The #TPau25 Tour 2013, which was a 28 gig tour from April through to June, was a celebration of 25 years since T'Pau's rise to fame and of their first album 'Bridge Of Spies' reaching quadruple platinum status in the UK alone!
One in ten households owned a copy of this debut album-that is a lot of record sales! A lot of acts today can only dream of their albums reaching platinum status, let alone quadruple!!
Having Ronnie Rogers on the tour made it even more poignant, as Carol and Ronnie hadn't done a full set together in over 10 years and also, they were both the co-founders of T'Pau, writing all of the songs - so having the two of them back on stage for this special celebration was obviously very well received!!
Carol and Ronnie were very touched at how well the gigs were being received by both the fans and the media. The turnout to the gigs was great and the band were loving every minute of it!!
It was as though the clocks had literally turned back 25 years!!
They even performed to a full-capacity crowd at the 'Big Top' at the Isle Of Wight Festival in June and went down a storm!!
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| A picture which I think is great of Carol on stage at the Isle Of Wight Festival, just after 'China's' second chorus. |
Here are a few quotes from the press for some of the gigs :-
There was just one question that kept cropping up; either on the Facebook page or on Twitter, "When is there going to be a London gig?"
The last London gig T'Pau did was at the Jazz Cafe to a sell-out crowd, and this was 15 years ago in 1998!!
It had been mentioned that there would be one, and this promise was kept when in August a London date was announced for the Islington Assembly Halls on 23rd November!
A great way to end what was a great year of celebrations!!
The venue was a great size with seating upstairs and standing downstairs. The good thing about this venue was the fact that there was standing room. When I went to the #TPau25 gig in Harpenden, which was seating, Carol invited us to stand up and dance, and then reminded us all that as we were likely to be in our 40's now, and no longer teenagers, we were probably too reserved to!!
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| A view of the stage at the Assembly Halls taken downstairs. |
As this venue had the option of standing, you're more than likely going to sing along and dance if you are already standing!
The atmosphere of the Assembly Halls was good with a great vibe.
Support Acts
The support acts were very good and definitely got the crowd in the mood.
Unfortunately I missed the first support act Shh, but from what I have seen from YouTube, they put in a very energetic performance.
Mechanical Cabaret are a British electronic synth alternative music project, based on the lyrics and music of Roi Robertson from North London, now together with Steve Bellamy as a full-time member of the band since 2010.
The singer reminded me of the the singer of The Cure, Robert Smith. They were very good and reminded me of an early Pet Shop Boys with the 'synth' theme throughout their set.
Their set was very energetic and they definitely got the crowd in the mood for a good night!!
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| Taken at Islington Assembly Hall 23/11/13. |
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| Supporting T'Pau at Islington Assembly Hall |
The last support act were called Blue Zoo. These were very good too and reminded me of one of my favourite 90's bands, Suede. The singer could have actually been Brett Anderson!!
They formed in 1980 & their original band name was Modern Jazz, and they released 2 singles entitled 'In My Sleep' & 'Ivory Towers' in 1981
The nucleus of the band were Andy O (Overall) on vocals, Tim Parry on guitar, Mike Ansell on bass and Mickey Sparrow on drums.
Matthew Flowers (formerly of New Wave band Sore Throat) accompanied the band live on keyboards, with Pete Lancaster occasionally on trumpet and Steve Pond from Inner City Unit playing occasional synthesizer.
Tim Parry later later went on to become a record producer and work in artist management.
Blue Zoo had 3 hit singles which charted in the UK. 'I'm Your Man' reached #55 in June 1982 and in October 1982, 'Cry Boy Cry' reached the top 20, peaking at #13, becoming the band's biggest hit. It stayed on the UK Single's Chart's Top 40 for 8 weeks. '(I Just Can't) Forgive & Forget' reached #60 in May 1983.
Although failing to chart, the much acclaimed single 'Love Moves In Strange Ways' was a single of the week in NME.
They released an album 'Two By Two' in 1983. Cherry records re-issued an extended version of this on 21/10/13.
They played their first concert in 28 years at the Ginglik in Shepherd's Bush Green on 22/07/10.
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| Blue Zoo in action |
By the time T'Pau were due on stage, which was 10-50, the atmosphere was great! The support acts had definitely got the crowd in the mood!
The venue was filling up even more now, ready for the main act; all of these extra people just seemed to appear, and the turnout was great! Also, I kept forgetting that there were a couple of hundred people upstairs as well!!
T'Pau Line-up
Carol Decker - Vocals
Ronnie Rogers - Guitar
Carsten Moss - Keyboards
James Ashby - Lead Guitar
Kez Gunes - Bass
Dave Hattee - Drums
Odette Adams - Backing Vocals
The beginning of 'Island' started playing (the classical intro.) and I guessed what song was to be the first, and I was right-'Sex Talk', as they had used this arrangement during the tour. The two actually go well together!
Ms Decker and Co. were on stage, and what a belter of a song to start on! It has to be said that T'Pau have always started their sets with the real rockers as it gets the fans in the mood, and right from the start, the crowd were singing, clapping, dancing, cheering and basically letting rip!! - Who said us 40-odd year olds don't still know how to have a good time!!
Set List
Carol looked great and every bit the pop/rock star she is, wearing black tight trousers, heeled boots and a designer black leather jacket. It was very hot in there, but the fabulous leather jacket stayed on for most of the set, all in the name of 'Rock 'n' Roll!'
Did I forget to mention the legendary big red hair, one of Carol's trademarks from over the years.
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| Carol looking every bit the pop/rock star she is. |
The fast-paced songs continued with a firm favourite amongst fans; 'Thank You For Goodbye', as sung in demo mode as per the version on the 25th Anniversary CD/DVD release 'The Story Behind The Tracks'. This song went down very well. Don't forget that some songs hadn't been performed for over 25 years, prior to #TPau25, so we were in for a treat!!
Carol's voice is better than ever-those high notes are as pitch-perfect as they have ever been. Infact, weather it be a classic ballad or a trademark rock song sung live, those vocals haven't faltered one little bit!
T'Pau back at their best!
The one thing that was different at this gig was that there was an extra person person on stage - the beautiful Odette Adams on backing vocals. Her voice and Carol's voice both complimented each others perfectly!
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| Left to right, James Ashby, Carol & the very talented Odette Adams. |
A bit of 'T'Pau aerobics' was up next with the oh so favourite 'Secret Garden'. The fans were really in their element now!
Seeing Carol and Ronnie both up on the stage together at the first London gig in 15 years was a great sight to see. Carol was having a ball and was 'so' enjoying being up on that stage!
I think anyone would be if they were getting such great audience response and participation!
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| Carol getting the crowd to join in and clap along. |
'I Will Be With You' followed two more rockier tracks, which mellowed the tone, a personal favourite of mine, and sung with such passion and emotion.
I knew the setlist was going to be slightly different to that of the tour, but I didn't know what songs were going to be changed.
The next song hadn't seen the light of day since the 'Red' tour 15 years prior, 'Do The Right Dance', and sounded so good. Carol said after singing it "It makes you feel like dancing holding a pint of Guinness!" as it's a catchy folk sounding song.
'A Place In My Heart' from the third album 'The Promise' was up next. This hadn't seen the light of day for many years either, and sounds so good live as it's such an upbeat song.
Continuing with the mellow theme, 'Giving Up The Ghost' followed 'Valentine' which was such a treat to hear live. Everything about the song was fantastic, from the perfection of Carol's vocals to the arrangement. It actually sent shivers down my spine! Such a beautiful song sung with such passion. Also one of Carol's favourite songs.
'The Promise' and 'Wing And A Prayer' increased the pace somewhat, again a further two songs that hadn't seen the light of day for a number of years, but it was the final three songs of the set that actually reminded us of why we were all there. And 'everybody' was singing along to these!!
'Bridge Of Spies' was the first which was the title track to the album that sold en masse over twenty five years ago!
Next up, came the opening chords of 'Heart And Soul', and the crowd went wild and it was as though we were back in 1987 and everyone was teenagers again!!
But, it was the final song that got the biggest cheer and the loudest audience participation-it could only be 'China In Your Hand'.
Carol reminded us that on this day exactly 26 years ago, this song was spending its five week run at number one!!
The crowd went wild at the end. The band were so polished and sounded great throughout.
At the time the London gig was announced, it was said that Ronnie couldn't make it as he had prior arrangements, but this was to change! You couldn't have a celebratory T'Pau gig in London like this without Ronnie!
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| Carol with Ronnie in the background. A nice black & white shot. |
Carol mentioned a few times during the gig that it was being recorded, which I am pleased about as it was such a great gig, infact, one of my all-time favourite T'Pau gigs!
There was such energy/passion and the audience loved every minute of it!
Fans had flown in from Germany, Scotland and Ireland to see the show, and one of the people that had flown in from Germany that I spoke to had a great time!
A large crowd of people were
waiting for Carol in the foyet, and when she appeared, there was a huge cheer and applause, and so rightly deserved!!
Carol took time to have photos taken with fans, sign things and chat, something Carol has always been very good at with her fans.
A fantastic night was had by all and what a way to end the 25th year of celebrations! As I said, T'Pau back at their best!!
The #TPau25Live package is still in the works, and I will inform you all more when I know it.
Lets wait and see what 2014 has in store......!!
Now the #TPau25 celebrations have come to an end, Carol has set up a new T'Pau/Carol Decker Facebook page.
Click here and click on 'like' to follow
Thank you!!
Have a great Christmas everybody!
Deano xx
www.tpau.co.uk
Carol took time to have photos taken with fans, sign things and chat, something Carol has always been very good at with her fans.
A fantastic night was had by all and what a way to end the 25th year of celebrations! As I said, T'Pau back at their best!!
The #TPau25Live package is still in the works, and I will inform you all more when I know it.
Lets wait and see what 2014 has in store......!!
Now the #TPau25 celebrations have come to an end, Carol has set up a new T'Pau/Carol Decker Facebook page.
Click here and click on 'like' to follow
Thank you!!
Have a great Christmas everybody!
Deano xx
www.tpau.co.uk
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