Live Review: UB40
45th Anniversary Tour at the Riverside Theatre Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre, Western Australia on 17 January 2023.
By Sheldon Ang
Photography by Sheldon Ang Photography
PREFACE and THE AFTER PARTY
Forty-five years ago, three unemployed musos from Birmingham infused the one drop rhythms of reggae into pop music; they were Ali Campbell (vocals), Jimmy Brown (Drums) and Earl Falconer (bass), with Norman Hassan (percussion), Yomi Babayemi, Jimmy Lynn, Brian Travers and Robin Campbell (guitarist) – the brother of Ali, joining the band. Several articles including Wikipedia state that Robin was initially “reluctant” to be part of the group.
“No, that’s not true, publications can be rubbish at times,” Robin Campbell told this writer/photographer at the after party. “It was I who told the three, ‘let’s form a band’…I was all for forming the band. I really wanted all of us to get together.”
Once the group was established, they unanimously called themselves UB40; UB – as they were all unemployed from Birmingham UK, and Form 40 – issued by the UK’s unemployment department.
“Are you still on Form 40?” I (jokingly) asked Campbell.
He laughed. “Nah, it has been a long time since we were on it!”
Afterall, it wasn’t long before they were slipping and sliding on the money trail to the bank; their inaugural debut album Signing Off went Platinum, followed by nineteen studio albums selling over one hundred million records across four decades, while pit stopping for four Grammy Awards for Best Reggae Album between 1987 and 2006. Ali then left the group in 2008. “He hasn’t spoken to us in over fifteen years.”
It was only fitting the other Campbell brother Duncan graced into the limelight as the lead vocalist.
I asked, “Why didn’t Duncan join the band in the conceptual days?”
Robin Campbell giggled as he reminisced, “He didn’t want to! We did ask him to join the band (during UB40’s formation), but he wasn’t keen. He was a croupier at the casino at that time. So when we made it big with our first hit, he was absolutely gutted (chuckles)…absolutely gutted. He only got his second chance thirty years later.”
Unfortunately, due to medical reasons, Duncan quit the band over a decade later, and in 2021, Matt Doyle from a Birmingham band Kioko became the new lead vocalist – and that’s where UB40 are at.
THE LIVE REVIEW…
So how do fans of UB40 feel about the “new guy”?
The night in Perth started with Here I Am (Come and Take Me) followed by the Sing Our Own Song. By then some patrons had self-summoned to the front of the stage, and it wasn’t too long before the aisles were filled with revelers.
Campbell took to the mic several songs into the setlist. “While we are here, may I introduce to our new lead vocalist Matt Doyle…”
The crowd went stark raving bonkers, displaying their approval as if Doyle was the long-time front man of a legendary band. It was a true reflection, as the crowd had been smooched by the rhythm, reggae and silky charm of UB40. And if it wasn’t for the introduction, the fans would have forgotten about Doyle as the “new guy”; the night wasn’t about founding members Robin Campbell, Jimmy Brown, Earl Falconer, Norman Hassan, and the long time touring musos supporting Doyle; it wasn’t even about “UB40 with the new guy” – rather it was simply…UB40, the UK band with the honeyed, staccato rhythm oozing that jumpy feel that propagated the UK band into a household name across six continents. Tonight, the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre were home of the honey drippers and lickers.
The thirty-one-year-old lead vocalist had a groovy stage presence, commanding but not disrespectfully overbearing that would cast a shadow onto his senior peers and mentors. He often engaged with the crowd, embracing those who invaded the front trenches comprising fans from all ages across three generations. The other positive indication of his acceptance by the fans was the sold-out salutation long before show time.
The Riverside Theatre is a seated venue, unlike most of the venues that UB40 performed across Australia. With the groovy dance track with a dose of oomph and jumpy fell, Campbell ensured the purpose of their performance was met. “You can sit down and take it easy, but for the rest of us – it’s dance music people, go and enjoy yourself…if you want to…but if you don’t want to, please don’t give everyone else a hard time.” The spokesperson occasionally poked the crowd with underlying humour.
But the fans didn’t require any persuasion whatsoever, as by midway, Riverside Theatre transformed into a dance festival resemble a club in Kingstown Town, with fans soaking into the convivial seduction from centre stage, gliding through the history of UB40 with hands in the hair waving in cadence with swaying bodies, looking like seaweeds taken control on a stormy night.
Tonight wasn’t all about the Ali-era hits. UB40 recently released Champion which was the anthem of the Birmingham Commonwealth Games. “We wrote it for them…they liked it so much that they made it as their official anthem of the Games. We loved it too”. The other new track played was Broken Man where founding member Norman Hassan took to the mic, entertaining the crowd with his reggae / hip hop steps.
Other anthemic tracks include I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight, a collaboration track with the late Robert Palmer prior to the final song before the encore; the global smash hit Red Red Wine. The entire venue was cast in (as you guessed it) red, with mobile phone dotting the venue, drawing that the end is near, but wishing it would never end. It’s one of those songs that UB40 made it into their own, unbeknownst to most that the original was written and sung by Neil Diamond.
Food for Thought was the first encore, followed by a dedication to the founding member the late Brian Travers who recently passed away, as fans joined UB40 in paying homage with Kingston Town, brewing poignancy to a point of no return. The final track of the night was (I Can’t Help) Falling in Love With You – manifested on the back of an impossible task in the music world – transcending a classic by Elvis into another classic.
UB40 post-Ali remains as a professional outfit, with members rotating mellifluously and remaining in synch throughout the night without being too distracting, sealing a precise and watertight idiosyncrasy weaved by the nine musicians. Each member played their parts equally without the egoistical standouts, with drummer Jimmy Brown scintillating the rhythm section but remained incognito at the back right of stage. Earl Falconer mainly stood away from the front edge and facing sidewards. The debonair sax player Martin Meredith kept teasing fans, generously giving a female fan a selfie and video recording of a lifetime. The horns and rhythm section are indeed genre defining and are uniquely UB40.
As for Matt Doyle, would UB40 still echo into the global living rooms if he were the lead vocalist since 1978 (hypothetically)? Absolutely.
—-
“How is it like to perform in front of thousands of people?” I asked Robin Campbell at the after party.
“We love doing this, whether it is in front of a thousand or one hundred thousand – which we have done many times in the past. It is a great feeling. It is an adrenalin…it is addictive, that’s why we’re still doing this, and we hope to be doing this for a little longer.”
We hope so too, Robin. Thanks for the chat. See you soon!
—
The writer would like to thank MJR Presents and SGC Media for the Press Accreditation. Make sure you check them out for upcoming shows.
Finally, special thanks to Perth musician Leanne Hollis (Skip) for bringing your friends UB40 and us together.
Author/Photographer: Sheldon is the founder of SAM. Since their launch in May 2022, the music media platform have been accredited to capture and review some of the hottest live shows across all genres in Perth, such as KISS, The Killers, The Kid LAROI, RnB Fridayz Live, Rufus Du Sol, Tony Hadley (Spandau Ballet), Louis Tomlinson (One Direction), Guy Sebastian and many more. You can follow him on Facebook and Instagram.
—
