On February 15, 2025, Howard Jones and ABC played at the Music Hall at Fair Park, Dallas, Tx. They performed with special guest – former Pasadena-based KROQ DJ and current SiriusXM host of First Wave – Richard Blade, who provided a musical tour throughout the greatest musical decade.
Pre-Show
Prior to the show, Richard Blade had a meet and greet with concertgoers following the release of the expanded edition of his biography World in My Eyes – The Expanded Edition, and to please his large cult following of New Wave fans. Blade began the show by DJing the crowd through the 80s, telling of the origin of the New Wave genre from such visionaries of the late seventies like Kraftwerk, Blondie, and the Clash to the rise of the New Wave scene with Gary Numan and The Human League. He also talked about the creation of the popularity of British New Wave music in the U.S. through music videos shown on MTV, which had a deficit of American videos to show. After Blade’s time on stage, ABC came on.
ABC
ABC blew away the audience by opening with their soul-inspired hit about Smokey Robinson: ‘When Smokey Sings.’ ABC went through their set with such thrillers for the audience like ‘(How to Be a) Millionaire,’ ‘Poison Arrow,’ and ‘Be Near Me.’ The Sheffield band also performed the song ‘Valentine’s Day’ from their debut album as the show was the day after Valentine’s Day, which they also performed the song on at the HEB Performance Hall in San Antonio. Throughout the show, frontman Martin Fry made a multitude of jokes satirizing the band’s choice to perform in tuxedos back in the 80s and Fry’s vocal decisions of writing and performing the songs with many high notes, which even now, nearly 43 years after the entrance of ABC, Martin Fry could hit perfectly, his voice still as strong.
After the set, ABC left the stage and returned for an encore featuring the songs ‘Tears Are Not Enough’ and ‘The Look of Love.’ After the end of ABC’s encore, Richard Blade took the stage again, this time he gave a performance about the top New Wave bands ranked by listeners of his satellite radio show on SiriusXM’s First Wave; it featured New Order, the Pet Shop Boys, the Smiths (which he introduced by jabbing it would have been Morrissey, but he didn’t come through). Duran Duran and OMD were also on the list. The list was ultimately topped by a majority by none other than Depeche Mode.
Howard Jones
After Blade’s intermission, Howard Jones stormed the stage keytar in hand playing the single ‘Pearl in Shell’ from his debut album Human’s Lib. After the performance of ‘Like to Get to Know You Well’ and ‘New Song,’ Howard Jones sat down and explained why he would play the next song – ‘Too Shy’ originally recorded and performed by the one-hit-wonder Kajagoogoo explaining that his bassist on this tour was none other than Nick Beggs, the bassist for Kajagoogoo before they split. Therefore, HoJo did Kajagoogoo. After the performance of ‘Too Shy,’ Jones and his band continued the set with ‘Life in One Day,’ ‘No One Is to Blame,’ and ‘What Is Love?’ After the performance of the latter, Jones left and did an encore of the song ‘Things Can Only Get Better.’
Verdict
Overall, the show was wonderful, especially for people who love the softer, brighter side of New Wave and the New Romantic movement. Forty years after the rise of ABC and Howard Jones, their musicianship and skill has not decreased whatsoever, still being strong artists.
