Midge Ure and Paul Young
While neither may have achieved the same kind of massive stateside success that some of their U.K. contemporaries enjoyed during the 1980s, Midge Ure and Paul Young both had a sizeable impact on the sort of sounds coming out of English new wave, their respective strings of hit singles making them one-time household names across the pond.
The pair have more in common than a time and place, however. Both demonstrate an easygoing flair for collaboration that led them to share the studio with a surprisingly diverse list of artists, resulting not only in plenty of great songs, but also some rather fascinating behind-the-scenes stories. Thankfully, both were on full display as the duo shared the Shank Hall stage Sunday night, much to the delight of their many diehard fans.
Though technically co-headliners, Ure kicked things off, leading his backing band through a crowd-pleasing, discography-spanning set. This, of course, touched on the best of what Ure called the dark old days of Ultravox, such as “I Remember (Death in the Afternoon),” through to his Visage work with a more muscular take on their sleek synthpop classic, “Fade to Grey,” and on to his solo material—most memorably via a full-throated rendition of “If I Was” from his 1985 debut, The Gift.
While the old hits played best with a nostalgiac crowd, new songs, top among them “Become,” off his latest original album, Fragile, also got ample attention; in fact, one of the few things of note not touched on was his somewhat incongruous stint with Thin Lizzy (a mistake that would soon be rectified).
Paul Young’s smooth, synthesized take on blue-eyed soul hasn’t aged as well as Ure’s punk-tinged new romanticism, and his sought-after voice seems a tad the worse for wear, but there was certainly no lack of heart as he belted out his hits to the back of the club. Known for eclectic covers as much as his originals, Young’s raspy baritone lent obligatory tunes some much-needed life and really shined during a rendition of Ann Peebles’ stone-cold funk classic, “Slipped, Tripped and Fell in Love” (as reimaged by famed dance producer Arthur Baker), along with his own starkly political “No Parlez.”
|
|
Together, Young and Ure’s sets were each satisfying, but the collective closing jam on “The Boys are Back in Town” sealed the deal, capping off an interesting night with two often under-appreciated artists.
