Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
HMV Hammersmith Apollo, London
07/11/2010

“I don’t believe in miracles, I don’t believe in truth, I think that only occasionally can you recreate your youth…” So run the specially-amended lyrics to dicey Britpop sop ‘Walking On The Milky Way’ this evening, and, absurd though it seems, Andy McCluskey may actually have a point. Sure, the name alone may date Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark to the immediate post-punk era, but their aesthetic – an intrigued embrace of the capabilities and possibilities of technology, a dash of endearingly self-aware pretension, and a canny suss for the very edge of the pop envelope – presently feels like it’s being co-opted by some whippersnappers or other on a weekly basis. 

Consequently, this performance never feels like a cabaret retread, but, instead, in keeping with the quality of the results of McCluskey and Paul Humphries’ surprise reconvention, proves a generations-straddling re-grasping of the creative flame. The introductory element, holographic technobods busying themselves over atonal industrialism, is thematically a throwback but one only made possible by contemporary advances. While the performers themselves are positively rejuvenating in front of us; Humphries providing a sweetly steady foil for the more peacock-approaching-cardiac-arrest excesses of McCluskey’s, well, arresting outbursts.

Moreover, musically their instincts feel both prescient and frequently keen. The wheezy, queasy Kraftwerkian hauntology of ‘Messages’ still startles on an early outing, while the triple whammy of ‘Architecture And Morality’ singles is genuinely jaw-dropping: ‘Souvenir’ must be one of the most determinedly wispy top three hits ever, and the response to the opening canticle foghorn of ‘Maid Of Orleans’ is frankly surreal. Beyond the nostalgia, though, the forcefulness remains – ‘History Of Modern (Part I)’ is strident, slightly epic and implausibly now, while ‘Sister Marie Says’, adorably introduced with the words, “This is a new one. Do not be scared. It. Is. BRILLIANT.”, is a thoroughly colossal addition to the electro-pop pantheon generally. Turns out that OMD‘s brand of futurism actually was the future, and watching them wrestle so remarkably with that is nothing short of enlightening.

Iain Moffat