It’s been two years now and I’ve tried to leave the huge disappointment behind of my first trip to the UK to see Heaven 17 play the first two Human League albums being scuttled by a global pandemic that’s about to enter its fifth wave. With another variant sweeping through Asia and Europe with North America to follow any moment now. That event was to have the long mooted Heaven 17 North American tour finally happening after 39 years of the scantest of live presences in North America.
With a reckless optimism that I can’t really, muster up, the band will be mounting an even larger tour with fifteen dates surpassing the eight that they had originally booked in a new tour that goes on sale today. Most of the same cities will get show, and even three of the venues were the same! Of course, there’s not much action below the Mason-Dixon line. Unsurprisingly.
The nearest date to my environs is the Birchmere show in Virginia. It’s over seven hours by car, and it’s on the day prior to my birthday. In a parallel universe, I’d already have my tickets, but I’m not ready to head back into a box in another state to see live music in a still robust pandemic. And I don’t see that ending any time soon as the severely ginned political pushback against public health measures risk seeing Covid-19 turn endemic. In fact, its the “conclusion” to the pandemic that I anticipate.
But if any other Heaven 17 fans want to take in a show by the never more relevant SynthFunk act, then by all means have fun.
HEAVEN 17 | We Don’t Need This Fascist Groove Thang US Tour | 2022
September 16 | Pawling, NY | Daryl’s House
September 17 | Red Bank, NJ | The Vogel
September 18 | Boston, MA | City Winery
September 20 | Detroit, MI | Magic Bag
September 22 | Chicago, IL | Park West
September 23 | Toronto, ON | Danforth Music Hall
September 24 | Philadelphia, PA | Keswick Theatre
September 25 | Alexandria, VA | Birchmere
September 27 | New York, NY | (Le) Poisson Rouge
September 29 | Los Angeles, CA | Belasco
September 30 | San Diego, CA | House of Blues
October 1 | Santa Ana, CA | Observatory
October 2 | San Francisco, CA | Bimbo’s 365 Club
October 5 | Portland, OR | Crystal Ballroom
October 6 | Seattle, WA | Neptune Theatre
– 30 –
Post-Punk Monk 
Birchmere is closest too (3 hours by car) but… ugh! I dunno. I am still chicken to be around 100 other folks in a sweat box. VIP tickets looked cool (145$~!) I mean, I will probably never have another chance to see them live….
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Dave Richard – Then you share my concerns? We have attended an outdoor show in the last two years. That might happen. But nothing indoor. I didn’t peep the ticket options. I thought, “what’s the point?”
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Le Poisson Rouge: 1 hour by train and subway
Saw them in the summer of 2017 at the Hiro Ballroom.
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Schwenko – Then hardly critical for you as you caught one of the three prior shows they played here!
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Fingers crossed, I’m seeing Heaven 17 in NYC (still have tix from the last time they were supposed to be here in 2021) and might consider going to the New Jersey show, too. I caught them at the Highline Ballroom in Chelsea (Manhattan) a few years ago and they were brilliant!
On a related note, I was supposed to see The Psychedelic Furs tonight at The Apollo Theater, but they postponed the show this morning until June. No reason why given, but I’m sure everyone thinks someone in the band came down with the ‘rona.
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Steve Shafer – And yet the tours keep getting booked. I don’t get it.
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PPM, well The Furs made it through most of this leg of the US tour (they’re off to the UK next….).
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Eventually got to see the Sheffield Travelogue/Reproduction gig when it happened last September and it was very good indeed – it was the first gig in over 20 months. They even used one of my photos to promote something or other a couple of weeks later.
Martyn was on the one hand really generous about Phil and then, on the other, essentially blamed him for the gigs not involving the original singer…. Ian & Adrian were not even mentioned from memory.. But it was splendid to hear the The Men & Marianne performed live. Everything bar Dignity Of Labour was played.
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alonewithstrangers – “Marianne??!?” Wow. I would have melted, had it gone off as planned.
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Yeah, it was great and I’ve always wanted to hear it live. Even the MkII THL used to play it at first but never got to see them.
What I find weird is that on every version of the track (album/single/instrumental) that horrible squeak is present. Clearly one of the band must like it.
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alonewithstrangers – I had given up all hope of ever hearing the OZ version of the track, until last week when commenter Gavin sent me a mix CD-R of things I needed to hear with that as the first track! I don’t have any issues with the sound design on the song.
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I had a ticket for the previous Boston area date that covid scuttled That was a stand-up club. The rescheduled Boston date is at the tables and chairs sit-down City Winery. Maybe better for old folks like me, but highly unsuited to a dance band like Heaven 17. Nevertheless, I’ll be there. I’ve waited forty years, there’s no more time to wait!
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Taffy – I like the City Winery chain better than most. Yeah, OLD PEOPLE [looks in mirror] but good sight lines and always good sound. I’ve enjoyed shows I’ve seen in the two clubs I’ve gone to. Graham Parker and Midge Ure. But I hear you on the move bustability of the club being close to zero for a dance band. Le sigh.
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I really hoped to see the two of them but in Germany it’s been rescheduled now again a few days before the start of the tour.
https://www.heaven17.com/posts/germany-postponed-again
Well, maybe next year.
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slur – The American tour is the shocker for me! This country is #1 in the pandemic with a bullet, because… freedom!! If I were a musician in my 60s, America is the last place I’d want to be touring!
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Trust me, it’s worse here because of ‘freedom’ and the government’s frantic desire to keep that bloated Boris in power and give in to the Brexit-loving, racist mob we call the British voting majority.
Not that I’m biased.
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Not that I want to argue. German Government decided now it’s job is done and the Districts of each part have to see for themselves what rules they find approbiate and want to explain. So Bands and whoever will have no planning security for anything but we are free to buy tickets and see what’s happening. When I was younger you where excited how the concert will be in cases like this – today you are thrilled up to the last day if it will happen at all.
But the official Pandemic Emergency is called a day as the Government has to concentrate now on Eastern Europe and whatever comes out of this now. So everyone is asked to take care of himself as they see fitting with a few exceptions.
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slur – Germany, Britain, and America are in a Race To The Bottom® Who will win? Will it matter? [rolls eyes at the thought of a future that turned out even worse than I was expecting…]
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I really miss the futuristic optimism of the early 80’s – even if it was a good part hedonism and escapism. While not everything was golden at all from my POV there was at least the feeling things can move to the better.
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slur – I am a pessimist whose expectations for the worst have been undercut by human society.
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