It’s been 40 years since the 80s but last week’s 80’s Club visit to TD Place proved that the music is timeless!
80s music fans from all generations filled TD Place last week. JUNO nominees Spoons from Burlington, Ontario kicked off the night with a high energy set. At the midway point of their set they thrilled the crowd with “Romantic Traffic” which quickly had the crowd singing along.
Montreal’s Men Without Hats, likely the band I was looking forward to the most, took to the stage next. The late 70s and early 80s were a huge part of my musical taste development. Going from my tweens to my teens in that decade Men Without Hats were the foundation of my soundtrack. Their set lived up to every expectation I might have had and their sound remained unchanged from my mixed tape days. Ivan Doroschuk brought all the energy to his performance bounding across the stage like he was still in his 20s. Of course the set was bookended by two distinct versions of “The Safety Dance” and included performances of “Where do the Boys Go”, “Antarctica” and, of course, “Pop Goes The World”. Having been a fan of Men Without Hats for the last 40 years this performance made my night!
For the next performer we have to take a trip across the pond to Liverpool, England. A Flock of Seagulls flew over the Atlantic and landed on stage at TD Place thrilling the crowd with live renditions of their biggest hits including “I Ran (So Far Away)”, “Space Age Love Song”, “Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You)”, and “The More You Live, the More You Love”. By this point nostalgia was oozing out of every part of TD Place with only one act remaining.
Likely the band that has remained most constant, out of the four in the 80s Club, Niagara Falls’ Honeymoon Suite are one of the staples of the Canadian classic rock scene. I remember having travelled to see them live in Toronto before I even started high school and I’ve seen them countless times since, even had the pleasure of interviewing members of the band over the last decade.
Never a band to disappoint live Honeymoon Suite brought down the house with a powerful set filled with their biggest hits from the last 40 years! Hit singles such as “New Girl Now”, “Burning In Love”, “Wave Babies”, “Stay In The Light”, “Feel It Again” and “What Does It Take”, to name a few. They closed out the show with “Love Changes Everything”!
What a night. It was nice jumping into the time machine for a night, if only we could go back to that time for a bit longer. Life was so much simpler back in the 80s compared to now…life was more affordable back then and the music…the music was out of their world!
It’s been a few years since I took in a show at TD Place and I have to say I missed it. It’s one of the better venues in Ottawa to catch a show so I hope that there will be more opportunities in the year to come!
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