It’s always an honour to see a legend in the flesh, and Midge Ure is certainly that. A celebrated Scottish musician, singer-songwriter and record producer, Midge enjoyed success in the 1970’s and 1980’s in bands including Slik, Thin Lizzy, Rich Kids and Visage, and most notably as the frontman of Ultravox, whose signature songs Vienna (1980) and Dancing with Tears in My Eyes (1984) are just about as brain-wormy as they get. He co-wrote and produced the charity single Do They Know It’s Christmas? with Bob Geldof – the single that Band Aid, a supergroup assembled by Geldof and Ure consisting of popular British and Irish musical acts at the time, would record and become the fastest-selling single in UK chart history. Ure also co-organised Band Aid, Live Aid and Live 8 with Geldof, as well as embarking on his own storied musical career. One could say Midge has been busy.
His arrival in Liverpool on an overcast Monday 15th May 2023 was greeted with a full house of all ages, and a typically frenetic, enthusiastic scouse welcome. The Philharmonic Hall is one of the UK’s, if not the world’s finest venues, and Ure brought the kitchen sink in terms of stage set-ups – fabulous, discoteque neon lights and smoke and drama. His entrance was more than emphatic, arising with Dear God, a Midge Ure solo track that takes a swipe at organised religion and, apparently, the only song that ever came to him in a dream. Rapturous applause met the intro to If I Was, a stunner from Ure’s solo album The Gift, and a song reached No.1 on the UK Singles Chart for one week in September 1985. By the time the wee Scot thumped into Fade To Grey, the most successful single that Visage ever had, the place was rocking and the thought that this man was just months away from being 70 seemed ludicrous.
One of the surprise packages delivered by Ure was his cover of Tom Rush’s No Regrets, a song of course made famous by The Walker Brothers. His voice immaculate, it was a great interpretation and very well received from an audience who were being gifted a powerful reminder of what time and musical legacy has meant to all concerned. A string of Ultravox songs followed, beginning with The Voice, their second single from the Rage in Eden (1981) album. We Stand Alone, The Thin Wall and I Remember (Death In The Afternoon) all followed, and gave Midge opportunity to show off his exceptional band, who were noticeably youthful and ultimately energetic.
One of the evening’s stand out deliveries was Your Name (Has Slipped My Mind Again) – also from the Rage in Eden album, which is so underrated. The title track of that very album followed before Reap The Wind, Mine For Life, We Came To Dance and Serenade – all Ultravox period tunes that served as a very thematic prequel to the anthemic Hymn, a 1982 song from Ultravox’s sixth studio album Quartet, which has become a cult staple for anyone with an ear for Ure’s musical history. Visions In Blue, from the same album, concluded the set to a standing ovation, though the crowd knew that there were a few bangers in the locker and chanted for Ure’s return.
The Philharmonic Hall is the perfect backdrop for some tunes, and the whimsical, synthy, bombastic Astradyne that Midge chose to resume his set with seemed to infiltrate the walls with sound and wonder. Of course, those unmistakable beats that introduce Vienna, possibly the finest single never to make number one (it spent four consecutive weeks at No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart – kept off the top spot by John Lennon’s Woman for a week and then by Joe Dolce’s Shaddap You Face for a further three weeks), turned lights on peoples’ eyes like you rarely see at gigs. Couples embraced, arms waved, heads tilted back, eyes closed … it’s just one of those records that places you in a time and space that nobody wants to forget. Dancing With Tears In My Eyes made you feel exactly like it says on the tin, and Liverpool sure danced, though with tears of joy and excitement. All Stood Still kept people on their feet and Midge in his element, closing an otherwise uneventful Monday evening in Liverpool with a bang!
There was nothing overtly nostalgic about this gig in the sense that it might be a farewell or last stand. Midge Ure is a man still very much in his prime, and his epic, energetic delivery definitely defies his years.
Would I be there if he came round again? You bet.
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The Broken Spine is a poetry and arts collective proudly published on the coastal edge of North-West England. Founded in 2019 by Alan Parry and Paul Robert Mullen – two school friends reunited after twenty years through a mutual love of poetry.
