OMD celebrate 40th anniversary with Birmingham show - review

Front man Andy McCluskey promised a show of hits, some new songs and a few rarities for the die-hard fans but most all: “I hope you brought your dancing shoes”.

Indeed the audience had, as had McCluskey. After dramatic opener Stanlow, which showed that McCluskey’s voice still has plenty of power, the dance party began.

The fans were off their seats for the pulsating Isotype as McCluskey began that flailing, arm-waving, chest-pounding style of dancing which is his trademark. The energetic 60-year-old was seldom static during the 21-song set.

Hit after hit followed, Messages, Tesla Girls, Joan of Arc, Maid of Orleans, So In Love, Dreaming, Locomotion, Sailing on the Seven Seas, and the 80s classic Enola Gay.

The other founder member of Orchestra Manoeuvres in the Dark, the more taciturn Paul Humphreys, also had his now traditional moments in the spotlight.

He was the focus of attention for the hits on which he took lead vocals, Forever Live and Die and the Souvenir, two of that decade’s finest synth-pop love songs.

OMD are a band, also featuring Martin Cooper on synth and sax plus drummer Stuart Kershaw, that don’t rely solely on past glories.

In recent years they have released albums such as English Electric and The Punishment of Luxury which have been taken to the fans’ hearts too.

Following the rarely heard Almost, the B-side of their first hit in 1979, with most recent single Don’t Go showed the remarkable continuity of their melodic electro-pop.

The encore of If You Leave and Pandora’s Box led to a crescendo with Electricity, the band from the Wirral’s first hit still sounding fresh after 40 years. They promised to return. If they do, I reckon another sell out is guaranteed.

Meanwhile, OMD have been announced as one of the acts performing a set at Shrewsbury’s Let’s Rock 80s celebration concert in Shrewsbury next summer.