The Human League

With T’Pau and Sophie Ellis-Bextor

The OVO Hydro, 12 December 2024

It’s the late seventies and the supremo of Edinburgh label Fast Product, Bob Last, received a cassette in the post from The Human League with the track Being Boiled on it. Suitably impressed he decided to release it as a single.

While critically acclaimed, it didn’t dent the charts and eventually the band were sold on to Virgin Records. For their third album in 1981, Dare, they would record ‘Don’t You Want Me’, a million plus seller, xmas No.1 and as a result receive long-lasting worldwide acclaim.

As we approach the end of 2024, The Human League were about to take to the stage at the OVO Hydro in Glasgow. The audience were also long-lasting fans, an age profile that hankered for a Greatest Hits night.

That hankering was partially satisfied as the band strayed into some of their lesser-known songs from a period when experimentation ruled the roost.

A deeper delve into these songs would show how the band developed their style during their early incarnations to make it possible to then go on and record the songs everyone is now familiar with.

With the launch of Dare, The Human League became one of the bands that defined the 1980s, synthesised pop at its best, with a timeless, classic album, that still sounds fresh today.

Having been to the cavernous Hydro on several occasions recently, we were a wee bit bewildered by the lack of large screens either side of the main stage to allow anyone seated or standing more than thirty yards away to actually see what was happening on stage with the performers.

We need not have worried though. As the curtain fell, we were treated to one of the most elaborate and colourful stage sets and backdrops to adorn the venue. A combination of pre-recorded graphics, interlinked with live camera footage of the band providing an added dimension to the performance.

The Human League will be synonymous with the trio of Phil Oakley and backing singers/dancers Joanne Catherall and Susan Ann Sulley. Phil retains the deep voice that adds warmth to many of the tracks, while the harmonies of Joanne and Susan provide the perfect counterpoint to much of Oakley’s lyrics.

The trio would be unable to function effectively though, the use of backing tracks aside, without three other key players who shared the stage and the sound on the night – Rob Barton on drums and percussion, Ben Smith on keyboards and backing vocals and Nick Banks on keyboards and guitar. While Rob remained on his drum stool throughout, Ben and Nick were equally comfortable during the choreographed sections where they took a more central role in proceedings.

Between the costume changes, the visuals and the synth-based songs, the audience could not claim to be shortchanged in any way.

They may have been on the go for over 40 years, their prime-time recordings may have been in the previous millennium, but they gave their fans what they wanted and at the end of the day isn’t that what entertainment is all about?

As ‘The Sound of the Crowd’ drifted into the Glasgow air, many would have hit their pillow hoping they could be ‘Together In Electric Dreams’.

It was nostalgic. It was the ‘Soundtrack To A Generation’. It was a fine night of electronic music.

Support Acts

Both T’Pau and Sophie Ellis-Bextor had been included as support acts for the sole purpose of warming the audience up ahead of The Human League.

In the case of T’Pau, Carol Decker was a contemporary of The Human League in the late eighties and, as the auditorium filled up, there were obvious signs of recognition for the songs being played, with her closing track and hit single China In Your Hand, offering the opportunity for a group singalong.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor on the other hand may be more contemporary but her role, as pointed out on several occasions was to get the audience up and readied for the main act.

From glancing around the audience, she has a following in her own right and no doubt they will be flocking to see her when she returns to the city for her own headlining performance.

What slightly jarred with both the above acts was that they were equally content to play second fiddle to The Human League and at times it felt like a glorified Butlins variety show.