NOTE: All photos are copyright of Howard Shiau Photography 2025
There was a time when Upstairs at Eric’s stayed at repeat in my household. Ah, those high school days when New Wave was dominant and electronic bands like Yaz (Yazoo for those not in North America) permeated the airwaves. Fast forward to 2025 and vocalist Alison Moyet (aka Geneviève Alison Jane Ballard aka Alf) is back on tour. Since Yaz split in 1983, Moyet has been prolific as a solo artist, releasing ten studio albums with two hitting number one on the UK album charts and twenty three million albums sold worldwide! I must admit that I lost track of Moyet after Alf and Raindancing but some of that was probably due to life asserting itself and having less time for music. Last year, Moyet released Key, an album of re-worked songs from previous albums and is currently on tour to support that album, a tour that is coming overseas to North America for the first time since 2017. I had hoped that when she was opening for Tears for Fears a couple of years back during their UK/EU tour, that she would also open in North America but that was not to be. However, during the Key Tour, she’ll be performing at the same venue on May 5th in Toronto, the Danforth Music Hall, on May 5th, that she did back in 2017!
There was no opener so the venue was completely packed by the time Moyet took the stage. The stage setup was simple with a couple of lights in the back and a bank of lights across the front of the stage. Moyet’s outfit was also a lowkey black top over a long black skirt and guitarist/keyboardist Brendan Cox and bassist/keyboardist and longtime producer and musical director Sean McGhee were likewise understated. Tonight was to be about the music and what better way than to begin with the powerful “Fire” from 2007’s The Turn, followed by “More” from 2002’s Hometime. Moyet sounded great and, while she wasn’t belting the way she used to in the 80s, her vocals were spot on and I loved how she played with the crowd as she posed and vogued during “More” and other songs. It was wonderful to see her having such a great time on stage.
The setlist really was a great mix of songs from most of her records, slightly weighted to her Yaz/Yazoo discography. Moyet did talk a bit about how she has and will continue to make music because pop music is not just for the kids but an older perspective needs to have a voice. She was probably the most animated, bounding around and dancing, during “Beautiful Gun” and “Footsteps”, although my favorites of the night were “So Am I” and “Nobody’s Diary”. As expected, the biggest reactions of the night were for the Yaz songs and you can count on everyone’s phones being held up during those songs. About halfway through “Situation”, Moyet stopped and said that she had forgotten the lyrics so they started the song over again. Since the second iteration was actually slightly different, I have to wonder if this was staged. It was a funny moment for everyone but, if they wanted to extend the song, it’s not hard to play an extended version like they used to at the clubs. It’s still an amazing song and brings me back to younger days. She did joke and tell a couple of stories in between songs but we definitely could have used more of the stories. Without an opener, there was plenty of time and the audience would have thoroughly enjoyed the banter without Moyet taxing her vocal cords.
It does make me so happy to see Alison Moyet in such a good place, touring the world, sounding so amazing, and treating her fans to her music in a live setting again. I hope that she continues to make great music and we see her on this side of the pond again.
Click on photos to enlarge
