For the first time in many years, Culture Club finally made its way back to the Western New York area with a show in Niagara Falls this past Saturday night. Culture Club is one of a handful of bands that ruled the 1980s’ MTV generation (when the station actually played music videos). The band has reunited a few times since disbanding back in 1986, following the excessive drug use by vocalist Boy George. Nothing has stuck like this reunion though. The band is currently on a long tour (show 54 according to the band’s account) and these musicians are having more fun than ever.
Culture Club took the stage at 8:15 pm with George decked out in a black and white (including hat and cane) outfit marked with X’s and O’s. They opened with the up tempo “Church of the Poison Mind.” Besides original members Roy Hay on guitars and keys, Mikey Craig on bass and John Moss on drums, they surrounded themselves with three backup singers, a three piece horn section, another guitarist and a percussionist to fill out their sound. Backup singer Terea Bailey joined George center stage to sing the track “Black Money.”
The night belonged to George. Not only did his voice sound close to its original form from back in the early ’80s, but he was engaging and came off as very likeable. He wanted to share positivity and warmth and he did that in spades. He had the same outfit but in three different colors that he changed into during the show. He shared stories of how “Time” broke them and how to just grab the hand of someone close by. He then joked, “well I meant that in general.” He also thanked the audience for giving him a reason to dress up.
George shared words of wisdom with the audience: dance like no one is looking, dress like everyday is Halloween and love like you’ve never been hurt. He then joked, “I’m like a kamikaze pilot. When I fall in love, I fall hard.” His statement drew a lot of laughs. George talked about his love of Sly and The Family Stone and how his last eight years of sobriety has turned his life around. He also made jokes to his fans by saying “Pretend you’re at a Queen concert, you’re kind of at one anyway,” which also drew a lot of laughs. He also quipped about his drug use and said people like their bands to go bonkers.
Craig was all smiles and constantly playing around with the crowd and whipping the audience into a frenzy so the band would return for an encore. Like so many others, I’m glad to see that George was able to get sober and be able to front Culture Club once again. When you see an artist like Scott Weiland fall to the wayside, this isn’t a small feat that George accomplished. We all benefit from him belting out the songs that spurred the band to go on and sell 150 million albums worldwide. As Culture Club prepares for the next album titled “Tribes,” I wonder if we will we see more of the band? Judging from what I saw this past Saturday night, I sure hope so!
Setlist:
Church of the Poison Mind
It’s a Miracle
I’ll Tumble 4 Ya
Runaway Train
Move Away
Everything I Own (Bread cover)
Black Money/Interlude
Human Zoo
Time (Clock of the Heart)
Like I Used To
Different Man
Miss Me Blind
More Than Silence
The Crying Game (Dave Berry cover)
Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?
Victims
The War Song
Encore:
Karma Chameleon
Get it On (T. Rex cover)
We would like to thank Phil Pantano from Pantano & Associates for the credentials to review the show.
