Blancmange - Rescue Rooms, Nottingham, 24.5.2024

  by Dave Goodwin

published: 29 / 10 / 2024

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Having seen Blancmange live a few times now I knew as soon as the request came through for a live review that I would be heading out to one of Nottingham’s best live venues. Nestled right next door to its big brother, the iconic Rock City, Rescue Rooms is and always has been my favourite place to experience live music. About a third the size of Rock City, Rescues also boasts a balcony of decent size and the stage area isn’t too shabby either. I’m not sure how they’ve done it but the acoustics are brilliant too. Also sporting an adequate bar and ample floor area this really is a venue to be proud of. And what greater sound to grace this marvellous building than that of Neil Arthur and crew more commonly named as Blancmange. Neil has been sailing the good ship Blancmange since its inception way back in 1979. Within the next five years Neil and musical buddy Stephen Luscombe had knocked out four Top Ten singles and three Top Ten albums including the ever popular 1982 set Happy Families. These days Neil has been largely on his own and the brand name of Blancmange has now reached the dizzy heights of 18 studio albums along with having a hand in other projects like Fader with multi-instrumentalist Benge and Near Future with Jez Bernholz. As far as live work Neil has been touring on and off throughout. The time spent on the road has paid off as I’m going to stick my neck out here and say I have never heard Blancmange sound this good live. They are part way into a mini tour to coincide with the release of a career-spanning collection, ‘Everything Is Connected, The Best of Blancmange 1979-2024 and this set includes all the hits and other favourite tracks from over more than forty years of brilliant music. The man himself is no stranger to the live show and it shows with his ease of interaction with the crowd. The audience to be fair are all Blancmange-heads, but Neil is a seasoned pro. Being lead singer with the support act and fellow synth bods, The Remainder, he thanked himself publicly for the invite and the opportunity to support the main act showing that his wonderful sense of humour hasn’t waned over the years either. Always giving extra, Neil hung around after for record signings post show and I had a chance to thank him for all the years of marvellous music. I left feeling over-joyed I had once again witnessed the synth pop legends up close, but I felt a little awkward with myself afterwards because I thought I made it sound a little like it was the last thing he was going to do. Then I calmed down a little however and realised that this was Neil Arthur I was talking about, there’s still time for another eighteen albums yet, knowing him.

Band Links:-

https://www.facebook.com/BlancmangeMusic
http://www.blancmange.co.uk/
https://twitter.com/_blancmange_

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