Live Review: Heaven 17 - Mönchengladbach 2023

Red Box, Mönchengladbach, Germany
6th April 2023
Heaven 17 - “40th Anniversary Tour” 2023 - Special Guests: Plexiphones + Days Of Sorrow

Three bands that live the music of the 80s met at the Red Box in Mönchengladbach, a hall that belongs to the open air location Sparkassenpark Mönchengladbach. First there were DAYS OF SORROW from Dortmund/ Germany, on the other hand the band PLEXIPHONES and the main act from England, the duo HEAVEN 17. Ian Craig Marsh, Martyn Ware and Glenn Gregory formed HEAVEN 17 at the dawn of Synth Pop in the 80s and after the split of the band HUMAN LEAGUE.

Days Of Sorrow

The opener of the evening were the three guys from DAYS OF SORROW. Singer William Lennox entered the stage in a black jacket and black sunglasses. He stood in front of a microphone stand decorated with roses and greeted the audience. He was supported by his two bandmates and a simple instrumentation of keyboard and electric guitar. They very quickly thrilled the audience with their New Wave sound. During the song ‘Wild World’, most of the visitors realised that they knew the song or the band and felt transported back to the 80s. Singer William danced across the stage and gestured with his hands and arms. Unfortunately, DAYS OF SORROW’s performance was already over after seven songs, but the next band was already waiting in the wings. https://www.facebook.com/DaysOfSorrow

Setlist
01. Travel
02. Shadows
03. Keep Dreaming
04. Lost
05. Wild World
06. War
07. Firestar

Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 8
Light: 7
Sound: 9
Total: 8.3 / 10

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Plexiphones

The band from Viersen (Germany) followed next and wanted to inspire with their Electro Rock. Singer Wolfgang Kemmerling played at the front, surrounded by six other excellent band members who have already worked with top-class musicians from all over Europe. The musical style, with the synth sequences and the guitar riffs, was very reminiscent of the top bands of the 80s like U2 or the early SIMPLE MINDS, for example. Wolfgang Kemmerling even used the bass boxes that were in front of the actual stage. From there he communicated with the audience who responded with rhythmic hand clapping. But he also joked around with his band members. So, he stood by keyboardist Michael von Hehl and joked with him. But the others had fun too, like Rainer Schnocks on percussion. He danced, laughed and handled his instruments. For the last song, ‘Hideaway’, singer Wolfgang took an acoustic guitar to support the rest of the band. https://plexiphones.com / https://www.facebook.com/Plexiphones

Setlist
01. The Power Of Faith
02. Apocalypse
03. Do Or Die
04. Madame Tussaud
05. Fail In Love
06. To Be Wanted
07. Wave Me Goodbye
08. In The Unreal
09. We’re Repeating
10. Take Me Break Me
11. Hideaway

Rating
Music: 8.5
Performance: 8
Light: 7
Sound: 9
Total: 8.3 / 10

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Heaven 17

The fans waited anxiously for the main act HEAVEN 17. The tension was released when the two main characters Glenn Gregory and Martyn Ware entered the stage. At the same time, three nice young ladies followed them. Florence, one of them, took a seat behind a keyboard and the other two were responsible for the background vocals. The two of them stood safely behind their microphones and were still whispering and giggling with each other. While Glenn Gregory greeted the audience, Martyn Ware posed in a purple glitter suit and a cowboy hat. After the first song of the evening, ‘(We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang’, one of HEAVEN 17’s first hits, came ‘Crushed by the Wheels of Industry’, which also dates from the band’s beginnings. Already here you could tell that everyone in the band was having fun. Singer Glenn Gregory was beaming all over his face and smiling all the time.



HEAVEN 17 also like to perform cover songs live, such as ‘You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ by Barry Mann from the 60s. For this, Martyn Ware left his place at the keyboard and performed it together with Glenn. Whoever was waiting for the hit ‘Temptation’ had to be patient, because this song came at the end, but Martyn even took off his jacket. Here the two cute background singers came forward and let the intro of the song sound with their soulful voices. Glenn then joined in after a short time and added his part of the song in an atmospheric way. So, all three jumped around on the stage. But after that the concert wasn’t over yet, because HEAVEN 17 don’t let themselves be deprived of an encore either.



After a short break HEAVEN 17 started again and this time they covered the David Bowie classic ‘Let’s Dance’. This was directly followed by the next classic. Glenn announced ‘Being Boiled’, an anthem of 80s minimal synth music and really the last song of the evening. A song that Martyn wrote back then for THE HUMAN LEAGUE. During the intro, the band raised their arms like wings and let them down again, which then turned into rhythmic clapping. After the song, Glenn brought the entire band to the front, thanked the fans and said goodbye to thunderous applause. https://www.heaven17.com / https://www.facebook.com/heaven17official

Setlist
01. (We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang
02. Crushed by the Wheels of Industry
03. Play to Win
04. Geisha Boys and Temple Girls
05. Come Live With Me
06. We Live So Fast
07. You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ (Barry Mann cover)
08. Let’s All Make a Bomb
09. And That’s No Lie
10. I’m Your Money
11. Let Me Go
12. Penthouse and Pavement
13. Temptation
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14. Let’s Dance (David Bowie cover)
15. Being Boiled (The Human League cover)

Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 8.5
Light: 8.5
Sound: 9
Total: 8.8 / 10

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All Pictures by Andreas Klüppelberg