I was worried that Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark might suffer a similar fate. Their singer had a strong voice, but the only nuance came from some occasional interplay with the much quieter keyboardist’s backing vocals. As a result, the keyboardist was left to merely play chords underneath the more interesting bits. Their stage presence was sapped of much of its potential energy by using monotonous drum pads and pre-programming most of their instrumental parts.
I liked that they had experimented with their electronic setup, but their choices didn’t exactly work out in their favor. They managed to get a decent atmosphere going in a few songs, but they didn’t quite take off from there. Their music was mostly bright, upbeat, and danceable, but rather static. Opening act Tiny Magnetic Pets claimed to be the only electronic band in Ireland, which I don’t believe in the slightest. The crowd was markedly different (and skewed older) than I’m used to, but I had the same experience with The Human League last year.Īrtist: Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark I had no idea that OMD was still popular enough that they could sell out a night in Berlin at a large venue and then offer a second night that was also quite packed.
