ALISON MOYET + RICHARD WALTERS – BRIGHTON DOME 10.10.26
Billericay born and now Brighton based Alison Moyet was back at Brighton Dome Concert Hall this evening as part of her totally sold out ‘Songs of Yazoo, the minutes, Other tour’.
A title that doesn’t actually roll off the tongue that well, but in fact, as they say, does what it says on the tin, namely that Alison and her chums Sean McGhee (musical director, synths, bass, vocals), Brendan Cox (guitar, keys) and Paul Jones (drums), were performing select tunes from Yazoo albums 1982’s ‘Upstairs At Eric’s’ (certified Platinum in both the UK and US) and 1983’s ‘You And Me Both’ (No.1 in the UK), as well as tunes from her triumphant creative returns to electronica making, namely 2013’s ‘The Minutes’ and 2017’s ‘Other’ albums, both produced by and predominantly co-written with Guy Sigsworth.
In total Alison has scored three UK No.1 albums and a further five Top 10 records – including a No.8 peak for her most recent album, ‘Key’, and a total of nine Top 10 singles. It’s fair to state that Alison is riding high again off of the back of 2024’s ‘Key’ album, her first Top 10 chart position in eleven years. Her acclaim has included three BRIT Awards, the Icon Award at the Silver Clef Awards, a BASCA Gold Badge from The Ivors Academy, and a Grammy nomination. Alison has one of the most distinctive voices of her generation, with her blend of soaring vocals, pop hooks and astute lyricism has resulted in phenomenal success spanning more than four decades.
While a handful of Yazoo hits are staples of Alison’s live sets, much of the band’s material has rarely been performed outside of their two brief tours, their 1982 breakthrough and their 2008 ‘Reconnected’ reunion. Tonight’s concert is number six of the tour, following on from Stockton, Liverpool, Sheffield, Bristol and Cambridge. It runs from 8:45pm until 10:22pm and during that time we are rewarded no less than 21 tunes. A majority of the punters this evening are of a certain age, so they’ve been there, heard that, bought it, regarding Moyet’s output, so it’s very much a case of preaching to the converted. It’s an all seated affair tonight, so sit back and relax.
The quartet grace the stage – which is littered with a host of vertical neon lights that change colour accordingly – to ‘Alive’ from 2017’s ‘Other’ album. Centre front is Alison and she’s flanked by two sets of keyboards, although Brendan can mostly be found on guitar duties. To the rear, as you would expect, is Paul who flits between standard and electronic drums. They are all wearing Moyet’s trademark black, although Sean is sporting a red tie, as in a reverse Kraftwerk ‘Man Machine’ album cover of red shirts and black ties. “Thank you, it is so lovely to be home’’ states Alison as she explains the format of the night. As usual, the Brighton Dome acoustics are spot on and it’s a privilege to be able once again to hear some vintage Yazoo tracks that I heard on the very same stage back on 10th November 1982. That night we got only 14 tunes, so tonight we’re in for a treat.
The first Yazoo treat is ‘Bad Connection’ from ‘Upstairs At Eric’s’, which was tune 5 back in 1982. The Sequential Prophet-5 analog polyphonic synthesizer and Arturia keys are thankfully being made use of. Song three we are told was written about Vince Clarke as well as people watching, this being ‘Ode To Boy’ from ‘You And Me Both’. Things go up a notch with the arrival of ‘Nobody’s Diary’ which is also from ‘You And Me Both’, and honestly sounds as though Vice is still up on the stage. On that note, eagle-eyed Erasure fans would have noted the forthcoming tour announcement, but maybe some missed the fact that Vince will not be on stage for the performance, which is a real shame. I suspect Andy Bell’s a tad nervous about this. Moving on….
The third in a row cut from ‘You And Me Both’ is played next, this is ‘Mr. Blue’. Alison then switches to her solo material for the next couple of songs, these being the Bond theme-like ‘I Germinate’ from 2017’s ‘Other’ album, and the guitar introed ‘Changeling’ from 2013’s ‘The Minutes’ album. It’s here that I notice a repetitive pattern from Alison, as after virtually every song, she shows her appreciation of our applause by bellowing “Than…kewwww”.
Alison then tells us that she wrote the blues-laden ‘Midnight’ from ‘Upstairs At Eric’s’ when she was 17 or 18, whereas the following number ‘Lover, Go’ from ‘Other’ with its notable guitar chops, was written as an “old lady” (her words, not mine!) and she talks further, the gist of which being that she is happy in herself these days, despite always being an “other”, as in an outsider. The haunting ‘Winter Kills’ from ‘Upstairs At Eric’s’ follows and this features some impressively deep electronic drums, which certainly sets the mood. ‘Filigree’ from ‘The Minutes’ album is announced next and we are told the story of how it came into being. This was basically when Alison and her hubby witnessed an art house movie in Amsterdam, which she really wasn’t bothered about, but the final few minutes switched that and she was in floods of tears.
There’s some wonderful dual synths action on ‘Anyone’ from ‘You And Me Both’, after which Alison states that the tune they are going to play next is the last reflective song, this being the title track of the ‘Other’ album. The electronic pop sounds make a welcome return with the funky ‘State Farm’ from ‘Nobody’s Diary’, although Sean has switched from keys to bass guitar. The sets rockiest number is up next, this being ‘Beautiful Gun’ from ‘Other’, after which we are served with the funk laden electronic ditty that goes by the name of ‘Right As Rain’ from ‘The Minutes’, which features some phat Arturia keys action from Sean. This proves to be a real hit with the punters! There’s more dual keyboard action on the popular ‘Only You’ hit from ‘Upstairs At Eric’s’, and there’s some sharp keyboard action on ‘In My Room’ also from ‘Eric’s’, and during which Alison takes a bow and vacates the stage as the lads play on for a while. This really was a set highlight for many present, myself included.
We applause and shout and before too long the musicians return and Alison blasts “Homies, how lovely are you!”, cue standing ovation. The punters downstairs in the stalls remain standing for an in front of chair boogie for the best Yazoo track (or should that be Yaz in the USA), this being the 1980s dancefloor smash that is ‘Situation’. The disco sound continues with ‘Goodbye 70’s’ from ‘Eric’s’, which now sees a vast majority of the whole sold out crowd on their feet. The musicians are introduced and then they sign off with one more tune, this is the classic ‘Don’t Go’ from ‘Eric’s’, which is topped off by a solidarity of house-filling roars! It’s been another enjoyable Moyet encounter for yours truly! I stay in the 1980s electropop groove tomorrow night as well, where Heaven 17 will be plying their wares – read that account HERE.
Alison Moyet:
Alison Moyet – lead vocals
Sean McGhee – musical director, synths, bass, vocals
Brendan Cox – guitar, keys
Paul Jones – drums
Alison Moyet setlist:
‘Alive’ (from 2017 ‘Other’ album)
‘Bad Connection’ (from 1982 ‘Upstairs At Eric’s’ Yazoo album)
‘Ode To Boy’ (from 1983 ‘You And Me Both’ Yazoo album)
‘Nobody’s Diary’ (from 1983 ‘You And Me Both’ Yazoo album)
‘Mr. Blue’ (from 1983 ‘You And Me Both’ Yazoo album)
‘I Germinate’ (from 2017 ‘Other’ album)
‘Changeling’ (from 2013 ‘The Minutes’ album)
‘Midnight’ (from 1982 ‘Upstairs At Eric’s’ Yazoo album)
‘Lover, Go’ (from 2017 ‘Other’ album)
‘Winter Kills’ (from 1982 ‘Upstairs At Eric’s’ Yazoo album)
‘Filigree’ (from 2013 ‘The Minutes’ album)
‘Anyone’ (from 1983 ‘You And Me Both’ Yazoo album)
‘Other’ (from 2017 ‘Other’ album)
‘State Farm’ (from 1983 ‘Nobody’s Diary’ Yazoo single)
‘Beautiful Gun’ (from 2017 ‘Other’ album)
‘Right As Rain’ (from 2013 ‘The Minutes’ album)
‘Only You’ (from 1982 ‘Upstairs At Eric’s’ Yazoo album)
‘In My Room’ (from 1982 ‘Upstairs At Eric’s’ Yazoo album)
(encore)
‘Situation’ (a 1982 Yazoo single)
‘Goodbye 70’s’ (from 1982 ‘Upstairs At Eric’s’ Yazoo album)
‘Don’t Go’ (from 1982 ‘Upstairs At Eric’s’ Yazoo album)
Alison has selected 4 different supporting acts throughout the tour and the majority of which has fallen to Grammy Nominated UK Singer & Songwriter Richard Walters, whose company we are in from 7:54pm to 8:19pm. It’s just him, his acoustic guitar and his beanie hat to entertain us across a handful of tunes.
I personally believe that as Moyet is rather well known for synthpop tunes (and other genres of course), it would have been ideal for a local electronic(ish) up-and-coming young band (of which there are a few of great quality eg Lemonsuckr, Francis Pig, VCSB, Welly etc) to have been given the opportunity to show us all what they’ve got, instead of an Ed Sheeran or Beans On Toast character simply strumming away, which for yours truly is less than riveting. Having said that, many punters were attentively listening to what Richard was offering, but then again they might have previously caught him on Alison’s ‘The Minutes’ tour a decade ago.
Richard does have a great voice, having been Grammy Nominated, but the opening tune honestly flew by me, and the second was a cover of Robyn’s 2007 ‘With Every Heartbeat’, which wasn’t as good as the original. Another tune was played and then the penultimate song he penned about the person who means the most to him in the world, it’s called ‘Unconditional’. He signed off with a song called ‘Video’ which was inspired when he visited a museum with the centrepiece being a mock 1990s Blockbuster store.
The punters cheered him at the end of his set, so he went down well with them, but in all honesty I could have fallen asleep. Fans who enjoyed this performance might like to know that Richard will be returning to Brighton on Wednesday 16th December when he will be playing the compact Folklore Rooms – Tickets HERE.
Richard Walters:
Richard Walters – vocals, acoustic guitar
Richard Walters setlist:
“Unknown”
‘With Every Heartbeat’ (Robyn cover)
“Unknown”
‘Unconditional’
‘Video’
