Some line ups are a bit of a dream, that was the case on Saturday night as "Totally 80s" literally exploded onto the stage at the brilliant Enmore Theatre. With a line up that would excite any fan of the 80s, Martika, Berlin, Katrina, Paul Lekakis, Limahl, Wa Wa Nee, Real Life and Men Without Hats; put on one helluva good show.
This was a special night, you could tell looking around the very packed crowd. There was a great and happy crowd of many different faces, Mums and Dads happy to pay a babysitter for the night, gay friends excited about their favourite 80s divas and serious music fans who finally got a chance to see acts they have loved for a long time. The night ran smoothly with some great compering from Maynard, though Katrina did give him a look as if to say "shut up"! I have been to a number of gigs at the Enmore recently, but the lighting during Totally 80s was the best I had ever seen there - it was a show on its own. The only disappointment for the night, where was Stacey Q? She was advertised and appeared in Melbourne in the night before. My friend cheekily commented we should have asked for a $9 refund! But in all seriousness, I was really looking forward to hearing "Two Of Hearts". Why was it not mentioned at all?
One of the best elements of the night was that the singers seemed just as excited as the audience to be there and were loving their time on stage. And they all sounded great and had great stage presence. Some other tours going round seem flawed compared to the great night that was Totally 80s. And the back up band was a dream, Paul Gray from Wa Wa Nee was there and in one of my highlights for the night, the gorgeous and very talented Robyn Loau was on backing vocals. I kind of wanted her to burst into a bit of "Take It From Me"!
Up first was Ivan from Men Without Hats and he came out dancing and beaming with a massive smile. His exuberance was infectious and the crowd was immediately into his performance. He seems quite the character and sounded great. He started with, "Pop Goes the World" and then finished with "Safety Dance", it was this song that saw the crowd go wild. Ivan danced and skipped his way across the crowd and left us all smiling,
David from Real Life was next, and wow can he sing. He performed both of Real Life's Aussie Top 10 hits, "Catch Me I'm Falling" and the amazing, "Send Me An Angel". In a strong contrast to Men Without Hats playful delivery, David meant business and the result was brilliant. Special kudos to Robyn Loau for her amazing operatic backing vocals on "Send Me An Angel". David has such a great tone to his very distinctive voice and it soared on Saturday night, his set was fantastic.
Up next was Wa Wa Nee, well two of them, and what fun it was. Paul Gray looked amazing and sounded as good as ever. They breezed through, "Stimulation" and "Sugar Free"; it seemed a shame they only got to do two songs as I love their second album and still play the three singles from that album regularly. But still, they were great, I hadn't seen them perform since I was in the audience of Saturday Morning Live in the late 80s - we are all getting too old. But they proved why they had some great hits and even scored a US Top 40 hit. Bonus points for pulling out the keyboard guitar!
Katrina was up next, sans Waves. Katrina sang two songs and she was fantastic. Her guitar playing was on point and her voice soared. After her first number, she asked the crowd, "Are you ready to go for a walk?", and the place erupted. It was hard to hear her sing at points from the whole crowd joining in very loudly. "Walking On Sunshine" is an iconic song for a reason, I'd had it stuck in my head all that day and God it was good to dance and sing along to it. Katrina is a consummate professional and her performance was flawless. What a great night I was having.
Limahl was next and what fun he was, even taking a massive selfie with the crowd and then dropping his phone, ouch, hope it was okay! He did three songs for us, including Kajagoogoo's biggest hit, "Too Shy" and the epically massive, "Neverending Story". It was great to hear these numbers live and Limahl was a natural on stage. He was a perfect ending to the first act, even though everyone seemed bummed there was an intermission - we all stood still on the dance floor, just waiting for the music to come back on.
Paul Lekakis was the brilliant opener to the second act. And I have to say, for a man who is 49, he looked pretty damn amazing! The ladies and gay men in the audience were going crazy for him. He sang a new song which was a lot of fun and then moved straight into his massive Australian number one, "Boom Boom Boom". This was definitely one of the highlights of the night, such camp fun. Lekakis's voice sounded stronger than I was expecting and his stage presence was great. Loved every second of his set - I may now have a little crush!
Berlin were up next and presented us with a mini-concert, loads of songs that upped the quota for rock on the night. Lead singer Terri Nunn looked and sounded great and the band was on fire. I didn't know all their stuff, but enjoyed hearing the ones I knew, "Dancing in Berlin" and "Masquerade". Of course everyone was waiting for their biggest hit, "Take My Breath Away", and Nunn's vocals here were sublime. Towards the end of the song she hopped on a very large man's shoulders and was carried across the dancefloor - naturally the place erupted.
Finally it was time for the headliner, the reason most of us came, the wonderful Martika. Now of course I was interested in seeing all the others, but the main reason I wanted to go was for Martika. I had loved her since the late 80s, was a massive fan of hers on "Kids Incorporated" and both albums of hers still get regular rotations from me. And she did not let me down, she sounded amazing. Sounding as good as ever, her voice was beautiful. She performed her five biggest hits and I would have loved more, was definitely hoping for "Colored Kisses". She opened with the awesome, "More Than You Know" and followed it up with her brilliant cover, "I Feel The Earth Move". The band rocked on this song and it was great to hear it. Things got more emotional for her Aussie number hit, "Love ... Thy Will Be Done", my favourite of hers. It was sublime and divine. As the song finished, she paid tribute to the song's co-writer and producer, Prince. It was a beautifully emotional moment and then she went into a redux of "Love ... Thy Will Be Done" with the instrumental of "Purple Rain" playing, what a special moment. We were back to the fun with the great, "Martika's Kitchen" and she finished with the awesome "Toy Soldiers", complete with a confetti cannon which practically went right off in my face, my photo is below. What a great set, and one I had waited nearly 30 years to see, Come back anytime Martika, Australia loves you.
What a special night, a big, brass, 80s filled night with amazing artists, every one of them brilliant in their own way. I personally vote for Totally 80s 2 to come back next year!
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