NOTE: All photos are copyright of Howard Shiau Photography 2026
It was 1982 and I was in high school, where the music at our school dances were dominated by New Wave acts (soon to be obliterated by Michael Jackson’s Thriller and Madonna’s debut). Synth-pop had come to the forefront with huge hits like “Don’t You Want Me” by the Human League. Along with Soft Cell’s “Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go”, many of these songs would be played at nightclubs and parties well into the next decade! When the Human League announced the Generations Tour, their first full US tour in the last fifteen years, I knew I had to cover one of the shows, especially with Soft Cell and Alison Moyet (previously of Yaz/Yazoo) joining the tour! Yaz’s album Upstairs at Eric’s had been an album on constant repeat back then and the combination of these three amazing acts was already blowing my mind. After opening their tour in San Diego on June 2nd, they were set to play shows across the country, closing out the US leg at the MGM Northfield Park (near Cleveland, OH) on July 1st before wrapping up their tour in Niagara Falls, Ontario the following night. As I walked through Center Stage (the casino/resort concert venue), I was momentarily surprised by the number of fans in wheelchairs in the audience. Then I realized that I may have been in high school in 1982 but many fans were anywhere from ten to twenty five years older!
Alison Moyet was the first to take the stage, opening with “Footsteps” from her 1991 solo album Hoodoo. Casual fans of Moyet/Yaz/Yazoo may not be familiar with much of her solo work but she has been releasing new music regularly since Yaz split up in 1983, the latest being 2024’s Key, an album of re-worked solo material. Her last album of all new music was Other in 2017. During her North American headlining tour last year, she had performed many songs from her impressive catalog but, on this night, with an abbreviated set, she would only touch on her solo discography but hit all the right buttons with Yaz hits! The song that personally gave me the shivers was “Winter Kills”, what she called a deep cut from Upstairs at Eric’s. She sounded amazing! After that, we went to the “disco” portion of the set, wrapping up her set with “Situation”, “Love Resurrection”, and “Don’t Go”. Moyet was having a great time singing and dancing and I’m left to wonder why the latest generation of pop singers lip-sync their shows because singing and dancing is too difficult but a 65 yr old Moyet can still go out there and croon with the best of them. For me, she already stole the show from the get go.
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I have to admit that I don’t know much of Soft Cell’s discography outside of “Tainted Love”, probably because they never made too much of a dent in the United States. That being said, along with New Order’s “Blue Monday” and Bronski Beat’s “Smalltown Boy”, “Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go” completed my big three synth-pop dance songs of the 80s. Marc Almond also had an extensive solo career, releasing music seemingly every year! Definitely one of the more prolific artists from the 80s! Soft Cell also released new albums in 2002 and 2022. Unfortunately, instrumentalist Dave Ball passed away last October but, with producer Philip Larsen standing in for Ball and Bryan Chambers and Kelly Barnes handling backup vocal duties, Marc Almond continues to tour as Soft Cell. In fact, Almond and Ball had completed a new album prior to Ball’s passing. The new record Danceteria is set to be released in September of this year and Almond has confirmed there will be no new Soft Cell music after this.
Almond started with Soft Cell’s first ever singles “Memorabilia” and “A Man Could Get Lost” from their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret. Almost every song on Soft Cell’s setlist were Top Ten hits in the UK! While Almond’s soulful vocals are no longer as strong as it used to be, out of the three acts on this tour, he surely had the most fun on stage! Closing out with (what else) “Tainted Love”, he had the whole crowd up and dancing! Oddly enough, his set was shorter than Alison Moyet’s set. I’m unclear how they determined the order of the opening acts.
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The Human League have had a few line-up changes over the years but lead vocalist Philip Oakey has always been front and center (so to speak). Vocalists Joanne Catherall and Susan Ann Sulley, who joined in 1980, have also been mainstays through the hit years and beyond. The band did release new music in the 90s through 2001 but their last record was 2011’s Credo. Even though they haven’t released new music in awhile, they have continued to tour regularly. It seems their fans can never get enough of seeing their favorite band in concert!
The Human League has always been a stylish band and this evening was no exception. Opening with “Sound of the Crowd”, the first single off Dare, the album that became their breakout record, it was a party from the word GO! In fact, almost ever song was a single and there were only songs I was less familiar with: the two from 1995 album Octopus. I think people forget how many hits they had in their heyday. Yes, it was in a brief window between 1981 and 1986 but isn’t that the way with many bands? As usual, Oakley paced the stage non-stop like an impatient dad waiting for his wife to give birth! Catherall and Sulley looked glamorous in their ball gowns, dancing (perhaps not as enthusiastically as in the past) and mouthing lyrics even when they weren’t singing. My favorite songs on the night were probably “Louise” and “Human”. I also really enjoyed the extended introduction to “Don’t You Want Me”. The two gentlemen who handle keyboard and guitar duties really added a lot to the live show. One thing I wanted to mention was that Philip Oakley probably had four or five outfit changes during this show. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a male performer change that often!
After “Don’t You Want Me”, the band stepped off the stage to prepare for the encore. When the Human League came back, it was without Catherall and Sulley as Oakley took the stage in yet another new outfit! He performed “Being Boiled”, the Human League’s very first single from 1978!! When Catherall and Sulley came on stage for the finale, they had also changed their outfits with Sulley donning a top hat and Catherall decked out in red feathers! They closed the show with “Electric Dreams”, a song that Oakley wrote and released with Giorgio Moroder for the movie of the same name. It’s a great song but Oakley was having trouble with the high notes. Perhaps they might consider replacing that one with another song for future shows. Either way, it was a great night of music and really took me back to my younger days. Never miss a chance of seeing the bands you love and loved!
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