Photos and a Concert Review: 80s Club (Spoons, A Flock of Seagulls, Men Without Hats, Honeymoon Suite)

[Ross MacDonald and Karen Coughtrey had a night filled with retro goodness. – AC]

The 80s brought the world some of the most distinct musical stylings, instantly recognizable by the use of synthesizers and drum machines. It’s a decade of music one seems to either strongly love or hate. Those who love it, love it a lot, as demonstrated by the crowd Tuesday night (November 26, 2024) at Ottawa’s TD place arena for the 80’s club party featuring England’s A Flock Of Seagulls and some of Canada’s best and most accessible Canadian 80’s bands (so many stories shared of having seen them play back in the day) Spoons, Men Without Hats, and headliners Honeymoon Suite.

This was clearly a special evening for many and the audience were dressed for the occasion and ready to party. It was clear this music brought back memories of their coming of age, high school and university days, or days as a kid listening to their parents’ favourite music, and the crowd was more diverse in age than one might have expected, being alive in the 80’s was not a requirement for entry.

Burlington’s Spoons were first to take the stage, opening with ‘Arias & Symphonies’ and ‘Old Emotions’. They transported the crowd back in time with ‘When Time Turns Around’ but also played new work ‘Repeatable’ “because some things are worth repeating like the 80’s.”

The 80s wasn’t just about synthesizers, Gord brought his guitar to the forefront throughout the set with outstanding licks. And Sandy gave a master class on how to play the bass, picking fast and furious, leading the rhythm section like no other.

Gord and Sandy had the crowd dancing and “do-do-do-do”ing along with hit ‘Romantic Traffic’ from all the way back in the early days of MuchMusic, successfully warming them up for the rest of the night and closing with ‘Nova Heart’.

If one thought Spoons had brought energy to the stage (and they did) it was no match for Men Without Hats who’s lead singer Ivan Doroschuk was a near whirling dervish (assuming we can still use that term) of excitement and energy.

They did not make the crowd wait for their most well known hit, opening with ‘The Safety Dance’ and also playing the extended dance version of it as their closer, “dedicating it to all who came late.”

Between Safety Dances was more fun, as the crowd marveled aloud at Ivan’s energy as he ran from side to side of the stage performing ‘Pop Goes The World’, ‘Antarctica’, and in a tender slower moment dedicating ‘Where Do The Boys Go’ to it’s co-writer and former band member Allan McCarthy, who passed away in 1995 from complications with AIDS.

Ivan may be the only original member left of the band he started so long ago with his brothers, but the new group still has family connections with his niece Sahara Sloan replacing her dad, Ivan’s brother and fellow original bandmate Colin Doroschuk, on keyboards; and it sure didn’t stop them from playing the early works as they played ‘I Got The Message’ and ‘I like’ both off the band’s first album.

Sahara obviously inherited her dad’s keyboard skills, the songs were musically perfect. And her backing vocals, especially on ‘Pop Goes The World’ and the ‘Safety Dances’ added those beautiful little contrasts like in the original recordings.

At the end of the Men Without Hats set a lot of the audience were shaking their heads in amazement, nobody could keep up with Ivan.

Third act of the evening, to add an international flair to the affair, was A Flock Of Seagulls. Opening with oldies ‘The More You Live, The More You Love’ and ‘Say You Love Me.’ They were clearly very excited about and heavily promoted their new album (scheduled to be released in 2025) with current and future singles ‘Him,’ ‘Lovers/Strangers’ and ‘Some Dreams’.

Although A Flock Of Seagulls hails originally from Liverpool it does now have a Canadian connection with Gord Deppe of Spoons doing double duty on the night as their guitarist.

The crowd really came alive and became fully energized when the band broke into their hit song ‘Space Age Love Song’ halfway through their set. Gord’s guitar riffs pierced through the crowd with their beautiful runs giving that unmistakable Flock Of Seagulls sound.

They ended their turn on stage by transporting the crowd back to 1982 and getting everyone up dancing again with hits ‘Wishing (I Had A Photograph Of You)’ and ‘I Ran (So Far Away)’. Two massive singalongs leaving wide smiles on everyone’s faces.

The pride of Niagara Falls, Honeymoon Suite were the headliners of the evening, and just before the band took the stage, stacks of Marshall amps were front and centre giving a foreshadowing of great things that were about to take place.

Honeymoon Suite opened with a keyboard intro and then ‘Burning Love’. The band holds the distinction of making the most crowd connections of the evening with lead Johnnie Dee declaring after their opening that he wanted to come out to the crowd, be in the crowd, see the smiling faces up close, get a little louder before making his way off the stage and closer to the crowd to perform ‘Stay In The Light’.

The lyrics of ‘Stay In The Light’ clearly mean a lot to him and he likely rightly assumed they mean a lot to those in the crowd and he reminded them emphatically several times to “Take no shite from anyone.” Johnny took the moment to share his mic with some of the fans at the front of the stage, who gladly joined in on the choruses.

If there is a quintessential 80s rock ballad, it has to be the band’s third, fan favourite ‘Wave Babies’, which had the entire arena swaying. And on the chorus, again the crowd was singing along (a common theme throughout their set, and in fact all the evening).

The band took lengthy moments between some songs, showcasing their individual talents with solo performances. Peter Nunn throwing a nod at the holiday season after ‘Feel It Again,’ with some piano from A Charlie Brown Christmas was a standout moment of the night.

In the middle of one of Derry’s guitar solos, he completely ran out of frets. He slid his left hand past the neck pickups, almost at the bridge pickups, much to everyone’s delight.

The main part of the evening ended with their mega hit ‘New Girl Now’ before saying a final goodbye to the crowd with an encore consisting of their biggest hit single ‘Love Changes Everything’.

After a hot night of throwback music, it was back to reality, and the cool chill of a November evening. It was an unanimous sentiment, “we gotta do this more often!”

Spoons
Gord Deppe – vocals, guitar
Sandy Horne – bass, backing vocals
Chris McNeill – drums, percussion
Scott MacDonald – keyboards, synthesizer, backing vocals

Men Without Hats
Ivan Doroschuk – vocals
Sho Murray – guitar
Adrian White – drums, backing vocals
Sahara Sloan – keyboards, backing vocals

A Flock Of Seagulls
Mike Score – lead vocals, keyboards
Pando – bass guitar, backing vocals
Kevin Rankin – drums, percussion
Gord Deppe – guitar, backing vocals

Honeymoon Suite
Johnnie Dee – vocals, guitar
Derry Grehan – guitar, backing vocals
Dave Betts – drums
Gary Lalonde – bass
Peter Nunn – keyboards, backing vocals