Thomas Dolby
at the HOB in LA
April 12th 2006 by Monya De

"Science!" That's what a member of the crowd yelled Wednesday night at the House of Blues in Anaheim to Thomas Dolby, who shook his head good-naturedly and said "There's ALWAYS one person...."

To the delight of geeks everywhere, Dolby returned to Southern California to play live after having toured here with the English Beat in February. This time, Dolby played an extended set for his co-billed performance with Colin Hay of Men at Work. In his uber-cool trench coat, retro headphones, and mad scientist sunglasses, Dolby arrived on stage to a electronic music-rigged stage with several hundred thousand dollars of equipment and not a single traditional instrument. This tour also features a screen backdrop with videos of the songs interspersed with video feeds from cameras mounted on the setup, so you can see Dolby put together songs electronically, piece by piece.He added old favorites like "Windpower," "One of our Submarines," and "Budapest By Blimp" to "She Blinded Me with Science, "Europa and the Pirate Twins" and others, much to the crowd's delight.

There were some technical difficulties with "Budapest" and in a mock diversion of the crowd, Dolby said "Oh look everyone, a blimp!" The complicated technical arrangements required to pull of the new songs caused him a bit of stress, as did an overly boosted bass that threw him off a few times,  but overall, many of the problems with the "preview" shows have been resolved.

Hay took the stage like a latter-day Johnny Cash, in all-black attire and suspiciously arranged hair. After a good bit of self-deprecating banter, "We had a lot of hits in the 80s....Thank goodness, I'm very rich now," he launched into a Southern rock-influenced set that included material from the Men at Work catalog as well as solo material such as "Beautiful World" and "Going Somewhere". After a few songs with solo acoustic guitar that showcased the warmth of his playing, he was joined onstage by a much younger and quite able ensemble of performers, including a bassist, guitarist, drummer, female vocalist, and keyboardist. All were mellow and subdued, except the vocalist, who took it upon herself to do interpretive dances to each song, punctuated with mime-like facial expressions. Admittedly, without her antics the music alone may not have been enough to hold one's attention for the full set at that late hour. Perhaps wisely, Hay has been enterprising in getting his music placed on TV shows such as "Scrubs," the perfect mellow, contemplative vehicle for music in his catalog.

Show opener Vavak was an out-of-place guitar-strumming local better suited to a coffee shop or Lilith Fair than an 80s nostalgia concert. His playing was quite strong though, and hopefully he will be able to open for Jack Johnson fans next time.
Thomas Dolby plays tonight at the Key Club in L.A. and Friday night at the Canyon Club in Agoura Hills.

Thomas Dolby, The English Beat and Dramarama
Anaheim House of Blues January 30, 2006 by Monya De

As a seasoned concertgoer, you know the drill. Get to the show partway through the opening act. Find your seat, grab a drink, chat with your friends, and rev up your energy when the main performer starts.

Saturday at the House of Blues in Anaheim , all of those rules went out the window. The House was filled to bursting with excited fans from as far away as Australia - prior to the start of the show. Frazzled HOB employees muttered that they couldn't believe how many people were there. And those fans, crammed in like sardines, were focused on the stage, waiting for the curtains to part and reveal the opening act.

Why? Thomas Dolby was back.

After a solo-performance hiatus of 25 years, the man who brought us not only the synth-created "She Blinded Me with Science" but several formative, introspective albums returned. The result was a valentine consisting of four California shows over eight days, the latter three as the opening act for the English Beat and Dramarama, culminating in Saturday's performance.

Dolby walked onstage to resounding cheers wearing a trench coat, shades that evoked his mad-scientist days, and a large set of headphones. His appropriately techie setup included a MIDI controller, drum pads, a Mac running Logic, and vintage signal generators. With this, he recreated songs including "Hyperactive!", "Flying North", the deeply personal "I Live in A Suitcase" and, yes, "Science." It was a rare treat to see synth-pop in the making, as Dolby created loops, started up drumbeats, and sang and rapped his way through the songs. His voice was none the worse for wear, and the tunes were accompanied by slick dance moves and delightfully wacky facial expressions in between his tinkering with the equipment to create the next sound.

Dave Wakeling's English Beat then burst on, keeping things upbeat with hits like " Tenderness" and "Save It for Later", interspersed with covers and reggae-influenced songs. Wakeling's broad grin and enthusiastic playing were infectious, and he kept things upbeat, saying "You sometimes don't know what songs really mean until five or ten years after you've written them, and when it was written, ["Mirror in the Bathroom"] had absolutely nothing to do with cocaine." Dolby then joined the group for an encore performance of his song "New Toy," which Lene Lovich performed before years before it accompanied a TV commercial.

Singer John Easdale's Dramarama rounded out the show with a hard-driving Southern rock sound that seemed out of place with the evening's lineup; after so much joyous '80s reminiscing, listeners seemed to be taken aback at the song "Everybody Dies". The band did not connect as successfully with the audience, perhaps a reflection of its fragmented and tumultuous history, but did feature some impressive drumming by Tony Snow. -- Monya