Live Review: Erasure with Frankmusik at 9:30 Club, Washington, DC – 6th September 2011
Even though I was a bit too young to fully enjoy the music of the ’80s back in the day, it doesn’t mean I don’t have a deep respect and love for the music being made back then. Really, I’m a New Waver at heart. Seeing OMD in March reminded me how great the music from that era was and just how timeless it is. So it seemed logical that the next band on my list was Erasure, who are currently touring North America. (The duo plus their backing singers will be on the road in the UK in August.) My companion for the night had seen Erasure multiple times before, noting that the first time she saw them, singer Andy Bell was wearing buttless chaps. (Uh huh.) So him coming out onstage wearing a sparkly red sequined suit, gigantic Trojan helmet on his head, didn’t faze me one bit.
The opener was Frankmusik, who in the last year and a half has refashioned himself from straight synthpop to a more r&b / hip-hop edge. I wasn’t really convinced about this new direction until I saw him live, singing new songs ‘No ID’ and ‘Do It in the AM’. Whoa. These songs pack a punch and it even though this kind of music can be gimmicky, Frankmusik isn’t (and never was). He’s got the rhythm and he’s got the voice. Period. And if you’re wondering what a young kid like Vincent Frank is doing, going around the world with megastars Erasure, it’s because Frank produced Erasure’s new album ‘Tomorrow’s World’, out in October.
And judging from the new songs like ‘When I Start to (Break It All Down)’ and ‘A Whole Lotta Love Riot’ that Erasure trotted out tonight, these ’80s legends have a good chance of getting a foothold back on the charts again. While there was the expected craziness when ‘Chains of Love’ and my favourite ‘Chains of Love’ were played, their long set showed just how prolific they are as artists. Their obsessed fans were all the while gesticulating wildly, throwing their bodies into every song they knew by heart. To be honest, I didn’t think anyone could be as obsessed as Morrissey/Smiths fans, but I was wrong. Wow. Erasure’s live show, complete with two backing vocalists perfectly matched to Bell’s own voice and multi-instrumentalist Vince Clarke’s provided backing music, is a sight to behold and to take in.
After the cut: set list and more photos.
Frankmusik Photos:
Erasure Set List
Sonos Luminos (new song?)
Always
When I Start to (Break It All Down) (new song)
Blue Savannah
Fill Us With Fire (new song)
Drama!
Save Me Darling
Ship of Fools
Chorus
Breathe
Victim of Love
Alien (acoustic version)
Push Me Shove Me
Love to Hate You
I Lose Myself (new song)
A Whole Lotta Love Run Riot (new song)
Breath of Life
Chains of Love
Sometimes
A Little Respect
//
Oh L’amour
Stop!
Erasure Photos:
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