Artist: The Human League

Support: Tom Bailey / Altered Images

Venue: First Direct Arena, Leeds

Date: 3.12.24

Support sets from Tom Bailey (Thompson Twins) and Altered Images set the scene for a night of 80s nostalia. A decade of music that was cutting edge at the time but has aged remarkably well.

It’s Christmas party season and most of the glittered-up gathering want to wave their arms and shake their sequins to ‘Don’t You Want Me’. It was Christmas no.1 when released in 1981 but the single’s b-side, ‘Seconds’ has always been a better live track. You’ve got to give the masses what they want, so ‘Dare’ dominates the evening.

However, for me the darker / moodier ‘Being Boiled’ is The Human League at their best. An echo of the band’s industrial Sheffield roots and the early days of synth before it became blended with pop.

Setlist: Mirror Man / Tell Me When / (Keep Feeling) Fascination / Heart Like a Wheel / The Lebanon / One Man in My Heart / Human / The Things That Dreams Are Made Of / Open Your Heart / The Sound of the Crowd / Darkness / Do or Die / Get Carter Theme / I Am the Law / Seconds / Love Action (I Believe in Love) / Don’t You Want Me // Being Boiled / Together in Electric Dreams