Review: Back to the 80s
Sunday 12th July 2009, 1:57AM BST.
Ten thousand people defied the summer downpour and danced Saturday evening away as Shrewsbury’s Quarry went Back to the Eighties.
Some of the biggest stars of the decade played their biggest hits for the sell-out crowd. Here’s our initial review, but why not give your own opinions in the comment box below – and tell us which 80s singers you’d have put on the bill.
Click here for our picture gallery
Carol Decker, who was second on the bill last year, returned to her former home town to open the show. It cannot be easy to get things moving on such a miserable night, but she did her best, opening with hit Sex Talk and ploughing through T’Pau’s best-known songs. She still has a fantastic rock voice. There was a fair bit of chatting to the audience, and she even managed to get a sea of brollies moving up and down in time to the music, which made a pleasant change from getting people to wave. Carol – who knows how to work a crowd - pretended she wasn’t going to play her best-known hit (“I’m bored with that one”) but then sang it anyway, and by the time the last notes of China in your Hand faded away the crowd was getting nicely warmed up.
Star rating: 8 out of 10.
Go West were next on the bill and really got things moving. They opened with Don’t Look Down, and hits such as Call Me, We Close Our Eyes and King of Wishful Thinking had the audience dancing in the rain. They threw in a slowed down version of Smokey Robinson’s Tracks of My Tears, which worked well with Peter Cox’s soulful voice, and surprised everyone with a rocking cover of U2’s Vertigo. Come back next year, lads.
Star rating: 9 out of 10.
Although they were on the Bill, Johnny Hates Jazz didn’t appear and there was no explanation for their absence.
Former Smash Hits pin-up Belinda Carlisle’s bouncy singalong pop was perfect for the Quarry, and she soon had people joining in who probably weren’t even born when she was at her peak. Hits including (We Want) The Same Thing, Live Your Life Be Free and, of course, Heaven is a Place on Earth, were greeted like old friends.
Star Rating: 9 out of 10.
Bananarama were on the bill last year and returned to an ecstatic welcome – there was even a large inflatable banana being waved around by a member of the audience. This was a pleasantly ramshackle performance by a pair who, despite having been together for nearly thirty years, still come across as two schoolteachers at a karaoke night. They don’t even dance in time with each other. But the crowd knew every word of songs including Venus and Robert De Niro’s Waiting, and the duo seemed genuinely pleased with the reaction.
Star rating: 9 out of 10.
The Human League topped the bill and seemed slightly surprised by both the size of the crowd and the warmth of the reception; lead singer Phil Oakey (clearly no stranger to The Matrix films judging by his stage outfit) repeatedly thanked the audience in between hits such as Tell Me When, Don’t You Want Me and Mirror Man. They ended their 45-minute set with an encore of Together in Electric Dreams, which sent people singing into the rainy night.
Star rating: 9 out of 10
By Andrew Owen
Shropshire Star on Twitter
Keep updated with the latest breaking news and content on our Twitter feed.
Lifestyle
Interactive Dining Out map
Hundreds of reviews by the Shropshire Star and Express & Star's teams to help you decide where to eat.
Entertainment
All the film reviews
Before you plan a trip to the pictures, get our critics' verdicts on all the latest movie releases.
OUR NEW APP
Get the new Shropshire Star app
Download the Shropshire Star’s new app to your iPad or iPhone to get one week of access to our digital newspapers absolutely FREE.
shropshirestar.com
Popular sections
Useful links
Firstly I want to make it quite clear that I am not deaf.
I have seen the Human League four times. They come to Shrewsbury, the band comment on how much they like the place but some pen pusher in a suit decides the masses should not be subject to certain sound levels and quite simply the worst concert I have been to in my life.
If thats what Shrewsbury Council think are acceptable sound levels then it certainly explains why the PA system is so quiet at our football stadium.
Who exactly is responsible for dictating how loud it is?
Rumors going around are that the two days of the year that the noise restrictions for The Quarry don’t apply are the Flower Show days !! So that huge military bands and fireworks can be as loud as you like. You couldn’t make it up.
Its potentially a great venue – could seriously see U2 or Oasis there, but to me it sounded like I was outside the venue and I was very close to the stage!
What a shame the nanny state ruined something that could be unique and special to our town. the Quarry is a PERFECT venue for a concert, the only issue is that for a band to play you need to hear them and them not be drowned out by 5 girls singing 20 yards away.
How your correspondent rated the bands is beyond me when you simply could not hear them.
Report abuse
Wow what a night absolutely fabulous!
Go west were brilliant and Human league even better.
The rain never put a damper on my night as I Dance through every song.
Got dancing with some great people,80’s in the Quarry Rocks!
Report abuse
We got absolutely drenched, the show was awesome!
The atmosphere in The Quarry was fantastic, people just ignored the weather and got on with a bloody good night and sang their hearts out.
We wouldn’t have missed it for the world.
Report abuse
I agree with the earlier comment regarding the volume level, it did seem a bit muted. However, the fact that you could hear everybody else singing as badly as you only added to the atmosphere I suppose.
We had a great time, despite the constant downpour. Belinda and Bananarama were the stars of the night!
Can’t wait for next year – how about giving us some Debbie Gibson, Five Star or Bros?
Report abuse
Fantastic night, well worth the money and seeing all the old groups again.
Couldn’t fault any of them except for Bananarama but even then that would be harsh.
Sound could have been louder.
Never noticed the rain much…
Would go back and see them all again next year.
Good job by all, and thanks for sorting it out.
Report abuse
Madness, The Specials would be sound for next year as well – awesome.
Report abuse
What a fantastic night!!!
We all hope to go next year, that is if the promoters will return following the restrictions placed on the volume levels by the local council and the small-mindedness of some of the town residents. The quarry is a natural amphitheatre and as a town we don’t use it enough!!
Bring Back Rick!!!!
Report abuse
The gig in the Quarry last night was a huge success and I really enjoyed the event. I do have few negative comments though as it could so easly have been so much better..
The Human League, are just not suitable headline material for a show like this.. I was far from alone in walking home half way through the set. Literally dozens of people gave up and left during their very poor performance..
Thanks to T’Pau, Belinda Carlsle, Bananarama and especially Go West for making it such a good evening’s entertainment!!
The sound was no where near loud enough though.. From about half way up the field, level with the gazebos, it wasn’t much louder than you’d have the telly!! 10,000 people spent over 30 quid each and braved some pretty poor weather for this event.. I don’t care if it upsets a few dozen local residents on a couple of nights in the summer.. The Quarry is a brilliant amphitheatre and more use should be made of it.. Next year turn up the volume!!
Please get rid of the Beacon presenters! They really have no idea how to work a crowd! Each band would in turn get people livened up, for them to then bore again. Just play some cool 80′s tunes in between sets! (not as if there is any shortage!) An announcer for each band will be fine cheers!!
Report abuse
Fully a agree with all the correspondents above, especially the sound levels, the Town Centre Residents Association really do believe they are the bastions of taste and censorship their power over the Council is so strong they can demand what ever they like. Hopefully now we have a Shropshire Council their demands will fall on county wide opinions and not just their neighbours on the old SABC.So few are dictating to so many out for a good time. No doubt they’ll object again next year and call for it to be banned.
Go-West, were fantastic, really brought the crowd alive, Bananarama and Human League fantastic entertainment – crank it up.
How about a 2 tone event next year, The Specials, The Selector, Madness, The Beat, Bad Manners etc.
Report abuse
Great night, but would of been a fantastic night if the sound was just a bit louder, I cannot believe that for one night the fools that run Shrewsbury could not of allowed the sound to that of what anyone would consider to be a normal gig level.
If they cannot do that then dont hold a concert, get it at Weston Park. Shrewsbury needs to take a good look at itself in all ways as it sometimes seems to be disapearing up its own bottom
Report abuse
Attended this event last year and it was a great night. I thought the line up for this year was a bit weaker but got tickets anyway. I was wrong! As one of a group of 6, I can speak for all us and say what a fantastic night we all had. The venue is perfect, the music was fantastic and we all danced and sang from start to finish. Even managed to get down to the front for, in my opinion, the high-light that was the Human League – they even did one of personal faves “Empire State Human” – awesome night out – cant wait for next year’s show. PS was it raining then?
Report abuse
Having never been to any concert before this has to be one of the best nights ever – Belinda Carlisle, Human League and co were absolutely fantastic – even forgot about the rain when it became clear it was settling in for the night and in funny kind of way it addedd to my enjoyment! Will definitely be looking out for this event again next year!
Report abuse
Totally agree with all comments, for the price people pay for a twice yearly outdoor event the sound was very quiet more so on the Saturday. The Quarry is the ideal venue for picnic in thepark and being entertained. It should be used much more.Come on Council its good for the town brings people here lets make it worth while.Thought the 2 Beacon presenters were awful & very amateur a bit embarassing really, we don’t need them.Belinda Carlisle was by far the best. For me the amount of people who were staggering about & falling all over the place very drunk was quite amazing. Definately a different clientel & atmosphere than at the previous night with Jools Holland which was excellent & even seemed louder !
Report abuse
Compared to last year – this one was a bit of a damp squid. Sound volumes were just barely audible if you stood anywhere beyond the tent line. Beacon radio presenters were terrible. Trying to sound smart but really just amateur.
Acts were great. Human League – excellent. Thanks for Empire State Human. And the girls look fab too. Go West were excellent – what a voice. jonny hates jazz… we spent the night wondering what they had sung – what were their hits ? never mind. Belinda Carlisle was great too.
So for next year – get the volume up !. Ditch the presenters.
Report abuse
Hi
I actually thought it was a really good night, despite the downpour and the apparent lack of sound at the back. Secondly, with regards the comments about the ‘Beacon presenters’, I would like to point out that Ryan and myself were sharing a radio mic ( which was out of our control ), which made things slightly awkward when coming on in between the acts, having to pass the microphone over. We had a limited amount of time to ‘work the crowd’ and made the decision to do what we could in the 1-2 minutes allocated on stage.
Thank you for your comments though, and I’m glad that you enjoyed your evening with some of the decades best stars.
Stu
Report abuse
WHAT A FANTASTIC NIGHT IT WAS, NEVER NOTICED THE RAIN.LOVED ALL THE ACTS ,BANARAMA WERE REALLY GOOD. RYAN KENNEDY AND STU HAYCOCKS FROM BEACON RADIO WERE REALLY REALLY GREAT ,GOT THE EVENING OFF TO A GREAT START,THEY KNEW HOW TO WORK THE CROWD .LOVE NICOLA XXX
Report abuse
This was something special for me, but equally absolutely ruined by the council and its noise restrictions.
Im Shrewsbury born and bred but have worked all over Europe within the music business. Many European cities have music festival weeks attracting US legends and pop sensations from the UK. As someone else said, The Quarry is the PERFECT venue but the sound quality was shocking turning the whole event into a shambles.
Only in Shrewsbury would a council official claim 3 days is too long and listen to someone living 3 miles away moaning about sound levels.
I have no problem with the Britain in Bloom tag the town has, I have no problems with the Christians wanting to celebrate their faiths and hold carol concerts in the square, I have no problem in thousands of football fans supporting their team in the new stadium and I have no problem with the town being under siege with flower lovers.
The problem I do have is like others have mentioned are the kill joys ruining the fun and enjoyment of others.
I want Shrewsbury to be a vibrant, cultural haven attracting music acts from across the globe, thus filing the local hotels with visitors and town centre shop owners benefitting. In my mind however, its those in power who want Shrewsbury to be a backward, sleepy town that no one cares or knows about.
Report abuse
I’m glad everyone enjoyed the 80′s night, but next year can we have something different. How about bands that are still going? Then the next night have a load of local bands play. Unless the Smiths get back together lets have music from a different decade next time please.
Report abuse
What about A-ha? They’d be a brilliant band to headline a Quarry gig.
As for Saturday, cannot say I had any problems with the volume, but I was halfway up the hill and probably nearer the speakers than others.
Go West were very, very good, and hats off to Belinda and the ‘rama.
In short, an excellent night out; made me feel proud of Shrewsbury.
Report abuse
It’s a shame to see these comments, although somewhat expected, when will the council listen to it’s residents? I have worked promoting music in this town and the above comments just echo the massive problems we have had here for a long time. Keep on voicing your opinion people, they can’t hold us down and continue to point our town in a backward direction forever. Low sound levels at a concert… what an absolute JOKE.
Report abuse
I went to last years concert and it totally rocked!!!!!!
when the line up came out for this years concert i bought the tickets on the first day (yes i am an eighties freak,bad styles and clothes but the music no one can argue it was simply brill)
I made the descision to wear just a t-shirt and shorts and prepared to get wet, it was warm still!
Carol decker simply awful!!!
the sound was not loud enough, the council have got to stand up to these idiots called the town centre residents association, and they need to get a reality check or just go to one of these concerts and they might find they may actually enjoy it.
belinda carlisle and go west were just mind boggling brilliant closely followed by human league and bananrama.
all the people moaning about other bands and decades- last years sold out concert was so sucessful they did it again and guess what sold out again!
if the promoters do decide to return,get the volume turned up and NO BEACON RADIO PRESENTERS they were the worst thing of the night, yes worse that the rain!!!
last but not least, well done to all the people who turned up the night was just fantastic, i say do it again next year!
Report abuse
If the sound levels were so low in the Quarry how is it that I could hear the thumping all the way in Harlescott?! I had to close my windows.
Report abuse
lol @ mr meldrew ;)
i live a stones throw away in frankwell and was heavily disappointed i couldn’t hear a thing.
this residents association should ask a few of us residents what we actually think!
Report abuse
Tom and others are right. You can’t live in a town centre then complain about the noise all the time. Those miserable old fuddy-duddys that are holding the town back won’t be here forever though. In the mean-time I would tell them that there’s more to life than hanging baskets and brass bands so put your best china down and get a life!
Report abuse
Absolutelty fantastic night, worth every penny! Human League wow! My five year old loved it. Could we have Aha next year please, oh and a bit more volume, could I ask the few residents who don’t like the noise, why live in a town???? Also a big thank you to the lovely people who let my little girl queue jump for the toilet, five year olds aren’t good at crossing their legs, she was very grateful! Looking forward to next year already.
Report abuse
I couldn’t agree more with these comments. Over £30 each to get in, potentially a fantastic gig in store with an excellent line up and then the last thing you’d expect – you can’t hear it! I was at the back to start off with, but after struggling to hear Carol Decker singing, decided to move closer to the front, but even then it sounded like I was standing outside the park. The acts were almost drowned out by people talking around me or from a singing trio sheltering under a tree 20 yards away . I thought the line up this year was much better than last year, so please don’t let the ‘town centre residents association’ put a stop to what is one of the best events Shrewsbury has ever staged. If you choose to live in or close to a town centre you expect to put up with some sort or noise, be it music, traffic, people etc etc. You don’t move to the countryside and complain about the birds tweeting do you? I certainly hope some of these comments posted on this site reach the council, they need to know the disapproval of some of the 10,000 people who attended this sell out concert and not just from the handful of complaining stuck-up idiots who think they own Shrewsbury town centre. It’s only 2 nights a year, so turn it up a bit next time so we can enjoy the music of these groups and artists who’ve come to entertain Shrewsbury.
Report abuse
What a fantastic night, even the rain didnt dampen spirits, first one i have been too, will def book for next year if they do it again. The atmosphere was better than when i went to see Take That 2 weeks ago, didnt have a problem with the sound. PLEASE DO IT AGAIN NEXT YEAR- THEY WERE ALL FAB!!!!!!!!!
Report abuse
Ok everyone, I have had my say, you have had yours,let’s all contact Shrewsbury Town Residents Association for their comments.
Find them at http://www.2shrop.net/stcra
Report abuse
Had a great evening despite the rain and selfish people with umbrellas up, you can dry out!! Came over from Lincoln especially for this gig to meet up with my sis and her hubbie and we all loved it the atmosphere was great, just enjoy it. Agreed that the volumn could have done with being up a bit more. Mainly came to see Human League.
Report abuse
Just taken Steven’s advice and had a gander at the resident’s association website and particularly the photos page.
Seriously, these fossils are in charge of the noise levels of a pop concert? Surely all they have to do is turn their deaf-aids down a notch or two and problem solved.
They claim to help assist “development of a broader range of cultural and leisure activities catering for a wider spectrum of residents and visitors” and promptly limit the enjoyment of 10,000 visitors to our (not ‘their) town.
They also strongly advocate ” reversal of the trend towards out of town shopping and support for smaller specialist shops and businesses”. Well all the town centre businesses who benefited from the influx of all these revellers with plenty of money in their pockets will be mightily unhappy when events such as this move to the football ground or the showground because of the limits put on the organisers by these dinosaurs, whose idea of a good night out is a sweet sherry down the conservative club!
Report abuse
I actually flew in to the UK from California just to attend this show, having some free airline miles to use. I figured the line-up and the venue would be the perfect thing to take me back to the 80s. This was my experience:
- The rain couldn’t have been timed any worse. But in retrospect, I think it only adds to my concert memory: Dancing in the Rain with strangers in a strange land. It was totally cool!
- I was dead center, about three rows standing back from the stage. And – you are all correct – it wasn’t loud enough! I thought it was because the speakers stacks on the sides of the stage were aimed out at the crowd, and I was getting a bad sound mix bouncing back from the performers’ monitor speakers. But no – it seems that the whole concert was just too quiet. What a buzzkill! Though I managed to get past that fact.
- I liked every act. Close up front, it was like a separate concert just for us. Carol Decker put her heart into “China in Your Hand”, and despite what some others have commented, I thought she did a good job. But “Go West”, whose music I didn’t really know, really impressed me – that is to say, the singer did. He really puts himself into his singing. And “Vertigo” was an unexpected treat! Belinda Carlisle (the only other American in attendance?) was actually good. But the best part was the young guy right up front at the railing, with “Ricky (heart) Belinda” painted on his face. She acknowledged him a couple of times, which sent him into a fits of joy. That was fun to watch. Bananarama (with the proper British pronunciation) was fun, but they aren’t really very talented, are they? I enjoyed all the dressed-up girls next to me who were dancing and singing along in the rain.
And then finally… the real reason I came… The Human League. You could tell they were a band apart from the others, because they had a change of stage set. More than that, their synth-pop helped DEFINE the 80s, whereas the other acts were merely IN the 80s. There is a difference. It’s hard for me to know how to rate their performance. On one level, I was actually disappointed. Sure, Phil Oakey tried hard to connect with the crowd (and yet was also the only one who looked over the heads of us at the front, without connecting with us), and sang well, but maybe again, it was just not loud enough. Or maybe it was the fact that the rest of the band was not the original guys. The girls looked so … different, and never did really sing with any passion. “The Lebanon”, a song I like, came off especially as “going through the motions”, utterly passionless. Other songs were good, and I sang along. But it was raining harder then, too… I can’t put my finger on it, but while I liked seeing the Human League, I felt slightly cheated by the performance.
Afterwards it was a very wet walk back to my lodging, with no taxi to be had.
Back to California, and I’ll always have a great memory. I enjoyed the show, but the thing I’ll keep with me most is the memory of friendliness and camaraderie (whether or not alcohol-inspired!) of the boys and girls of Shrewsbury and the surrounding area, who made me feel very welcome among them. Thank you!
Report abuse
Had a fantastic night but please increase sound levels. I am living in Shrewsbury and want a vibrant town which helps all businesses in this recession. What happened to Jonny Hates Jazz? More 80`s bands please!
Report abuse