No crisis -Just fun and laughter as band born in the 1980s entertain the crowds in Wolverhampton
China Crisis brought nostalgia, fun and laughter but most importantly great music to Wolverhampton with a live show on Friday night.
And for the price of a ticket you didn't just get the beautifully crafted songs which made the Liverpool band a household name in the early 1980s when they signed to Virgin Records, you also got a comedy routine from lead singer and founder member Gary Daly.
No subject was off limit with typical scouse humour, including mock anger at members of the audience, a plea for security to open the back doors and let some air in, the Robin 2 and Wolves and Wolverhampton in general. And he threw in hilarious anecdotes about fellow 80s musicians all the way from Sade to Depeche Mode, Echo and the Bunnymen to OMD and George Michael.
Even the current four piece band were in stitches, particularly song writing partner and guitarist Eddy Lundon and It made for a bonus to what was a great show and some of the artists mentioned above had songs cleverly interwoven into those of China Crisis.
Featuring songs from their now 46 year career, Daly did get serious at times with stories about how they left Liverpool for London in 1982, leaving family and friends behind in Kirby and have been on a musical journey ever since which has taken them worldwide and still does.
The Flaunt the Imperfection album featured prominently, with reference to Steely Dan's Walter Becker who produced it and the tracks from it featured the American band's inimitable trademark style.
They also played 'the single that got away' in Never Too Late, which Daly said would have been a sure fire hit but they had already released three 'softer songs' in a row so it was never released which he said was a regret now.
They finished off with 'songs people would know' as Daly said, namely Black Man Ray, Wishful Thinking, King in a Catholic Style and the haunting Christian which rounded off a great night.
The venue lent itself well to the band on a hot Wolverhampton night in term of acoustics and size and is a hidden gem in the city's music scene which is set to become more prominent when plans to expand and develop it are put into place.
Paul Jenkins
