REVIEW

The 80's Club

Honeymoon Suite

A Flock of Seagulls

Men Without Hats

Spoons

CANADIAN TOUR

NOV 12TH - 29TH, 2024

Concert Review Date

November 15th, 2024

VisitLethbridge.com Arena

Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada

7:00 PM - 10:50 PM

By Curtis Newart

December 1, 2024

The 80's Club was a bit of an odd combination of bands, with rock headliner Honeymoon Suite joined by three synth-heavy new wave bands. I was happy, though, because I grew up listening to Spoons, Men Without Hats, and A Flock Of Seagulls, plus Honeymoon Suite was all over the airwaves in Canada in the eighties.

Robert Newart and I attended the fourth show of the tour, in Lethbridge, Alberta at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena on November 15th.

One of the band members told me they had hoped for a bigger crowd. I noticed that the Lethbridge venue did not sell tickets on Ticketmaster. We reached out to the venue for attendance figures, but have not heard back.

Nevertheless, all four bands put on exceptional performances, during the almost four-hour long concert.

We arrived at 6:00 PM to collect prizes from the bands for our contest (winners announced below). We met with Gord Deppe and Sandy Horne of Spoons to pick up a signed copy of their latest album New Day New World, then met with Sho Murray of Men Without Hats to collect a signed live album from the band, then got A Flock Of Seagulls T-shirt (signed by Mike Score) from their tour manager.

The show started at 7:00 PM with a tight set by Spoons, who, along with Men Without Hats, were my favourite performances of the night. A Flock Of Seagulls also delivered bang on vocals and instrumentals.

Honeymoon Suite took the stage around 9:35 PM. They were loud and exciting, with two guitarists and a bassist. They sang hit after hit, and were great. Sadly, by 10:20 PM, I had to leave three songs early. I had been there too long and the volume was just too much in the fourth row. This in no way is meant to reflect poorly on Honeymoon Suite. Loved them.

I'm told the show went until 10:50 PM.

I was unable to connect with Honeymoon Suite before the show. Luckily, Derry Grehan (Honeymoon Suite guitarist), invited us back to their tour bus. Robert and I returned to the venue shortly after 11:30 PM. The band wasn't at their bus yet, so security escorted us through the empty (and very bright) venue to their dressing room. I must say, the security and on-site staff for this event were fantastic.

Grehan chatted with us at the door while someone looked for a T-shirt for us. Unfortunately, the merch was at the back of a trailer by that time. It was quickly decided that no one was gonna be crawling to the back of any trailers.

Luckily, Robert was wearing an 80's Club tour T-shirt, so Grehan took us into the room and introduced us to the band (minus Gary Lalonde). I was amused watching Johnnie Dee, Grehan, Peter Nunn, and Dave Betts sign Robert's T-shirt while he was wearing it.

The bands wrapped up their 12-city Canadian tour in Moncton, New Brunswick, on November 29th.

Previous dates included Prince George (BC), Dawson Creek (BC), Enoch (AB), Lethridge (AB), Moose Jaw (SK), Thunder Bay (ON), Hamilton (ON), Toronto (ON), Peterborough (ON), Ottawa (ON), and Saint John (NB).

Congrats Annelise C.
of Lethbridge AB
4th Row Tix (11/15)

SPOONS

Spoons (Clockwise from top left): Gord Deppe, Scott MacDonald, Sandy Horne, Chris McNeill (Photo credit: Matthew Deppe)

Spoons (L to R): Scott MacDonald, Sandy Horne, Tony Ferraro, and Gord Deppe (Photo credit: Robert Newart)

Spoons opened the evening with a terrific set including their greatest hits "Romantic Traffic", "Old Emotions", and "Tell No Lies" (all produced by the legendary Nile Rodgers), and "Nova Heart".

Old Emotions - Spoons

Nova Heart - Spoons

Remaining original members Gord Deppe (lead vocals, guitar) and Sandy Horne (vocals, bass) have worked together on and off for 45 years, and continue to be the heart of the band. Their vocals are still strong and create angelic harmonies, perhaps at their best during "Arias & Symphonies".

Romantic Traffic - Spoons

They were joined by Scott MacDonald on vocals/keys, and Tony Ferraro on drums.

Spoons end of set

"This tour has been an amazing experience, travelling the country and reconnecting with old fans," said Deppe.

"Luckily we've been able to squeeze one new song into our set. Repeatable is the title track off our double vinyl, forty year spanning collection of our best known songs. We just think some things are worth repeating, like the eighties."

"We also have an album of brand new songs called New Day New World."

"On top of that, we released the Echoes album, a collection of our songs redone by other 80s artists from around the world. It includes incredible renditions done by bands like Gowan, Glass Tiger, Real Life and When In Rome. This, undeniably, is one of our proudest achievements ever."

The band got their name as the members were eating alphabet soup at former member Brett Wickens' home. While tossing around potential names, they all stared at their spoons in unison and decided on the name Spoons.

Deppe also performed later in the evening with A Flock Of Seagulls (AFOS), whom he joined in 2017.

SET LIST

Arias & Symphonies

Old Emotions

Time Turns Around

Repeatable

Romantic Traffic

Tell No Lies

Nova Heart

Curtis Newart (The Rock Times), Sandy Horne & Gord Deppe (Spoons), and Robert Newart (The Rock Times)

Jeff G. of Lethbridge, AB, winner of a signed copy of Spoons album New Day New World (Photo credit: Robert Newart)

New Day New World album signed by Gordon Deppe and Sandy Horne

CDs and vinyl (unsigned) for sale at www.spoonsmusic.com

Congrats Jeff G.
of Lethbridge AB
Spoons Signed Album

READ PREVIEW

MEN WITHOUT HATS

Men Without Hats (L to R): Sahara Sloan, Ivan Doroschuk, Adrian White, Sho Murray (Press photo)

Men Without Hats (L to R): Sahara Sloan, Ivan Doroschuk, Adrian White, and Sho Murray (Photo credit: Robert Newart)

Men Without Hats (L to R): Sahara Sloan (vocals, keyboards), Ivan Doroschuk (lead vocals, guitar), Adrian White (drums), and Sho Murray (guitar) (Photo credit: Robert Newart)

Men Without Hats were second on the bill, opening with their worldwide Top Ten hit "The Safety Dance". Ivan Doroschuk (lead vocals, guitarist, founder and sole original member) was arguably the highest energy performer of the night (and sounded great). His boundless dance moves would rival those of performers a third his age. There was a lot of pogo dancing and S-shapes (S for safety) formed by the band members arms.

Joined by Sahara Sloan (vocals, keyboards), Sho Murray (guitar), and Adrian White (drums), they sang hits including "Where Do the Boys Go?", "Moonbeam", "I Like", and "Pop Goes the World". They closed with a joyous performance of "The Safety Dance - Extended Dance Version".

The band has been touring in support of their two studio albums, Men Without Hats Again (Parts 1 & 2), in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

The Safety Dance - Men Without Hats

Moonbeam - Men Without Hats

"We had a good time in Lethbridge, great crowd and venue," Doruschuk told me. "We hope to be back next year. See you then."

Pop Goes The World - Men Without Hats

I Got The Message - Men Without Hats

Doroschuk confirmed with me that the group's name originated when he and his brothers Colin Doroschuk and Stefan Doroschuk (bandmates at the time) adopted a 'style before comfort' attitude, refusing to wear hats during the frigid winters in Montreal, calling themselves 'the men without hats'.

Where Do The Boys Go? - Men Without Hats

SET LIST

The Safety Dance
Moonbeam
Where Do the Boys Go?
Antarctica
I Got the Message
I Like
Pop Goes the World
The Safety Dance - Extended Dance Version

Men Without Hats Live album signed by Ivan Doroschuk, Sahara Sloan, Sho Murray, and Adrian White

Congrats Mary H. of Barrie ON
Men Without Hats
Live Signed Album

Official Men Without Hats T-shirt Flash Contest

Congrats Terena P. of Regina SK
Official Men Without Hats
T-shirt

READ PREVIEW

A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS

Mike Score of A Flock Of Seagulls

Mike Score of A Flock Of Seagulls (centre)

The GRAMMY winning English new wave band A Flock Of Seagulls (AFOS) played third, opening their set with the hit song "The More You Live, the More You Love".

The band was led by original founding member Mike Score on lead vocals and keys, with Gord Deppe (Spoons) on guitar, Kevin Rankin on drums, and Pando on bass.

Pando kept the crowd fired up with his antics throughout the set, which included their biggest hits "I Ran (So Far Away)", "Space Age Love Song", and "Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You)".

Score's vocals were on point with his recordings from 40 years ago.

A Flock Of Seagulls and Spoons backstage at the Concert Hall 1982 (Source: Gord Deppe Facebook)

AFOS and Spoons have known each other since the early eighties. Several years ago, Score contacted Spoons to back him while he was performing in Canada. They agreed, and did a few more things together before Deppe officially joined AFOS in 2017.

During my research for this article, I came across a piece in The Music Express written by Keith Sharp, entitled 'A Flock Of Spoons', the name of which I found hilarious. Only problem is, while working on this issue, I have since reflexively referred to AFOS as A Flock Of Spoons.

Early August 2024, AFOS released the title track of their new album Some Dreams. The full album of original songs is scheduled for release in mid-December, 2024. They performed the single "Some Dreams" during their set.

Space Age Love Song - A Flock Of Seagulls

The More You Live, the More You Love - A Flock Of Seagulls

I Ran (So Far Away) - A Flock Of Seagulls

SET LIST

The More You Live, the More You Love

Say You Love Me

Some Dreams

Lovers & Strangers

Space Age Love Song

Wishing (If I Had A Photograph Of You)

I Ran (So Far Away)

A Flock Of Seagulls T-shirt signed by Mike Score

Congrats Dave M. of
Yarmouth NS
A Flock Of Seagulls
Signed T-shirt

READ PREVIEW

HONEYMOON SUITE

Honeymoon Suite (L to R): Peter Nunn, Derry Grehan, Johnnie Dee, Dave Betts, and Gary Lalonde

Peter Nunn and Jonnie Dee (Photo credit: Curtis Newart)

JUNO winning rockers Honeymoon Suite took the stage last. The volume was up and these guys rocked the house. The lineup consisted of Johnnie Dee (lead vocals, co-founder, remaining origial member), Derry Grehan (lead guitar), Gary Lalonde (bass), Peter Nunn (keyboards), and Dave Betts (drums). Their set was packed with hits.

During "Stay in the Light", and "Wave Babies", Dee shook hands with audience members stage right. Nunn did a fantastic solo on keys during "Wave Babies". Grehan played his signature riffs.

They also played hits "Feel it Again", "Lookin' Out for Number One", "Burning In Love", and "What Does it Take". Dee's voice was centre stage, displaying his well-maintained vocal chords.

I would have liked to have heard their "Lethal Weapon" theme song from the 1987 movie.

During a break, Nunn played "Linus and Lucy" by Vince Guaraldi, to the delight of the crowd.

In the fall of 2024, Honeymoon Suite began working on their tenth studio album.

Stay In The Light - Honeymoon Suite

Wave Babies - Honeymoon Suite

Burning In Love - Honeymoon Suite

Peter Nunn playing "Linus and Lucy" by Vince Guaraldi

SET LIST

Burning In Love
Stay in the Light
Wave Babies
Feel it Again
What Does it Take
Lookin' Out for Number One
New Girl Now
Love Changes Everything
Alive

Derry Grehan (Honeymoon Suite) & Curtis Newart (The Rock Times) (Photo credit: Robert Newart)

Honeymoon Suite invited The Rock Times backstage after their set to get some autographs for our giveaway (winner announced below). Pictured: Derry Grehan (Honeymoon Suite) & Curtis Newart (The Rock Times) (Photo credit: Robert Newart)