January 1986, West Palm Beach Auditorium, West Palm Beach, Fla.
Thompson Twins was a tweener — it rode the line between popular and alternative (Howard Jones is like this too, and maybe Billy Idol) — where it has good songs that everyone knows and great songs few people know. “Doctor! Doctor!” is a solid song that no doubt you’ve heard, but “If You Were Here” is a great song you may not know, and if you did, you still might call it “that song from Sixteen Candles” (if you’re old enough to know about Sixteen Candles) not knowing it’s a Thompson Twins song.
In the mid-80s, Thompson Twins found its groove, with 1984’s Into the Gap and 1985’s Here’s to the Future Days producing four hits singles and a whole slew of new fans (though 1982’s Quick Step and Side Kick is a solid listen as well). My group of friends gravitated toward Into the Gap, it’s a damn catchy record, and decided to make a road trip to Miami from West Palm to see the show.
One thing about people from Miami — we think everything is at least three hours away, except Fort Lauderdale, a town we would never go to because why would you? I’ve lived in West Palm, it’s a mere 64 miles from Miami, but for whatever reason Miamians think it’s farther. I only mention this because we got to the show way early, finding easy parking aside the auditorium that in 1986 sat in a barren concrete wasteland with not much near it.
The auditorium (which is now a Christian convention center) was the scene of many a classic rock show, with Black Sabbath, Cheap Trick, Ted Nugent and even Elvis Presley playing the hall — a round, cavernous spaceship kind of place. I was there with Karl and several other friends (maybe Jon was there?) for a show that came during the winter break of our senior year in high school.
We didn’t know much about Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, other than we liked the named. OMD had just released Crush, the band’s sixth album, but was not well known in the States. Aside from the song “Enola Gay,” which we heard in passing on WVUM, OMD was a mystery but one we were curious to discover.
I’ll preface OMD’s performance by saying this: The day after the show all of us went to buy Crush. The band’s performance was powerful and elegant — singer Andy McCluskey worked hard to ensure you paid attention to him and the band. I still remember him working every side of the stage, dancing with wild abandon while singing “Enola Gay,” imploring the crowd to dance along. You never know how openers will act, but the hungry ones perform like they are the headliners. This is what OMD did. Months later, when “If You Leave” became a monster hit, you could see why the band was so confident.
OMD’s stellar performance made the Thompson Twins seem just OK. They dutifully did this hits — “Doctor! Doctor!,” “Lay Your Hands on Me,” “King for a Day,” “Hold Me Now” — adding some of those hidden favorites — “The Gap,” “Love on Your Side,” “In the Name of Love” — for good measure. Tom Bailey and bandmates ended the set with “Revolution,” a cover of the Beatles song which is tacked on to the Here’s to the Future Days album. Why does anyone cover the Beatles for their own catalog? Probably best to leave well enough alone.
We drove the hour or so to witness one band and came back to Miami loving another. It’s a lesson I’ve followed to this day — go and see the opener, you never know what you might miss.
