E-Werk, Cologne, Germany
7th November 2012
Ultravox - Brilliant Tour
Back to the 80s! back to my youth with ULTRAVOX, who were coming to Germany for several shows, one of them being held at Cologne’s E-Werk. Sad enough that the demand wasn’t high enough to sell the venue out. But no matter what, the show that was coming up, was nothing less but great!
ULTRAVOX is a British New Wave band who rose to big fame end of the 70s / beginning of the 80s. They were amongst the pioneers of the British Electro Pop movement of the early 80s. The band split up eventually following Midge Ure’s departure in 1985. In 2008, Warren Cann (drums, electronic percussion, vocals), Chris Cross (bass, keyboards, vocals), Billy Currie (keyboards, violin) and Midge Ure (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards) reformed ULTRAVOX to tour under the title “Return to Eden” in 2009 / 2010. It’s the first time that the band plays in its original line-up since the legendary Live Aid in 1985. The timing is almost perfect as their super hit ‘Vienna’ celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2009. So, ULTRAVOX were back and one thing’s very important to them “We are playing everything live!” Neither a CD-Player nor a tape will be on stage. If the keys won’t be hit, there won’t be a sound whatsoever. The band is full of energy and pure joy about the music. Due to the incredible feedback from the fans, a sold-out show in Duisburg in 2008 and an overwhelming demand, the band members decided to come back to Germany for 6 additional shows in 2010, which were an incredible success and the band was more than motivated to record a new album afterwards. The album called 'Brilliant' eventually was released in this year's May and to celebrate that happy event, the band's touring Germany again starting in mid-October. http://www.ultravox.org.uk/ / https://www.facebook.com/ultravox
Music & Performance
There was no support act planned for the evening and slowly but steadily, the venue filled up. When finally a few minutes past eight Midge, Warren, Chris and Billy entered the stage, we started our ride back on the nostalgic road… far back to the early eighties but back again to present with the band’s current album ‘Brilliant’. ‘Brilliant’ was also the song opening the evening when the band was put into bright light, making visible how much anyone had aged… not only at stage but also in the audience. Anyway you could not see a sign of tiredness within the band, they all were in fantastic mood putting up a fabulous show from the very beginning. Besides ‘Brilliant’, there were a few more songs from the new album included into the set, like ‘Rise’, ‘Live’, ‘Lie’ or ‘Flow’, but the biggest share of the show belonged to the old and beloved classics – something anyone was in fact expecting, no matter how good the new album is. Already with the second song, ‘New Europeans’ with its post-punk tones, we moved back in time. ‘Mr. X’ afterwards, also very old, had some kind of KRAFTWERK feeling with its kind of presentation. Vocals for this one were delivered by drummer Warren whereas Billy was delivering some additional violin lines. The song was underlined by old black and white videos which gave an extra retro touch to the song. Fantastic! 
A few old songs were mixed with new ones in the following – within them ‘Live’, the second single from their current album – and then we reached a first highlight of the show with ‘Sleepwalk’, the band’s first single out in June 1980. The very energetic song featured Midge on keys and also a great synth solo by Billy. Followed by romantic ‘Lament’ and melodic ‘I Remember (Death in the Afternoon)’ we soon reached the instrumental ‘Astradyne’ which was very impressive. You hardly can imagine that an instrumental within the set could work so well, but it did, giving a nice ambient atmosphere, accompanied by videos show in the back and perfect synthesizer arrangements. Following this instrumental was one of the best known songs of the band’s history, ‘Vienna’, with an impressive beginning culminating in huge applause at the end. ‘Vienne’ furthermore included another great violin part, merging perfectly to the synth lines, both presented by Mr. Currie. With following songs like ‘One Small Day’ or ‘Love's Great Adventure’, the band constantly moved towards the long awaited ‘Dancing With Tears in My Eyes’, introduced by Midge with the words “Thank you very much, this is something we did not record very far from here…” And even though Midge struggled a bit during the high notes, the song was perfectly presented. Anthemic ‘Hymn’ was afterwards ending the main set with its pulsing synth lines and anyone in the hall was singing with the band – “…The power and the glory till my kingdom comes…” Huge applause rewarded the band which for now left the stage.
The encores presented two more classics, first ‘The Thin Wall’ and then one song, many people had waited for, ‘The Voice’ where the audience screamed together with Midge “ohohoh”. What a final of a fantastic show! The band proved, even though they have an average age of already about 60, that they still can put up a perfect show with lots of energy on stage. Seems indeed that music keeps you young!
Setlist
01. Brilliant
02. New Europeans
03. Mr. X
04. Reap the Wild Wind
05. Rage in Eden
06. Rise
07. Live
08. We Stand Alone
09. Sleepwalk
10. Lament
11. I Remember (Death in the Afternoon)
12. Lie
13. Astradyne
14. Vienna
15. Flow
16. One Small Day
17. Passing Strangers
18. Love's Great Adventure
19. All Stood Still
20. Dancing With Tears in My Eyes
21. Hymn
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22. The Thin Wall
23. The Voice
Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 9
Sound: 8
Light: 8
Total: 8.8 / 10
All pictures by Daniela Vorndran (http://www.vorndranphotography.com / http://www.black-cat-net.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/vorndranphotography / http://www.facebook.com/blackcatnet)
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