LEVEL 42, THE BLOW MONKEYS @ SYMPHONY HALL, BIRMINGHAM 17/10/2017

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I loved Level 42 in the Eighties and saw them many times. They formed in 1979 and after various line-up changes the band called it a day in 1994 but reformed in 2001. I hadn`t seen the band for thirty years but knowing that Keyboard player and vocalist Mike Lindup had returned to join Bassist and vocalist Mark King I felt it was time to reacquaint myself with this Jazz Funk / synth come new wave outfit. The show sold out quickly, but a couple of returns appeared on the site a few weeks ago and I snapped them up.

Opening tonight were fellow eighties New wave / sofisti-pop troupe The Blow Monkeys.

The band led by Dr Robert shared an extremely enjoyable forty-five-minute set that included cuts such as `The Coming Of Grace`, Wild River` and the hits `Digging Your Scene` and `It Doesn`t Have To Be This Way` A great warm up for the main act to follow.

The band hit the stage and share a couple of hits with `Running In The Family` and `The Sun Goes Down (Living It Up) ` with a classic instrumental `Heathrow` sandwiched in between. The band which today comprises founding members Mike and Mark alongside Pete Ray Biggin (Drums), Nathan King (Guitars/Vocals) and Sean Freeman (Saxes) with touring musicians Nicol Thompson (trombone) and Dan Carpenter (trumpet) play a few lesser known cuts with `The Machine Stops`, `Starchild` and `Good Man In A Storm`

My favourite track, the heart-breaking `Leaving Me Now` gets an airing before the show concludes with the hits `The Chinese Way`, `The Chant Has Begun`, `Something About You` and `Heaven In My Hands`, leaving the two thousand strong audience in raptures.

It`s not long before the boys are encouraged to return to the stage and close with `Lessons In Love`, `Build Myself A Rocket` and `Hot Water.”

This was a cracker of a show and it was wonderful to catch Mike Lindup singing in his familiar falsetto voice and watching his intricate keyboard skills alongside fellow founding member Mark King slapping the hell out of his bass guitars, it brought back many happy memories. The tour goes out under the banner of The Eternity Tour which is defined as a state to which time has no application; timelessness. This certainly was a timeless show.

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