Playing on old holy ground

It was a long time ago that Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark played the Paradiso in Amsterdam. It was during the Liberator tour in 1994 that Andy McCluskey played there with another band. But tonight it was the original band with a new album History Of Modern, that turned the Paradiso in a great atmosphere.


But first it was time for Mirrors, a modern pop-noir electronic four-piece from Brighton, UK, who released four singles sofar, and had a special Limited Tour CD, Broken By Silence for sale in the merchandise stand. They took of with great synthpop sounds which were related to the pioneers in synthpop or electronic music of the late seventies and early eighties. You can hear influences from bands like Tubeway Army, early Depeche Mode, Human League, OMD, Heaven 17, Kraftwerk among others. Their performance is a bit similar to Kraftwerk, as they perform in tuxedo’s and try to stand there as dummies. Only half an hour was enough to show the potential of this young band, which want to release their first album in early 2011, and already showed the audience their skills on the limited tour EP Broken By Silence, which covered most of the setlist.


At half past eight the instrumental History Of Modern Part 3 & 4 opened the concert of OMD. In just over one and a half hour the band played a mix of old, middle and new songs as Andy McCluskey called it after singing the opener New Babies: New Toys. It was the start of a great but too short set with the four Architecture And Morality songs in the middle being the Highlight of the set. Which was followed by a beautiful version of New Holy Ground. After that they turned up the speed of the songs when singles like Green, Talking Loud And Clear were played welcomed by the enthusiastic audience.


Andy showed he hasn’t lost his dance skills, and Martin played a nice saxophone solo during So In Love. The sound was very good, although during the end of the concert it became louder. But it stayed well balanced and the people were enjoying a band in shape. Sister Mary Says was another nice highlight, and after Pandora’s box and Sailing On The Seven Seas, Enola Gay already turned out to be the last song of the regular set.


After a short break they returned for Walking On The Milky Way and the first single Electricity. Just after ten o’clock the lights went on and the band was in the dressing room. Within a quarter of an hour the roadies were already putting the gear in the boxes and the crowd left the venue.

In the hall I had a short but nice chat with half of Mirrors. After which my friend and I left the venue for a nice drink in the pub De Balie. We discussed a bit about the short but very nice concert over a nice beer of the IJ Brewery, a local Amsterdam brewery. Then it was time to catch the train and go home.

Setlist Mirrors:

Intro
Fear Of Drowning
Ways To An End
Write Me Through The Night
Into The Heart
Searching The Wilderness
Hide And Seek

Setlist OMD:

History Of Modern Part 3 & 4
New Babies: New Toys
Messages
Tesla Girls
Bunker Soldiers
History Of Modern Part I
Forever (live & die)
She's Leaving
Souvenir
Joan Of Arc
Maid Of Orleans
New Holy Ground
Green
Talking Loud And Clear
So In Love
Locomotion
Sister Mary Says
Pandora's Box
Sailing On The Seven Seas
Enola Gay

Walking On The Milky Way
Electricity