Mercy.” The highlight of Bailey’s performance as it was later relayed to me was after he finished playing “Hold Me Now” the crowd continued to sing the words “hold me now” without any prompting from the artist. Beautiful! I supposed it’s these rare moments that capture our imagination and remind us of the collective nostalgia of a generation. I wish I was there to see it in person.

HERE IS THE LINK TO THE PICTORIAL GALLERY

Lynn Shulman | Freelance Writer/Blogger | lynn_shulman@yahoo.com

Canadian Festival Guide [www.canadianfestivalguide.com]

We’re looking for people interested in providing reviews & pictures from Festivals and Major Events happening all across Canada for the CFG_BLOG. Contact us at: canadianfestivalguide@gmail.com