Midge Ure self releases a lot of material on his own Environment label. There are lots of live recordings in particular that he’s issued over the years, but this one is of the highest interest since he’s issued his excellent “1980 Tour” on a live album that any fan who got on the Midge Ure bus in that fateful year would want. We didn’t see the tour in person, but we’ve extolled its many virtues via the streaming live show which is available on the Stabal platform from 2021.
That show was a full 97 minute concert that opened with an excellent half an hour of Visage/Phil Lynott material before playing “Vienna” in full, complete with the B-side to “Vienna” in “Passionate Reply” and a six-pack of other Ure singles to round it all out. So naturally, there were edits made for the LP and CD, but let’s be thankful that the silver disc was still in Ure’s sights. Here’s what we get.
Midge Ure: The 1980 Tour Vienna Visage Live – UK – CD [2022]
- Yellow Pearl / Visage
- Blocks On Blocks / The Dancer
- Mind Of A Toy
- Glorious
- Fade To Grey
- Astradyne
- New Europeans
- Private Lives
- Passing Strangers
- Sleepwalk
- Mr. X
- Western Promise
- Vienna
- All Stood Still
- Passionate Reply
Well, the only thing missing from the Visage portion of the set was the unexpected, but welcome, “In The Year 2525” cover that followed “The Dancer” on the list. All of the “Vienna” set managed to fit on a single CD and only the six song post-1980 encore was not also here. The two shows recorded to make up the program were Barrowlands, Glasgow [Ure’s old home turf] and the Amager Bio in Copenhagen. The LP that’s also available was a 2xLP on marbled pink and brown wax. The LP has the [slightly] longer running time and comes with a download card for CD-res files. Here’s the contents.
Midge Ure: The 1980 Tour Vienna Visage Live – UK – 2xLP [marbeled] [2022]
Side 1
- Yellow Pearl/Visage
- Blocks On Blocks/The Dancer
- In The Year 2525 [LP only]
Side 2
- Mind Of A Toy
- Glorious
- Fade To Grey
- Astradyne
Side 3
- New Europeans
- Private Lives
- Passing Strangers
- Sleepwalk
- Mr. X
Side 4
- Western Promise
- Vienna
- All Stood Still
- Passionate Reply
- Dancing With Tears In My Eyes [LP only]
The LP has a little more running time for two songs to be reclaimed from the set: “In The Year 2525” and “Dancing With Tears In My Eyes.” Along with Ure for the ride were his crack team: Cole Stacey [bass, keys], Russell Field [drums, loops], Joe O’Keefe [piano, keys, violin], and Rusty Egan [additional percussion]. Having seen the streaming show, I can attest to the fact that the band really did this material justice. I will go on record to say I’ve never heard “Western Promise” sound so immense.
The streaming show was strange though; a live in studio thing without an audience. Which meant that the full live 2xCD-R I made from the streaming show was closer to a studio album but with a live energy. This album was a full on-live concert with all that implied. Recorded with audience, for an added vibe. Which will make it a distinctly different beast. Midge Ure’s webshop is the best way to get this album, since he’s the only one selling it! Others are selling the used CD for more than Ure charges. The CD is £14.40 [$17.32] and the 2xLP is £39.60 [$47.63]. We suggest buying now if there’s an interest as Ure sells out of titles in his store which then skyrocket in the aftermarket. Mr. D.J. hit that button.
MARBLEIZED 2XLP
CD FORMAT
-30-
Post-Punk Monk 
And for those of us who attended in person to see that Rusty’s drum (singular, IIRC) was turned off…… which was just as well because it was clear his timing was all over the place.
The Ure set followed a, err, session by Egan where – as is standard for Rusty – he claimed to have invented everything from Adam & The Ants to gated reverbs to being the only person in the UK that played Kraftwerk, Can, Neu, etc in the late 70s.
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alonewithstrangers – Well to give credit where it’s due, I might not have ever heard of Gina X Performance had Mr. Egan not made them part of his famous playlists. And I would be a lesser person today.
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That’s not that much to give credit for though, when compared to the huge piles of rubbish he spouts.
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Saw Rusty in his support DJ slot to Midge in Cardiff. And yes, he did waffle on and on about his impact on the music scene. And he also invented Visage too…
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Grateful this article was posted otherwise I may have missed this release. Ordered the CD just now. Thanks :)
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Dave Turner – I ran across the CD in his Discogs entries. Which, goodness knows, I spend hours a day in conducting research. It’s worth it just for “Yellow Pearl” and “Western Promise!”
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hi mr monk,
late on this one. thanks to a mutual friend of ours from this blog,
i was able to get a copy of this cd a week or so ago. and have been
enjoying it immensely.
its a great mix of old and new, and the vienna album tracks sound
incredible. his voice might not be as it was back then, but it still is
great to me.
i am ordering the vinyl version also, so looking forward to adding
that to the collection.
there were many midge ure items, and ultravox items that were
released, and old ones to catch up this year. its been great seeing
all the activity around the band, including seeing midge ure live
for the first time ever for me. 40 years strong, and they are still
very relevant.
later
-1
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negative1ne – It’s never too late to see Midge Ure live! It took me 36 years!
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Commenting a bit late on this entry to say a trio of things:
1. The CD is still available on the website as of 5-Jan for the same reasonable cost of £12.
2. I watched the Stabal version of the show and found the lack of audience (and audience reaction) kind of odd, but the show would have been much longer otherwise, so the thing that stood out to me was that Midge could still hit some of those tricky notes, though of course he’s had to alter his mic technique and tone in some places a bit to accommodate his current voice. Very impressed overall.
3, Not sure why I didn’t do this the day this entry was published but: CD ordered!
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