On a warm early August evening I had the chance to do some time traveling. One of my favorite performers of the early eighties was playing a concert at Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo. That artist is Adam Ant. I saw Adam a couple times in 81 and 82 and remembered him being an incredible performer. I saw him a few years ago at Seattle’s Showbox, but this night was superior to the previous.
Adam hit the stage, strutting and spinning and wearing leather pants, a leather jacket and a straw hat. He played a lot of his old hits early on including Dog Eat Dog and Ant Music (during which there was barely a still body in the audience). I truly felt like I had time traveled back to 1982 when I listened to those songs constantly.
He often introduced songs with amusing stories in his delectable English accent. He also had a band of stellar musicians backing him (Andy Woodard, Drums, Will Crewdson, Lead guitar, Jola, Drums, Joe Holweger, Bass guitar, A.P. Leach, Rhythm guitar.) The evening was filled with heavy percussion at times (for a few songs both guitar players slammed some skins) and heavy guitars (Adam picked up an electric for a few songs). The sound emanating through the park was exquisite. The acoustics and sound mix were absolutely perfect.
Despite, his constant struts and twists and almost pirouettes, Adam never seemed to break a sweat. He looked impeccable, he sounded spectacular. He hadn’t lost his charm either.
During his song Strip he tore off his leather jacket eliciting cheers and more than a few squeals from the ladies, and tossed it to the stage floor revealing a black t-shirt with one sleeve torn off and several tattoos on his arms. He didn’t strip down to bikini pants as he had done in the early eighties.
The encore began with Goody Two Shoes, the song I’d been waiting for, so that made me a happy concert-goer, indeed. He ended with Physical and the evening was over. It was back to 2018, but with the added memory of a very fun, very memorable evening.
Opening the evening was another English band from the early eighties who had a handful of moderate hits in the US, The Fixx. To be honest, I was never that enthusiastic about the Fixx back in the day. They weren’t bad, but overall their songs didn’t stand out to be much more than average synth pop songs. But I went with an open mind. I’d never seen them live and this was a package deal, so I showed up early enough to catch their entire set. I was impressed. This is a band with real musicians. These guys had a handful of hits in the US, namely Stand or Fall and One Thing Leads to Another, both of which brought the audience to their feet. When they performed their song Saved By Zero I was totally catapulted back to 1982. The current lineup of the Fixx is, Jamie West-Oram, guitar, Rupert Greenall, synth, Dan K. Brown, bass, Adam Woods, drums and haunting vocals of Cy Curnin.
This evening turned out to be more than just a nostalgia trip. Both bands have withstood the test of time and are as relevant today as they were 35 years ago.
– Photos property of Holly Homan, all rights reserved.
