Hadley
His “salad days” as the front man for the quintessential ‘80s band Spandau Ballet may have already slowly drifted away, but Tony Hadley’s music continues to create an imprint in the hearts and minds of his fans and music lovers.
That much was true when the British singer played to a sold-out crowd at the Newport Performing Arts Theater last Sept. 28 to celebrate his 40th anniversary in the biz. The audience, mostly made up of Gen Xers, braved the traffic and stormy weather to relive the glory days of new wave and new romantics.
For this author, Tony’s show proved to be a discovery on his and Spandau’s discography and reintroduced younger audiences to the heady allure of ‘80s Brit pop.
Tony and his five-member band opened the show with Spandau Ballet’s Top of the Pops hit, “Instinction,” whose exhilarating riffs were catchy enough to get concertgoers rushing to the front of the stage and dance.
Singer-percussionist Lily Gonzalez, who has also collaborated with the Brand New Heavies, provided additional vocals to the song that gave it a soulful-funk vibe. This was followed by another Spandau hit, “Highly Strung.”
The crooner looked dapper in a black suit and, at 62, still radiated with the matinee-idol charm from his heyday. Another asset that the Englishman hasn’t lost are his steely pipes. Like fine wine, his voice has aged gracefully, giving it exquisite texture that makes it sound better than when he was younger. Every song was performed with a delectable balance of tenderness and bravado.
Tony then waxed nostalgic about the good old days with his boys from the band and performed Chuck Berry’s 1958 rock ‘n’ roll hit “Carol,” which he said was the first song they played in 1976. “This is how we sounded all those years ago,” he said. “That was the first time we performed before we became Spandau Ballet. We were just 16-year-old kids in school.”
Tony and his band then performed Spandau’s 1980 debut single “To Cut a Long Story Short,” a synth-and-percussion-heavy track that was quickly followed by the groovesome “Only When You Leave,” which showcased the singer’s tenor range.
Spandau helped usher in the dawn of the MTV era. Tony intimated that they filmed his next song, “Communication,” from the “depths of London.” A quick search revealed an interesting fun fact about the boogie-bop hit: Its music video was envisioned as a short film, complete with dialogue, involving a photographer (played by the young and good-looking Tony) hired to take snapshots of a dubious transaction.
Leading the charge
Tony’s own music also made it to the setlist, with the radio-friendly “Obvious” leading the music-making charge. He shared, “This is a song that we released during COVID, because we should all be together, and not get stuck alone at home.”
He dialed the tempo down a notch with the sultry “I’ll Fly for You.” Thereafter, the first three notes of the pop-ballad “Round and Round” were enough to drive the crowd into frenzy.
Tony recalled that his very first visit to Manila was in 1995. By then, he had already released his first solo album “State of Play.”
Tony Hadley
He then performed “Lost in Your Love,” which he first played for his Pinoy fans 27 years ago. As luck would have it, an audience member handed Tony her phone to show him a photo of that memorable night. The singer gasped as he said, “Oh my God, you were there! That’s fantastic. I was a bit younger then. That’s really lovely… thank you.”
Despite having a successful solo career, Tony admitted that he’ll never be able to erase his affiliation with Spandau. “It’s kind of weird when you go solo and do stuff on your own. It took many, many years for Spandau Ballet to get back together. We broke up in 1990, and we got back together in 2009, 2010.”
He added, “In 2015, we made a documentary about the band, ‘Soul Boys of the Western World.’ We went on tour, we had a great time, and this next song [‘Soul Boy’] we opened with every single night. It’s a song about you and about us. And without you guys, we don’t work. And it’s because of you that I’m here.”
After Tony sailed through “Soul Boy’s” soaring notes, he sang the uptempo inspirational track “Because of You,” from his latest album of the same name.
As the show drew to a close, Tony raised a glass of whiskey to toast and thank his audience. “We live in a kind of crazy world right now,” he said. “The world is going absolutely mad. And if we were just nicer and more peaceful to each other, it would be a much better place. I toast you all to a very healthy, happy, peaceful life.”
After taking a swig of his drink, he introduced what he described as his “favorite Spandau Ballet song.” As if on cue, everyone stood up as they heard the opening notes to “Through the Barricades.”
He then shifted the tempo with a trio of dance hits—“Chant No 1 (I Don’t Need This Pressure On),” “Mad About You” and “Lifeline”—that fired up the audience.
Life-changing song
Saving the best for last, Tony said that his next song “changed our lives, the lives of the members of Spandau Ballet.” He explained that despite what’s been said in the media—some of them true, while some of them not so—he said it was just proper to pay homage to his bandmates.
He said, “If it wasn’t for those guys in the school music room when I was 16, I wouldn’t be here in the Philippines. We wouldn’t be here. So, thank you to Spandau Ballet as well.” As he belted Spandau’s signature hit tune “True,” the much-anticipated number because a palpable moment of thanksgiving and nostalgia.
For the requisite encore, Tony and his band performed “One for My Baby,” a classic by Frank Sinatra, who he met when he was 17.
The 62-year-old singer ended the night on a high note with the anthemic “Gold,” whose familiar opening chords brought the house down. This former front man’s career echoes a word from this classic hit: indestructible. Like the man himself, Tony’s music continues to stand the test of time. INQ