I unexpectedly met John that same evening before the gig, I was still on a real high, and this only added to the excitement of seeing him play live for the first time.

An hour later, the house lights dimmed, and John and Louis came on stage to a rapturous applause and a backdrop of exquisitely hung curtains. The short setlist didn't disappoint, with the tracks from Metamatic not even sounding half their age, and perfectly complimenting the new tracks from the Crash and Burn album. The beefed up version of “Metal Beat” with it’s mehcanical bass and clanking rhythms stuck in my head for days after the show. Another high point was the new arrangement of the old Ultravox! track, “My Sex”. Every track sounded fantastic, each one bettering the previous, leaving me astounded at how two men and a couple of synthesisers could make such a huge sound. One thing that struck me about the eleven-song set was the sweeping power of Foxx's smooth vocals as they echoed around the auditorium.

An amazing evening – I was certainly not disappointed. The only disappointment came when they had to leave the stage, to make way for The Human League. I was left wanting more, but at the same time, it felt like I had finally experienced Foxx’s musical world for real – and I wanted to get back there right away!

Setlist

Intro

No-One Driving

Plaza

Metal Beat

Broken Furniture

Crash and Burn

Drive

Underpass

My Sex

Endlessly

Review and photograph by Alex Storer

If you would like to post a review of this show here, please send me an e-mail.