Ultravox at The Sage

Ultravox

The Sage, Gateshead

8.10.2012

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It's been an amazing few years for Ultravox; the announcement in 2008 of their impending reunion was swiftly followed by the very successful Return to Eden tour of 2009 and the even better Return to Eden 2 dates of 2010.

New material duly followed and the thrill was augmented by the announcement of the Brilliant tour. Midge Ure whet the appetite earlier in the year when he unveiled one of the new Ultravox tracks on his solo tour.

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I was delighted to see that they would be appearing at The Sage - my favourite venue - for the last of the UK concerts before heading off to mainland Europe.

Could it get any better? Yes! News emerged that the group were dispensing with support acts to enable them to play for virtually the entire evening, with a career-spanning 27 songs!

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The biggest pre-tour question was, undoubtedly, how would the new songs fit in with the classic material? We didn't have to wait too long to find out, as the title track of Brilliant was the opening number. It proved to be a fine choice, showcasing the individual talents of the quartet: An insistent keyboard riff from Billy Currie, pounding bass from Chris Cross, versatile vocals and great guitar work from Midge Ure and rock-solid backbeat from Warren Cann. Towards the end, the song faded to a false finish, only to reawaken with an uplifting burst of tribal drumming from Warren.

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A triumph! There was barely a second to draw breath before Midge's jagged guitar heralded the arrival of New Europeans, rolling back the decades to take us back where it started.

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In all, they played seven tracks from Brilliant (picked out in bold, below) in addition to all the usual favourites. Everything worked well and Ultravox seemed to having just as much fun as we were. There was nothing to suggest the story is reaching a conclusion and I feel confident that there will be more new music in the pipeline before too long.

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Set List

Brilliant

New Europeans

Mr X
Reap the Wild Wind
Visions in Blue
Change
White China
Rage in Eden
Rise
Sleepwalk
The Voice

Break

Live
We Stand Alone
Thin Wall
Lament
Death in the Afternoon
Lie
Astradyne
Vienna
Flow
One Small Day
Passing Strangers
Love's Great Adventure
All Stood Still
Hymn

Encore

Contact
Dancing With Tears in My Eyes

To finish with, here's a few more memorable moments from a wonderful evening.

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A new CD - recorded live at Hammersmith on this very tour

They will return!