I remember going to see Pete Gabriel in Brussels – must’ve been ’83. Definitely before the album that changed his life (So) that came out a yea o two late.
So, the opening guy is a one-man act. Just Howard Jones and his stack of keyboards. Ohh, and as weird dude off to the side doing some kind of modern interpretative dancing to the music. It was a little far out, and the audience weren’t having it- booing, whistling, loudly discouraging any music from continuing.
And then Peter Gabriel walked onto the stage.
Already in his heavy stage make up he woe back then. Gabriel calmly gabbed the mic and said in quite good French (I’ll paraphrase) “this guy is a friend of mine and very talented. I’ll be out late, but please give him a listen and see what you think.”
And with that, Gabriel exited stage left, the crowd went apeshit for Jones, and the rest was history, at least in Belgium.
That’s just one of many fond memories I have associated with the triple bill thast’s just been announced. Please see below for details:
Today, music icons Boy George and Culture Club announced their 2023 tour, The Letting It Go Show, featuring very special guests Howard Jones and BERLIN across all dates. The prolific band will be performing all the hits, including “Do You Really Want To Hurt Me,” ‘Karma Chameleon,’ and ‘Church of the Poisoned Mind,’ right up to their current releases.
Produced by Live Nation, the 25-city run comes fresh on the heels of Boy George and Culture Club wrapping up their sold-out Vegas shows. The Letting It Go Show kicks off in West Palm Beach, FL on Thursday, July 13, and includes a stop at Jiffy Lube Live in Bristow, VA, on Friday, July 28, 2023.
TICKETS: Tickets will be available starting with a Citi presale (details below) beginning on Wednesday, April 19. Additional presales will run throughout the week ahead of the general onsale beginning on Friday, April 21 at 10 AM at livenation.com.
PRESALE: Citi is the official card of the Culture Club tour. Citi cardmembers will have access to presale tickets beginning on Wednesday, April 19 at 10 AM until Thursday, April 20 at 10 PM hrough the Citi Entertainment program. For complete presale details visit www.citientertainment.com.
THE LETTING IT GO SHOW 2023 TOUR DATES:
Thu Jul 13 – West Palm Beach, FL – iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre
Sat Jul 15 – Tampa, FL – MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
Sun Jul 16 – Jacksonville, FL – Daily’s Place Amphitheatre
Tue Jul 18 – Atlanta, GA – Cadence Bank Amphitheatre at Chastain Park
Wed Jul 19 – Charlotte, NC – PNC Music Pavilion
Thu Jul 20 – Nashville, TN – Ascend Amphitheater
Sat Jul 22 – Bethel, NY – Bethel Woods Center for the Arts
Sun Jul 23 – Wantagh, NY – Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater
Tue Jul 25 – Mansfield, MA – Xfinity Center
Wed Jul 26 – Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center
Fri Jul 28 – Bristow, VA – Jiffy Lube Live
Sat Jul 29 – Darien Center, NY – Darien Lake Amphitheater
Sun Jul 30 – Philadelphia, PA – TD Pavilion at the Mann
Tue Aug 01 – Toronto, ON – Budweiser Stage
Thu Aug 03 – Tinley Park, IL – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
Fri Aug 04 – Clarkston, MI – Pine Knob Music Theatre
Sat Aug 05 – Cincinnati, OH – Riverbend Music Center
Tue Aug 08 – Kansas City, MO – Starlight Theatre
Thu Aug 10 – Dallas, TX – Dos Equis Pavilion
Fri Aug 11 – The Woodlands, TX – Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
Sat Aug 12 – Austin, TX – Germania Insurance Amphitheater
Mon Aug 14 – Rogers, AR – Walmart AMP
Fri Aug 18 – Phoenix, AZ – Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre
Sat Aug 19 – San Diego, CA – North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre
Sun Aug 20 – Concord, CA – Concord Pavilion
About Culture Club
Few new wave groups were as popular as Culture Club. During the early ’80s, the group racked up seven straight Top Ten hits in the U.K. and six Top Ten singles in the U.S. with their light, infectious pop-soul. Though their music was radio-ready, what brought the band stardom was Boy George, the group’s charismatic, cross-dressing lead singer. George dressed in flamboyant dresses and wore heavy makeup, creating a disarmingly androgynous appearance that created a sensation on early MTV. George also had a biting wit and frequently came up with cutting quips that won Culture Club heavy media exposure in both America and Britain.
By the time Culture Club’s second album Colour by Numbers was released in the fall of 1983, the band was the most popular pop/rock group in America and England. “Karma Chameleon” became a number one hit on both sides of the Atlantic, while the album reached number one in the U.K. and number two in the U.S. Throughout 1984, the group racked up hits, with “It’s a Miracle” and “Miss Me Blind” reaching the Top Ten. In the fall, the group returned with its third album, Waking Up with the House on Fire. While “The War Song” reached number two in the U.K., the album was a disappointment in America, stalling at platinum; its predecessor went quadruple platinum.
Following a brief tour in February, Culture Club went on hiatus for 1985, with Craig, Moss, and Hay pursuing extracurricular musical projects in the interim. Though their comeback single, “Move Away,” became a hit in April, its accompanying album From Luxury to Heartache stayed on the charts for only a few months.
George confirmed the group’s disbandment in the spring of 1987, and he began a solo career later that year. While his solo career produced several dance hits in Europe, he didn’t land an American hit until 1992, when his cover of Dave Berry’s “The Crying Game” was featured in the Academy Award-nominated film of the same name. In 1995, George published his autobiography, Take It Like a Man. Culture Club reunited in 1998, issuing the two-disc set VH1 Storytellers/Greatest Hits.
A new album, Don’t Mind If I Do, appeared in 1999, reaching 64 on the U.K. charts; it did not receive an American release. Culture Club next celebrated their 20th Anniversary with a 2002 concert at Royal Albert Hall.
Culture Club reunited in 2014 for a tour and the band also began work on a new album with producer Youth. The group scheduled the release of an album called Tribes in 2015, but the record never materialized. Instead, the recordings provided the foundation for Life, the 2018 album that marked Culture Club’s first new album in nearly 20 years. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi
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About Howard Jones
2023 marks the 40-year anniversary of the release of Howard Jones’ “New Song,” the ebullient hit that kicked off his career. Howard Jones’ most recent album is DIALOGUE, which was released in September of last year. DIALOGUE is the third album in a trilogy of electronic releases from Jones with multi-media project ENGAGE coming out in 2015 and studio album TRANSFORM out in 2019. DIALOGUE garnered serious coverage in outlets such as Spin, Stereogum and more. Last summer’s headlining tour with his full band/electronic set-up, featuring special guest alternative music legend Midge received rave reviews. LA Weekly declared Jones, “…poignant and perfect” and “absolutely superb”.
Electronic music pioneer Howard Jones has been a constant presence on the international touring scene for the past four decades, playing live in a number of different configurations including intimate solo shows and dates with his full high-tech band set-up. He first burst upon the contemporary music scene in 1983, with his very English songwriting and pioneering synthesizers with “New Song”. His first two albums HUMAN’S LIB and DREAM INTO ACTION were worldwide hits. HUMAN’S LIB reached #1 in 1984 in the UK and featured the hits “New Song,” and “What Is Love?” In 1985, Jones released the follow-up, DREAM INTO ACTION, which quickly became a Top Ten Platinum album in the United States and featured the smashes: “Things Can Only Get Better,” “Life In One Day,” “No One Is To Blame,” and “Like To Get To Know You Well.”
Howard Jones has sold nearly 10 million albums worldwide and continues to make new music and tour the world. Jones has performed on NBC’s top-rated morning and nighttime shows respectively, Today and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. His ubiquitous hits can be heard in such high-profile television series and films such as “Stranger Things,” “Breaking Bad,” “Watchmen,” “The Carrie Diaries”, “Superstore” and “Bumblebee”.
Connect with Howard Jones:
Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Website
About BERLIN
BERLIN will forever be recognized as the American progenitor of electro-pop artistry with sensually appealing lyrics. Few bands emerging from the era of BERLIN have achieved as far-reaching and long-lasting an impact and, rarely, such a timeless array of musical grooves. The Los Angeles-based band made its first national impression with the provocative single “Sex (I’m A…)” from the platinum-selling debut EP Pleasure Victim in 1982. “The Metro” and “No More Words” were also chart toppers, but it was the unforgettable, intimate, and strikingly beautiful love song, “Take My Breath Away” that took the band to another level. The ballad’s defining role in the Tom Cruise film, Top Gun, helped solidify BERLIN’s everlasting place in American pop-culture. The song was a #1 international hit and received both the Golden Globe and Academy Award for “Best Original Song” in 1986.
BERLIN’s discography has yielded twelve gold and platinum album awards. The band—founded by Nunn, bassist John Crawford, and keyboard player David Diamond—made its everlasting place in American pop-culture. Nunn’s ongoing influence earned her the #11 spot on VH1.com’s “100 Greatest Women in Rock,” while, as an actress, she played leading roles in films including Katie: Portrait of a Centerfold with Kim Basinger, and Thank God It’s Friday with Jeff Goldblum and Debra Winger. Along with comedienne, Wendy Liebman, Nunn also previously hosted the critically acclaimed radio show Unbound with Terri Nunn on 88.5 FM KCSN Los Angeles.
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