Record

Performance TitleOrchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) Performing 'Architecture and Morality' and 'Dazzle Ships'
Performance Date9 May 2016
Performance DayMonday
Performance Time19:50
Orchestra or BandOMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark) (Andy McCluskey,Stuart Kershaw, Paul Humphreys, Martin Cooper)
Set ListDazzle Ships -
'Dazzle Ships, Parts 2, 3 and 7',
'Radio Prague',
'ABC Auto-Industry',
'International',
'Silent Running',
'This is Helena',
'Genetic Enginerring',
'Telegraph',
'Radio Waves',
'Time Zones',
'Of All the Things We've Made',
'4-Neu',
'Julia's Song',
'Almost',
'Messages'
INTERVAL
Architecture and Morality
'Architecture and Morality',
'Sealand',
'The New Stone Age',
'Georgia',
'She's Leaving',
'Souvenir',
'Joan of Arc',
'Joan of Arc (Maid of Orleans)',
'Beginning and the End',
'Electricity',
'Enola Gay'
ENCORE
'History of Modern (Part 1)',
'The Romance of the Telescope'
Performance NotesOrchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark will bring their classic 1980s albums Architecture and Morality and Dazzle Ships to the Royal Albert Hall, both albums performed in their entirety Monday 9 May 2016.

The first half of the show will see OMD perform Dazzle Ships a completely different beast to its predecessor Architecture & Morality that came out a mere 18 months before. Over the years the album has been re-evaluated and is now seen as the more modern, if fractured, masterpiece of the two.

The second half of the show will feature Architecture and Morality’s smooth choral and melodic sound that spawned the classic singles Souvenir and Maid of Orleans and went on to sell over 4 million albums.

"The four band members made a stylish entrance, waving semaphore flags in time to the robotic chorus of ABC Auto Industry from Dazzle Ships. That album, with its sound collages of Eastern Bloc radio broadcasts, has been championed by artists from Radiohead to Saint Etienne, but this was the first time OMD had played two of its songs, Silent Running and This is Helena, live. You’d never have known it: the former was an enveloping electro-ballad, the latter a thumping post-punk workout that drew a triumphant “Yesss!” from McCluskey.
The frontman’s voice was full of imperious desperation, his moves somewhere between Ian Curtis of Joy Division and a drunken grasshopper. There was plenty of Wirral wit, too. “Would you like to do more dancing to Eighties Cold War geopolitical songs?” McCluskey asked, after Telegraph instigated mass middle-aged pogoing. They did, it turned out. And they kept dancing through the more accessible songs of Architecture & Morality: the martial splendour of Joan of Arc (Maid of Orleans), the serrated guitars and siren synths of The New Stone Age.“This didn’t happen in 1983,” said a visibly moved McCluskey. Let’s hope it happens again soon — one show wasn’t enough."
(Ed Potton, The Times, 11 May 2016)

Live debut of 'This is Helena'. First live performance of 'Telegraph' since 1986. First live performance of 'Of All the Things We've Made' since 1983. First live performance of 'Almost' since 2011. First live perfomances of 'The New Stone Age', 'The Beginning and the End' and 'Georgia' since 2007.

The event was audio recorded for a live CD recording sold after the show at Door 9.
Related Archival MaterialProgramme (RAHE/1/2016/34)
Poster (RAHE/2/2016/14),
Autograph (RAHE/8/1/10)
Ticket Prices£27.50-£55
URLhttps://thirdlight.royalalberthall.com/pf.tlx/3Pr3-Ma32FIZp
Catalogue
Reference NumberTitleDate
RAHE/1/2016/34Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) Performing 'Architecture and Morality' and 'Dazzle Ships'9 May 2016
RAHE/2/2016/14Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) Performing 'Architecture and Morality' and 'Dazzle Ships'9 May 2016
RAHE/8/1/10Performers Autograph Book 2016-201714 March 2016-26 September 2017
Work
Ref NoTitleNo of Performances
Work10505Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) Performing 'Architecture and Morality' and 'Dazzle Ships'1
Performers
CodeName of Performer(s)
DS/UK/21232Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) (fl 1978-)
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