10 . 12 . 2005

Norwich UEA




The Mighty League are halfway through what is turning out to be their most polished UK tour to date and last night the sonic innovotars played to a packed UEA venue in Norwich. Here's what a few concert goers had to say:

Dear all at Secrets,

What a show!! An early birthday present to myself (36 on the 22nd) and probably the best I’ve bought myself! I’ve longed to hear 'Marianne' live for years and it blew me away totally (it’s been my fave track along with 'Being Boiled' for years). The whole team were on top form and seemed to be having a great time often commenting on their appreciation of the Norwich crowd over the years. Nice to hear 'Love is All That Matters' again, last seen on the Crash tour in ’87. I wouldn’t drop anything but would love 'Life on Your Own' to be added.

Keep up the good work with the site and keep those remixes coming, they’re awesome!!

Regards, Andrew Huggins

Cheers for that & Happy birthday Andrew - the new EMP mix will premier here on Tuesday night.


The image of Jo at last night's gig has kindly been provided by Andrew Porter of Norwich who also sent us his thoughts on the gig last night:

'I've been following the League for over 25 years now, tonight at Norwich is without a doubt one of the best gigs I've seen them do. It was great to see some of the "old stuff" (League mk1) 'Marriane' in particular was a highlight as was 'Empire State Human'.

They look as good, sound as good and perform as good as they did at the start. The crowd were up for it and THL had the place rocking from the start, I will not forget this one in a hurry!! I really cant say anything negative about tonight, it was all superb, well done guys.

I have to mention Hoboken, what a support act!!!....Divine Comedy meets Ultravox!!! they were just brilliant and were a credit to the League, I look forward to seeing them again and I really do hope that they go on to bigger and better things, they deserve it.
Oh, one last thing.....Thanks to Jo for giving me the best picture I've ever taken, She was just great...as always!!!'

Sheffield






The Synth City Tour reached the UK capital of electro on Thursday night - the spiritual birthplace of all things electronic and the League's home turf - Sheffield.

We have often wondered what younger members of the audience thought of this left-of-centre band. Would they be able to connect with a League manifesto first conceived way back in 1977 now that the world is dominated by X-Factor and forgettable Number One's?


18 year old Sheffield student Chris Barrow sent us his verdict:






'I saw the Human League for the second time last night. The support Hoboken were excellent and didn't play on for too long which I thought Trademark did last year. The League were on absolute top form, their voices were faultless yesterday, all together and all sounding great! Highlights for me included 'Things That Dreams Are Made Of', 'Mirror Man' and 'Heart Like a Wheel', the remix version used from Original Remixes to give it an extra boost.

I *loved* Marianne - I'm only 18, but to say that song's over 25 years old is amazing - it sounded just excellent, one of the best of the night. 'Love Is All That Matters' was also really good with Susan and Jo looking extra good!

I agree with others - I would drop 'Being Boiled' from the encore, or at least do the album version which would be a real treat. 'Sin City' was also a bit of a weak point - I would love to hear the return of 'The Snake' live as that was marvellous.

Another great gig from the Human League - can't wait til next time!'

(Image kindly provided by Will Scott)


We also heard from 15 year old Adam Medlycott;

'Absolutely amazing. The first gig I have ever been to and it was great to hear a band singing live. Makes your hair stand on end. My Mom and Dad saw them 20 years ago and said they are just as good now.
In fact even better if they could. The whole performance was great and I was surprised at the amount of songs I actually know, as I have been brought up with 80s bands like HL. They really got the crowd going with 'Love Action' and 'Fascination'.

A great night and I cant get enough of their music now!!! A great band and a good support band too. Good luck to HL and hope to see them next year! Are they playing at the Civic next year?'

Too early to tell what plans the League have in store for us next year Adam. Irish tour dates have already been announced for 2006 so it's safe to assume that the League will be doing dates in England next year. Keep watching this space ;)


The Mighty League descend upon Southampton Sunday night and Secrets Online may even be there along with EMP who will deliver their new HL mix that very night which should go live on this page next week.


Update aided by the *brilliant* Heaven 17 'Live at Scala London' CD - discover more here.



Keep those pics and reviews coming to: secretsonline@f2s.com

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07 . 12 . 2005

Woverhampton

The League's slickest tour so far entertained the locals in Wolverhampton on Monday evening to a packed Civic Centre. Stuart had a great night out and he sent us these thoughts: 'What a show, every year the league get better and better . Great to see them back in their second home!! A truly wonderful night and a gig that my eight year old daughter will remember for the rest of her life . thanks Phil, Jo and Sue'.


James Bailey also attended Monday night's gig: 'Overall a Successful evening at Wolves Civic, the place was packed to the rafters! The support Hoboken were good (Better Than I thought!) I enjoyed most of the League set but they must drop 'Sin City', which Phil seamed to struggle on, 'Marianne' was an interesting inclusion! The rest was excellent in particular ‘Love Action’ and 'Mirror Man’ which had the place alight!
No new material though, which was disappointing - any news???'

No definite news on new material James but as soon as we hear anything - it will be splashed all over this page.

'Sin City' is one of our faves from the last album though we've not heard the 2005 live version yet. Anyone else pleased it's included or should the League have gone for another Secrets track?

Philip at Rock City pictured above captured by LFC fan Neil Roberts no doubt happy that we stopped Chelski from winning the qualifying group yesterday: 'Following on from Liverpool excellent win on Saturday we ventured over the Pennines to Rock City Nottingham for an excellent gig. The acoustics where excellent and the venue had a superb atmosphere. The support band, Hoboken where excellent and went down a storm.'


James Rowley had a perfect day:

'Had a great evening at the Civic Centre. Have seen HL every year since they started regular touring and its true, they just seem to get better and better.
Day got off to a good start before we even got to the gig as Phil, Jo and Susan all appeared on local TV news programme Central News at dinner time for an interview and also on the evening programme showing a rehersal !!
Set list was good, liked the extended version of Heart Like A Wheel and the intro track of Tell Me When. Sin City was a nice inclusion but thought the synths could have been stronger. Would like to see them use a Secrets instrumentral like an extended 122.3bpm for the intro track or a dress change, these always seem so overlooked, would also love them to preview a new track !! Any thoughts?
Anyway great night, great fans, great League... Warwick Arts Centre...bring it on !!
PS. Great Site, always use it, don't know what we'd do without you!!'

Pleased you're enjoying the site and the tour coverage James.



Today's excellent 2005 tour image of Sue at St Albans is one of several kindly sent to us by Richard Price who also sent us these comments:



'Keep up the marvellous work that you do in keeping us all informed of the latest news on HL.
Went to the St Albans gig last week Front row, the concert was brilliant as always and I enjoyed my annual pilgrimage to see the mighty League at a fantastically intimate venue. I have seen the League perform in London on several previous occasions and enjoy the one where you can stand, I had a great time so much so that I've booked up for the Southampton gig on Sunday. Must just say that the support were really good and I wasfortunate to be able to speak to their Mike afterwards to congratulate them.'





Yesterday saw a new record for the newspage with just over 1000 unique visits recorded - the most we've ever had on this page since the site began.


Latest League interview

As mentioned by Jim Rowley, Philip, Susan and Jo were interviewed on the regional Central News mixed with footage from the Dome DVD where the trio talked about 'Don't You Want Me' and how important that iconic track is to them. It's a great little news item and you can view it by heading over to the Secrets forum - official home to the Secrets Massive. Simply click here and scroll down just a bit to find the link posted by AntonAAA.

Keep those pics and reviews coming to: secretsonline@f2s.com

05 . 12 . 2002




Southport Theatre - 'What a show!'







The Synth City Tour reached Southport last night just a few hours after the mighty Liverpool moved up to third in the Premiership - striker Peter Crouch finally silencing his critics with two goals and the Timelord of Pop Sir Philip had earlier been spotted in the capital of football by a Secrets Massive member.
We've received quite a few emails this morning and you all seemed to have a great evening at the last night's gig.
Southport fan Colin had this to say: 'Wow!!-Quite simply the best concert i have witnessed in many years..awesome vocals from all and great to see the girls strutting their stuff..Made me feel 18 again..Come back soon!!..all the best for the remaining dates on the tour...PS: support band deserve credit.'
You can find out more about support band Hoboken by visiting their official website via this link where you can watch the video to their brand new single 'Beauty Queen'.


(Click on Sue image opposite for Synth City screensaver - image © Andy Miller)

Peter Simmons sent us these wonderful comments about the gig:

'Fantastic night had by all!!! Our friends and I took our 8 year old boys.....they had a great time! My lad said HL were better live than The Darkness, Avril Lavigne and McFly! Praise
Indeed. A very proud night for me, my all-time musical heroes entertaining
my Playstation/Gameboy fixated son.
Highlights? Where do I start? 'Tell Me When' was brilliant by the girls particularly the ultra sexy Susan. Phil was on rare form tonight, even apologising for ignoring a guy in Liverpool earlier in the day. He had been listening to lyrics on his walkman cos he forgets the words and didn't realise the lad was being friendly!!! 'Empire State Human' was really powerful
as was 'The Lebanon' with a great guitar solo.
All in all a wonderful evening! Why do they only tour the UK once a year at Christmas? I can't wait another year for my fix!!!!
Cheers Pete, Ann, Marc (8), Claire, Andre and Thomas (8)

P.S. Great site by the way. Keep up the good work.'



Chris High sent us this detailed review of the Southport gig:



'A year on from seeing The Human League in the plush surroundings of Liverpool's Philharmonic Hall, this show is proof positive that some things in music just do not go out of style.
From the opening lines of Tell Me When to the last bars of Together In Electric Dreams, the band were seen to be in electric form, with Phil Oakey prowling the stage, and performing with such powerful ease, it was impossible to be unimpressed.
Aided and abetted by the gorgeously body-suited Susan and rubber clad Joanne, who gave a fantastic version of Love Is All That Matters without Phil, The League were truly in one of their own this evening, reminding wannabes how it should be done.






The hits rained in. All I Ever Wanted, The Lebanon - performed with a superb guitar solo - Open Your Heart, Louise, Mirror Man and, of course, Don't You Want Me, were all sung as though they had only just been released, whereas Being Boiled gave the encore a sense of darkness that had otherwise been missing.

Oakey was at his animated best, cracking jokes and apologising to a guy he'd earlier ignored in Liverpool because he was learning lines through his Walkman, whilst the set design - a lighting net flashing images behind the band - truly impressed the sell out audience.

Four Christmas's on from a debut League concert, the show in Southport proved that, like vintage wine, some bands simply get better and better the more they mature.'

www.chrishigh.com

Image: Sue at St Albans © Andy Miller 2005


'The Human League were the pinnacle of the 80's,and what a magnificent show they put together. The electricity of the crowd standing and dancing I've never seen anything like it. Phil's voice never faltered and the girls backed him all the way.the back drop and the lighting system was mixed to perfection, a light spectacular show with the theme of the song. Phil did well only having one break in the whole of the show, and at fifty, well!! he didn't look anywhere near it running from left to right and to centre of the stage and at one point saying,"I thought I felt hair on my face then".
The girls were perfect with one change of clothes into the more classy dress for the ultimate classic hits, it was worth every penny.
They should consider doing a European Tour, there is plenty of talent still in their voices.'

Bernadette Kerr

And finally, Ian Butterworth reassures the rest of us that Marianne is still in the setlist:

'Superb Southport gig last night, first time they played here for fifteen years or so. Sold out i think. Great set with Marianne thrown in for good measure. They gave it there all. Phil looked bit tired at end, but for fifty year old dont knock it. They still got what it takes. LIfe on your own missing, But the rest brilliant and the girls looking fab.'

Keep those pics and reviews coming to: secretsonline@f2s.com

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03 . 12 . 2002




St Albans pics

Steve Day has sent us several photos which he took at the opening night of the Synth City tour and they are all outstanding. Click on the images opposite to see them in their full glory.

Tim & Rachel from Luton emailed us about a chance meeting with the Timelord of Pop - Sir Philip Oakey:
'Met Philip before the gig near the water end barn pub in St Albans, had a quick chat, told him we were here for the gig, and he said "commiserations" and laughed,
and during Electric Dreams during the gig acknowledged us in the front row with aThumbs up...
Fantastic Opening night.... Can't wait till the next time...

PS will there be a live dvd this tour?'



No plans as far as we know Tim but we feel there should be just to capture the band performing 'Marianne' and on the subject of that classic track, Paul Clarke had this to say:
'Seems that some people aren't keen on the inclusion of Marianne. I've waited about 20 years to hear this song live, so please don't let them drop it. Got to wait about 3 weeks for the Manchester gig.'

The League reach Southport tonight and if you're lucky enough to be attending this gig - have a great time and tell us what you think at: secretsonline@f2s.com

Secrets Online had its busiest ever day yesterday in terms of unique visits. The newspage alone attracted over 900 visits so thanks to you all.


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02 . 12 . 2002

St Albans feedback

Warning: Spoilers!


Your reviews of the glorious opening night of the Synth City Tour have this morning began to reach us:

'Another great night watching the league.they were excellent as usual. The inclusion of SIN CITY from Secrets was a pleasant suprise also Joanne and Susan sang LOVE IS ALL THAT MATTERS without Phil .It was great to hear LOUISE reappear as well. Otherwise another fantastic evening.I cannot wait till Southampton a week Sunday. '

Regards.
Human League fan and fellow Liverpool F.C. supporter [Kop season ticket holder] Malcolm Smith [Reading].



We also heard from Tim Wales who sent us the following review:

The League returned to St Albans almost one year to a day since their last well-received visit. Phil admitted to being nervous on the stage with "Exeter not happening" the night before and expectations from the British leg of the tour always being greater. A different set-list and stage set-up to 2004 with a great light show and some clever new video projections onto 3 white gauzes that elegantly unfurled down from the flies at key points in the set, not to mention Susan's gynaecological cat suit! After the traditional slow start with some of the weaker songs like Sin City, the audience really got going after All I Ever Wanted (they may have deviated from the set list Steve Day photgraphed) and then built up to a group crescendo from Love Action to the fan's favourite Don't You Want Me? . I missed Love is All That Matters and Electric Dreams last time and was really pleased they added them back in, although I did miss Phil's singing from the former (and one of the girls was a bit out of tune - sorry Jo!). It was a great gig as ever with excellent musicianship and those brilliant melodies and choruses and Phil as cool, professional and slick as ever. He even thanked us at the end for "...reminding us why we do it".

Anoraks bit: I would tweak the set-list slightly, dropping Marianne and Rock and Roll is Dead, which were really for the connoisseurs (and to allow for costume changes) to be replaced by Being Boiled (moved from the encore) and Life on Your Own (Oh, I wish they had used that!).

Edd Shipton was also suitably impressed with the opening night:


'The gig was absolutely fabulous. How can Philip look so good at 50, I am struggling at 39!

It was a good choice to open with Tell Me When, it really got the crowd going, there was a slight problem with the guitar during the The Lebanon, it only kicked in half way through. Marianne was an audacious choice that left many “fans” bewildered, personally I was in heaven. The opening melody line sent shivers down my spine.

I have to get tickets for the Forum gig. Hoboken where ok, always a difficult job support slots aren’t they, there were a couple of dodgy vocal moments but I think the album is worth checking out.

Merchandise was a little pricey though, still managed to pick up a t-shirt and beeny hat.'

And finally for now, Tom France echoes most of what has been written above:

' Was at St.Albans last night, I get the impression you wern't able to make it. Shame if you wern't it was brilliant as usual. So far the reviews have understated how good the night was with a great crowd who loved the band and visa versa ( not like London audiences). HL make you feel like being part of a big family especially with Phil's kind sentiments at the end of the night.
Highlights were LOVE ACTION and LOVE IS ALL THAT MATTERS, with the girls doing a great job, without Phil, and looking lovely.'

(St Albans tour pics taken by Malcolm Smith)

Keep those pics and reviews coming to secretsonline@f2s.com

Synth City opening night - posted 1.09AM

Warning: Spoilers!

The Synth City tour appears to have got off to a great start in St Albans a few hours ago with several enthusiastic reviews beginning to reach the Secrets forum.

More in-depth reaction and hopefully some pics will follow later today but just to wet the appetites of the insomniacs amongst us here are a some tantalizing spoilers:

The opening show included a new version of the 2003 single that Philip sang vocals on - the Kings Have Long Arms classic: 'Rock And Roll is Dead' with Philip telling the audience: "the lyrics to this are really good. Although I never really thought rock and roll was ever alive".

For the first time live in many a year: 'Travelogue' fave 'Marianne' with backing vocals from Susan and Joanne delighted the Secrets Massive and fans of 'Crash' would have been cheered for the inclusion of the much underrated 'Crash' single 'Love is All That Matters' which was performed by Susan & Joanne - the first time this song has been performed live since 1987 in the UK.
'Secrets' track 'Sin City' was also another welcome addition to the set list and was last performed back in 2001 when this site was just a few weeks old.
Reports to the forum also note that some of the tracks were remixed with 'Heart Like A Wheel' & 'Tell Me When' both having extended moments of analogue brilliance.

Steve Day has posted a photo of the complete setlist and you can view it by clicking here.



Q Magazine

Picked up the very latest edition of Q Magazine yesterday to see what was in their top 50 albums chart of 2005 (no mention of Ladytron's Witching Hour or Editors The Back Room?!).
One interesting feature however asked a wide variety of singers and celebs what their favourite track of the year was and the gorgeous 'Nordic diva' Nina Persson of The Cardigans surprisingly revealed the following: 'This might sound strange coming from me, but I'm a sucker for that 80's pop sound, and Kelly Osbourne's 'One World' reminds me of The Human League'.

Heaven 17 live!



This Tuesday also saw the long awaited return to the live arena of another group of Sheffield pioneers: Heaven 17. In what was their first headlining gig in several years here in the UK, former League founders Sir Martin Ware and Ian Craig Marsh took to the stage of Scala in London with Glenn Gregory (fresh from his critical success with Honeyroot) and played a stunning set featuring old classics and some choice tracks from the rather excellent 'Before After'.

(Image: H17 at Scala kindly supplied by Drew Furnell)






Though we are kicking ourselves for not being able to make the journey to the Scala venue, fans are reporting H17's return as breathtaking. Tracks performed included 'Geisha Boys and Temple Girls' (just about one of the finest electronic songs ever recorded in our opinion), 'Let Me Go' and 1997 classic 'Do I Believe' plus most of their distinctive hit singles.
The concert has been filmed and will be released on DVD next year but if like us you simply cannot wait for that - those really clever people at Live Here Now are already selling an official limited edition CD of the gig for just 15 squid! The company also have recent gigs by the likes of Goldfrapp and Erasure for sale (though rather annoyingly, the CLIENT one has now sold out).

We've ordered a copy and you can get yours by clicking on Live Here Now.

The UK edition of 'Before After' with extra bonus track can now be ordered on Amazon via this link.



Unique visits to news page yesterday: 732





orac - contact: secretsonline@f2s.com - Secrets Online Guestbook Secrets Online at Myspace.com - come join us

01 . 12 . 2002

orac - contact: secretsonline@f2s.com - Secrets Online Guestbook Secrets Online at Myspace.com - come join us

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Exclusive League remixes - free downloads!


The following remixes by EMP and The Visitor are still available to download for your hearing pleasure - improve your i-pod by clicking on the track of your choice:

Human (EMP 2005 Remix)
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I Love You Too Much (EMP Loved-up Mix)



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October/November news archive

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