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State Theatre marquee
Erasure Setlist
Reed and Caroline Setlist
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English snythpop Erasure (singer Andy Bell and keyboardist/guitarist Vince Clarke) returned to Minneapolis at the State Theatre in Minneapolis on Sunday, July 29th. We’ve previously mentioned this was a rare opportunity to see the duo, as the last time Erasure headlined a local gig, it was over a decade ago at First Avenue (27 July 2007).
Although not on the bill, I believe DJ Jake Rudh was handling the playlist for the State Theatre, based on familiar Rudh-approved tracks like Visage’s “Fade to Grey”, New Order’s “Blue Monday”, or Gary Numan’s “Cars”. The Current’s twitter account confirmed it via tweet.
New York’s Reed and Caroline (Reed Hays and Caroline Schutz) opened the show, playing some tracks from their new album Hello Science. The two met through their first collaboration for a L’Oreal hair color commercials. If you’re wondering why they were asked to support Erasure on this tour, apparently Vince Clarke heard their debut record Buchla and Singing and immediately commissioned them for an album on his record label VeryRecords.
Caroline sang and talked most of the time, and whenever Reed talk, it sounded like he was a robot, thanks to his vocoder. The duo played gentle, calming songs while a custom video was shown in the background. The video often made sense to the music, for example, opening number “Ocean” had home videos of people swimming. However, that video of a longhaired black cat on “Oh My Dog” didn’t make any sense to me.
It was really good to see Erasure back at touring in America again. Andy Bell is more flamboyant than ever, while Vince Clarke looked conservative and prefers to be in the background. Although Bell has stopped pogoing since his hip replacements, he still was more energetic than most people his age (or younger!)
The Erasure tour setup featured two raised “windows” and one center room with a roof. Clarke spent the entire set playing on the roof with his keyboards and guitars. You hardly notice him doing all the background work, until Bell points it out or whenever the two dancers/backup singers (Emma Whittle and Valerie Chalmers) climbed to the top for “Chains of Love”. The whole setup, especially with the intro song “Oh L'Amour”, made it look like a set from Broadway musical.
The show started dramatically, with Andy in a glittery gold diamond T-Shirt and jacket (with what appears to be dripped waxed). As the show went on, Andy started to take off the exterior clothing to reveal his skin-tight tattooed body suit. By the time “Phantom Bride” was played, it basically a brand new costume.
Although the tour is for their new record World Be Gone (Mute Records), you know all the fans came to hear the hits. Speaking of which, there were so many reunions of old friends, and they sang and dance to all the popular songs (particularly for “Chains of Love” and show ender “Stop!”).
Personally speaking, my favorite was their take on Blondie’s “Atomic”. The lighting was in sync with the song, so right before the “Atomic” drop, the light goes out and returned to the disco-y bass. It’s just a fantastic number, and you can tell Andy absolutely love the song. Although they were Blondie fans, I suspect that they were also friends, as the two bands toured together with Cyndi Lauper’s True Colors Tour in 2007.
Of course, no Erasure show would be complete without their signature song, “A Little Respect”. This was the encore song, and finally, Vince Clarke joined the group on the stage and they sang out their heart, sometime drowned out by the sheer number of fans in the audience screaming back/sing along to the song. Everyone in the crowd was having the time of their life.
Remaining tour dates:
Although not on the bill, I believe DJ Jake Rudh was handling the playlist for the State Theatre, based on familiar Rudh-approved tracks like Visage’s “Fade to Grey”, New Order’s “Blue Monday”, or Gary Numan’s “Cars”. The Current’s twitter account confirmed it via tweet.
New York’s Reed and Caroline (Reed Hays and Caroline Schutz) opened the show, playing some tracks from their new album Hello Science. The two met through their first collaboration for a L’Oreal hair color commercials. If you’re wondering why they were asked to support Erasure on this tour, apparently Vince Clarke heard their debut record Buchla and Singing and immediately commissioned them for an album on his record label VeryRecords.
Caroline sang and talked most of the time, and whenever Reed talk, it sounded like he was a robot, thanks to his vocoder. The duo played gentle, calming songs while a custom video was shown in the background. The video often made sense to the music, for example, opening number “Ocean” had home videos of people swimming. However, that video of a longhaired black cat on “Oh My Dog” didn’t make any sense to me.
It was really good to see Erasure back at touring in America again. Andy Bell is more flamboyant than ever, while Vince Clarke looked conservative and prefers to be in the background. Although Bell has stopped pogoing since his hip replacements, he still was more energetic than most people his age (or younger!)
The Erasure tour setup featured two raised “windows” and one center room with a roof. Clarke spent the entire set playing on the roof with his keyboards and guitars. You hardly notice him doing all the background work, until Bell points it out or whenever the two dancers/backup singers (Emma Whittle and Valerie Chalmers) climbed to the top for “Chains of Love”. The whole setup, especially with the intro song “Oh L'Amour”, made it look like a set from Broadway musical.
The show started dramatically, with Andy in a glittery gold diamond T-Shirt and jacket (with what appears to be dripped waxed). As the show went on, Andy started to take off the exterior clothing to reveal his skin-tight tattooed body suit. By the time “Phantom Bride” was played, it basically a brand new costume.
Although the tour is for their new record World Be Gone (Mute Records), you know all the fans came to hear the hits. Speaking of which, there were so many reunions of old friends, and they sang and dance to all the popular songs (particularly for “Chains of Love” and show ender “Stop!”).
Personally speaking, my favorite was their take on Blondie’s “Atomic”. The lighting was in sync with the song, so right before the “Atomic” drop, the light goes out and returned to the disco-y bass. It’s just a fantastic number, and you can tell Andy absolutely love the song. Although they were Blondie fans, I suspect that they were also friends, as the two bands toured together with Cyndi Lauper’s True Colors Tour in 2007.
Of course, no Erasure show would be complete without their signature song, “A Little Respect”. This was the encore song, and finally, Vince Clarke joined the group on the stage and they sang out their heart, sometime drowned out by the sheer number of fans in the audience screaming back/sing along to the song. Everyone in the crowd was having the time of their life.
Remaining tour dates:
07/31 – Indianapolis, IN – Murat
08/01 – Kansas City, MO – Uptown Theater
08/03 – Dallas, TX – Toyota Music Factory
08/04 – Houston, TX – Smart Financial Centre
08/05 – San Antonio, TX– Tobin Center
08/07 – Austin, TX – Austin City Limits Live
08/08 – Austin, TX – Austin City Limits Live
08/10 – Denver, CO – Opera House
08/11 – Salt Lake City, UT – Kingsbury Hall
08/12 – Salt Lake City, UT – Kingsbury Hall
08/14 – Seattle, WA – Moore Theatre
08/15 – Vancouver, BC – Orpheum Theatre
08/17 – San Francisco, CA – Masonic Auditorium
08/18 – San Francisco, CA – Masonic Auditorium
08/19 – San Francisco, CA – Masonic Auditorium
08/21 – Los Angeles, CA – Wiltern Theater
08/22 – San Diego, CA – Symphony Hall
08/24 – Los Angeles, CA – Wiltern Theater
08/25 – Los Angeles, CA – Wiltern Theater
08/26 – Los Angeles, CA – Wiltern Theater
08/01 – Kansas City, MO – Uptown Theater
08/03 – Dallas, TX – Toyota Music Factory
08/04 – Houston, TX – Smart Financial Centre
08/05 – San Antonio, TX– Tobin Center
08/07 – Austin, TX – Austin City Limits Live
08/08 – Austin, TX – Austin City Limits Live
08/10 – Denver, CO – Opera House
08/11 – Salt Lake City, UT – Kingsbury Hall
08/12 – Salt Lake City, UT – Kingsbury Hall
08/14 – Seattle, WA – Moore Theatre
08/15 – Vancouver, BC – Orpheum Theatre
08/17 – San Francisco, CA – Masonic Auditorium
08/18 – San Francisco, CA – Masonic Auditorium
08/19 – San Francisco, CA – Masonic Auditorium
08/21 – Los Angeles, CA – Wiltern Theater
08/22 – San Diego, CA – Symphony Hall
08/24 – Los Angeles, CA – Wiltern Theater
08/25 – Los Angeles, CA – Wiltern Theater
08/26 – Los Angeles, CA – Wiltern Theater
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Reed and Caroline |
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Erasure at State Theatre, Minneapolis (29 July 2018) |
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