Live Review: The Human League in Perth 2024
16 of March 2024 at The Astor Theatre Perth, Western Australia
Review by Sheldon Ang
Photography by Sheldon Ang Photography
We were immersed in a dream.
And like a dream, we were immersed in the trippy world of surrealism. The onscreen retro displays were hypnotic – from ravenous Pacmen terrorising little dots in the iconic game, to lasers zapping in various shapes and forms causing involuntary hypnotism, to graphics synchronising with the lyrics throughout the night. There were three support musicians – the percussionist, synth guitarist and keyboardist, draped in tailored suits while drawing stoic faces behind the misty hues. We were also drawn into the two flanking vocalists, weaving their bodies like a five foot five seaweed in a carefree and hypnotic trance. Meanwhile the presentation and stage presence of the lead vocalist in a Neo-like projection of The Matrix was pioneering twenty years before we asked the question, “What is The Matrix?”. The super skinny trench coat with bell bottom pants were congruous with the eye liner and shiny scalp, personifying a cult-like charismatic leader. His whisky thick-on-ice vocals grappled the crowd into a voracious ambience, as the lead vocalist darting across the stage like a furry friend at the back of a ute.
The futuristic nuances of the early 80’s splashed across the stage, a setting which Stanley Kubrick would’ve craved in a parallel life. We were catapulted into the future, yet we plunged back in time. It was love in the time of synth pop, 40 years in the making. Vocally, it was as if their vocals had remained in time capsule.
This is The Human League. Hailing from Sheffield UK, the trio in Philip Oakey, Susan Ann Sulley and Joanne Catherall were pioneers of computerised rhythm and synth pop, paving the way for countless of breakthrough artists in the world of electronic music and subsequently EDM.
Tonight wasn’t just about the radio hits, as it seemed the fans across two sold out nights sang in every song – from Mirror Man, Tell Me When and (Keep Feeling) Fascination to the very end. The graphics were mesmerising. And literal. I Am The Law – for example – projected computerised eyes onto the scre⁷en, staring into the audience. Love Action (I Believe in Love) were synchronised with graphic skeletons with a beating heart.
Nevertheless, fans at The Astor stomped onto hits like Human, as they arrived from the dreamy delight thus far into the reality of commercial familiarity.
I’m only human Of flesh and blood, I’m made Human, Born to make mistakes
Within the first key stroke of the piano synth, we were transported to the heart of 1986. This romantic ballad turned synth dance pop is an absolute banger in the latter half of the 80’s and still remained relevant almost 40 years into the future. Fans on the floor were dancing as if it was seven seconds to the year T Swift was born, as the revelry of nostalgia rained on a school reunion of all sorts. The iconic track peaked at a commendable 26 in Australia but it was in the United States where they thrived, reigning across several charts at number 1 on the US Billboard 100, Dance Chart and number 3 on the US Adult Contemporary.
Don’t You Want Me is the irony as that was all the fans wanted tonight. The Human League took us 5 years deeper into the trenches of 1981 where it became the biggest selling single of that year and the 5th biggest of the decade in the UK. So, it wasn’t surprising that it became the seminal track, thus opening the golden gate as Humam League infiltrated their way into the United States, tormenting with power and sexual politics driven by the throbbing synthesiser across the world…and into this iconic Perth theatre. The night was about to hit the culmination point of no return.
And so we switched on the colour TV for the 1984 movie Electric Dreams. Very rarely do we hear a cover as the finale. Together In Electric Dreams was produced by Italian composer Georgio Moroder, and four decades later Phillip Oakley is still dreaming through the catchy hook of the nostalgic kind. Officially the track is not a song by The Human League – albeit sung by Oakley, but tell that to the fans of the greatest decade in music.
Sheldon Ang Media would like to thank Estellar PR, Destroy All Lines and The Human League for the media accreditation.
About the Writer/Photographer: Perth based Sheldon Ang Media (est. May 2022) have been accredited to cover over 80 of the hottest acts including Taylor Swift (ERAS Tour in Sydney), Coldplay, KISS, P!NK, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Blink 182 and Lizzo with reviews shared by the likes of UB40, Delta Goodrem and Toni Childs on social media. He has interviewed rockers Ace Frehley (KISS), John Steel (The Animals), Frank Ferrer (Guns N Roses), Phil X (Bon Jovi), Andrew Farris (INXS) plus over 40 artists.
