OMD's 'The Punishment Of Luxury' Album Launch Party
01/09/17, Tape London
This isn't going to be a review as such, more of a report of what happened for those perhaps unable to attend. I think we all knew this event was going to be brilliant, but I think just how intimate and relaxed it was going to be was underestimated. As with any OMD event, the whole thing was rather like a big family re-union. As we queued outside people were chatting and reminiscing about past gigs etc, and when we were eventually let in at about 5pm, much of the same thing continued inside the venue (a surprisingly small but obviously very trendy nightclub, pretty much made up of one main room and a small dressing room). The band made their first appearance on stage at about 6pm, at which point Paul's computer promptly decided to stop working, providing the audience with much (perhaps a little too much!) amusement while it was being fixed.
After the technical problems were resolved, we were then treated to a delightful half-hour set of songs from the new album- including the wonderfully mischievous 'Robot Man', and the heartfelt 'One More Time- as well as a few more obscure tracks that perhaps aren't played live as often, including 'She's Leaving' (a track from 1981's 'Architecture and Morality' that was only released as a single in Benelux!), 'Metroland' from 2013's 'English Electric', and 'History of Modern'. Andy McCluskey later said that he wasn't sure how well not playing any 'hit singles' was going to go down with the audience, and that when he had said that during the gig he felt like the 'tumbleweeds' had appeared! I think though, as someone else said, the silence from us as fans was more due to the 'shock' than anything else...
Andy was also in very fine voice (the final note he hit during 'Metroland' was spectacular)- a fact which he humbly acknowledged by saying that he can sing like that, as long as he's not doing it for an hour and a half on a tour night after night. My personal favourite part of the set (apart from when Andy shouted 'nice shirt!' at me during 'Electricity'!) was definitely the band's off-the-cuff, shortened version of new track 'Ghost Star', which began with Paul messing about with his computer to try and find the right files to actually play the song, and ended with Andy singing the last few lines of the track unaccompanied. The whole event was streamed live on Facebook too, so after the set there was a Q&A (led by Toby from OMD's record label, 100% Records) where questions were being taken from the comments on the live video. It became obvious at this point that Andy and Paul really were enjoying themselves- topics covered included their favourite songs on the new album, surprises they have in store for the tour and Paul's 'wedge'. (Don't even ask!)
Obviously, we all knew the event was going to be good, but to hear new tracks and old played in such a relaxed fashion, in such a small venue, made the whole thing truly 'dazzling'!
