NOTE: All photos are copyright of Howard Shiau Photography 2025
Back in the late 80s through the 90s, Andy Bell and Erasure were a permanent fixture on the charts, providing GenX with non-stop catchy synth-pop tunes. Erasure had been formed after Vince Clarke had left Depeche Mode, then Yazoo (Yaz in the US), and was looking for a lead singer for a new project. The rest, as they say, is history. The group has a special place in my heart as I can remember dancing to Erasure songs all through high school and college and seeing my first Erasure show. I also brought my tween daughter to see them on their Tomorrow’s World Tour in 2011 and (this may not be a highlight) but we were in the 7th row at Radio City Music Hall during the Cowboy tour when someone had a heart attack in the row ahead of us and my wife gave the man CPR until EMS arrived and went with them to the hospital. Can I still say it was a great show?
Anyway, Andy Bell has released his third solo album Ten Crowns and has embarked on his first solo tour of North America! He will also be releasing a 4-disc box set The Crown Jewels which also includes the original album plus previously unreleased tracks, a disc of remixes by other artists, a disc of extended plays, and finally a disc of live versions from his UK/EU tour! While we are well past the heyday of synth-pop, it’s clear from this album that good pop music will always resonate. Some songs on the album sound like classic Erasure tunes: “Don’t Cha Know” and “Dawn of Heaven’s Gate” could have been tracks on The Circus and The Innocents respectively! Bell also incorporates Auto-tune into certain songs, bringing the music into today technologically. After the aborted The Neon Tour in 2020 due to Covid and the re-scheduled and re-aborted effort in 2022 due to family issues, I’m glad to see Andy Bell touring again. On a frigid October 28th, he stopped by the Roxian Theatre in McKees Rocks (Pittsburgh), bringing the party to the Rust Belt.
Opening the show was LA-based Savannah Pope who, when she and guitarist Adam Gimenez hit the stage donning black velvet robes and fully hooded, the theatrical nature of their look immediately brought me back to Erasure’s Phantasmagorical Entertainment Tour way back in 1992 and seemed like the perfect opener for Andy Bell. Then the music started and we were hit with the dark and eerie “Melancholic Goddess” and I thought “Ok, the talk about dark pop is apropos”. But when the next song “Just My Luck” began, everything changed. This is NOT pop but hard rock meets Broadway! And Pope’s vocals were out of this world, belting each song like she’s the next coming of Ann Wilson! They were definitely a pleasant surprise and I’ll have to go through Pope’s discography ASAP!
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I always look forward to seeing what kind of outfit Andy Bell would sport on each tour and this evening’s ensemble did not disappoint. To call his outfit flashy would be a gross understatement as both his suit and pants were covered in crystals, throwing reflections everywhere you looked! Joining him onstage were keyboardist extraordinaire Dave Aude, drummer Sarah Tomek, guitarist and backup singer Jerry Fuentes, and backup singer Chelsea King, quite a change from Erasure’s typical group of backup singers with Vince Clarke hiding behind his equipment in the back. The set began with “Breaking Thru the Interstellar” from Ten Crowns, followed by a surprise, the soaring “Blue Savannah”, ensuring the party had begun as the crowd danced at their seats or in the aisles. I’m not sure why there were seats in the venue since there would be absolutely no one sitting! Andy Bell, the consummate showman, was in fine form, sounded amazing, and danced around the stage like he was twenty years younger! While he can’t hit some of those high notes anymore, his voice has somehow gotten deeper and richer, with a tone that really shines in a lot of the songs!
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The setlist was comprised of seven songs from Ten Crowns, eleven Erasure songs, and his cover of Olivia Newton-John’s “Xanadu”, which will be on his Crown Jewels box set. Most of the Erasure songs were from earlier in their career with only two songs post-1991: “Always” from 1994’s I Say I Say I Say and “Breathe” from 2005’s Nightbird, with excellent vocals provided by backup singers Fuentes and King! I’m sure there were Erasure songs that fans in the crowd (including me) would have loved to hear but this was, after all, an Andy Bell show supporting Ten Crowns. My favorites of the night were
“Dance for Mercy” and “Dont Cha Know” from Ten Crowns and “Blue Savannah” and “Drama!” from the Erasure discography. The addition of live instruments really added to the production and the backup singers were the perfect complement, especially King who took over the higher vocals that age has taken away from Andy while he took the lower harmonies. Don’t get me wrong…I love Vince Clarke but it’s nice to hear and see someone playing something besides an acoustic guitar. Overall, the show was truly amazing with great performances all around and, may I say, a perfect setlist. I understand that Andy and Vince are working on new music and we can expect a record and subsequent tour in 2026! In the meantime, catch Andy Bell while you can as he continues to make stops across North America through mid-December!
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Setlist
