MIK SABIERS savours the first headline solo show of the stalwart of Brighton’s indie-punk outfit Blood Red Shoes
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Memorable communion with audience
A worthy trip down a memory lane of musical innovation, principles and messages that still matter in our current austere times, writes MIK SABIERS
IRREPRESSIBLE: Heaven 17 in action
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CAILEAN MCBRIDE welcomes a refreshing and timely study of the way officialdom creates structures that exclude LGBT+ rights and humanity
The bard mourns the loss of comrades and troubadours, and looks for consolation with Black Country Jess
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MARY CONWAY is disappointed by a star-studded adaptation of Ibsen’s play that is devoid of believable humanity
Heaven 17
London Roundhouse
WHEN the BBC banned Heaven 17’s debut single Fascist Groove Thang for its left-wing lyrics in 1981, it took two more years before the band’s most well-known single – Temptation – almost hit the top spot.
This slow burn mirrored that of The Human League, who formed back in 1977 but only saw commercial success with Don’t You Want Me once founding members Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware had left the band to form Heaven 17.
The Human League’s first two albums, co-written by Ware, may have been innovative, but weren’t necessarily commercial with tracks like Circus of Death, Life Kills and Being Boiled.
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