[MUSIC ~ UK]
Governor Hindmarsh Hotel, Sun 4 Dec, 2022
A mere forty years after they started making music, and three years after the original tickets went on sale for Liverpool synth outfit, China Crisis, they finally take the stage in Adelaide on their first Australian tour. And they turn in an amazing two hour set of hits, favourites new and old and often have the entire crowd in stitches with hilarious between song banter. Founding original members Gary Daly and Eddie Lundon have never stopped recording, touring and being China Crisis. It shows because tonight’s show is slick, well considered and for the intimate audience an absolute delight. They may not have been as big as Human League or Duran Duran but they made some incredible records, had a few hits and clearly hold a special place in people’s hearts tonight.
Play: Working With Fire And Steel
Even before they start the laughs began with Daly saying to the people at the back of the room “We’ve come all the way from Liverpool, what are you doing over there?”. They open with The Soul Awakening from the Working With Fire And Steel Album in ‘83. It wasn’t a hit, but everybody here tonight immediately lights up and knows all the words. It was a popular album down here and we love these songs. After apologies for taking so long to get to Australia, Daly welcomes us to ‘The China Crisis concert’.
“Were you surprised when we came on stage tonight and we looked like our dads? Those lads you used to have on your bedroom wall look like our kids now! For fucks sake! But I think you must agree we still look fucking great. Eddie and I met in 1976 and we left school in 1978 and here we are in 2022 and we still look and sound fantastic.” It’s smashing and funny and Daly’s frequent chats are like a stand=up comedy show on their own, with some ‘fruity’ language as you might have already picked up.
Joined by a keyboard player (Jack Hymers) and saxophonist (Eric Animan) they recreate that classic sound beautifully, and they play a great selection of songs concentrating on the first three albums (Difficult Shapes & Passive Rhythms, Fire & Steel and Flaunt The Imperfection) with the gags and bits of band history and the background to various songs, whose idea, what were they listening to at the time. “Not too much, though, because it’s a Sunday and I guess you’ll have to get up and go to work tomorrow…We’ll be swimming with dolphins!” deadpans Gary with an air of ‘it’s sucks to be you’. So, there are some wonderful deep cuts like Temptation’s Big Blue Eyes, Arizona Skies and Fool, before getting into a terrific run of singles. Delighted that they include their 1981 debut single African & White and singles like Black man Ray, Working With Fire And Steel, King In A Catholic Style and my favourite Wishful Thinking (there is a phrase in that song that goes I sat on the roof….and watched the day go by, I have always loved the delivery on that).
Working With Fire And Steel is a crowd favourite and the response at the end of each number is genuine and thunderous. Perhaps surprisingly, two of the highlights for me tonight are songs from their last studio album Autumn In The Neighbourhood from 2015. The melancholy song about loss Down Here On Earth.
After a ‘pretend last song’, they end with a song Daly dedicates to all the women in the audience, My Sweet Delight. The tour promoter Metropolis Touring, have a great reputation for bringing out acts like this and sticking with them, helping build the audience over a few tours. I very much hope we will be seeing China Crisis again in the near future. Thanks lads – that was splendid.
4.5 stars
Ian Bell
All images courtesy of Ian Bell
SETLIST:
The Soul Awakening (Working With Fire And Steel 1983)
Arizona Sky (What Price Paradise 1986)
Seven Sports For All (Difficult Shapes 1982)
Some People I Know To Lead Fantastic Lives (Difficult Shapes 1982)
Feel To Be Driven Away (Difficult Shapes 1982)
Temptation’s Big Blue Eyes (Difficult Shapes 1982)
Red Sails (Difficult Shapes 1982)
Strength Of Character (Flaunt The Imperfection 1985)
Bigger The Punch I’m Feeling (Flaunt The Imperfection 1985)
Down Here On Earth (Autumn In The Neighbourhood 2015)
Fool (Autumn In The Neighbourhood 2015)
African & White (Difficult Shapes 1982)
Best Kept Secret (What Price Paradise 1986)
Black Man Ray (Flaunt The Imperfection 1985)
Wishful Thinking (Working With Fire & Steel 1983)
King In A Catholic Style (Flaunt The Imperfection 1985)
Working With Fire & Steel (Working With Fire & Steel 1983)
Christian (Difficult Shapes 1982)
My Sweet Delight (Autumn In The Neighbourhood 2015)
