There’s a change in the air. I’ve never been one to dally with retro 80s tours in the past. There always seemed to be as many bands on the bills that I disliked as liked in the past. And then there’s the notion that my favorite acts will get a three to four song set and that might be it. So when I was younger and snobbier, this just wouldn’t do. But back then I had decades in front of me to possibly see full shows by the fave acts in question. Now? Not so much. Not only do I have a decade at best in front of me to keep rocking out, but most of my faves are older than I am and they not aging in reverse either.
All of these factors come to bear and as of last July, I finally capitulated and decided that the stars were indeed in alignment with the Totally Tubular Festival since it was:
- Easy Driving Distance
- Featured talent that ran the gamut from respect to love
- Tickets were not gougerifically priced [I’d call it a bargain for what we got]
- Friends nearby would attend the show with me!
Sure the heat was scorching, but we all had fun and I got to mix and match friends into a new node that played out wonderfully well. So the Grand Poobah of Retro 80s Tours, the Lost 80s Live has been happening for 23 years and next summer, the sheds of America will be hosting the following acts. In alphabetical order…
A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS
We’ve seen them once before in 1993, but they have a new album out…will they play songs from it live?
BELOUIS SOME
The second of these acts I’ve seen live before…all the way back in 1985 as the opening act for Frankie Goes To Hollywood. Nev had Carlos Alomar in his band back then…a man of good taste.
BIG COUNTRY
The post-Adamson version of the band has Bruce Watson leading them. Bruce was doing double duty in The Skids recently until dropping out to front Big Country full time.
RICHARD BLADE
Not a singer, but KROQ royalty Blade is the perfect MC for this event! None finer, actually. I swear he was the first guy releasing retro 80s CDs with his still excellent “Flashback Favorites” series.
CHINA CRISIS
My favorite of all of the bands on the bill. I’ve never seen them…yet. This is definitely the closest they will ever come to Ye Olde Monk’s environs. And therefore, Monk-bait of the strongest variety.
JOSIE COTTON
We all know “JohnnyAre You Queer,” but after two albums in the 80s, Ms. Cotton has made up for it in the new Millennium with five albums in the last 20 years. I’m curious to hear what she’s gotten up to.
GENERAL PUBLIC
I was a huge Beat fan but never somehow bit for General Public. With Ranking Roger resting in peace, I’m a little surprised to see that the lesser loved, but probably more successful of Dave Wakeling’s efforts out on the road.
ICICLE WORKS
I only ever got the debut CD by Icicle Works about a decade ago but it was excellent stuff. I’d be up for hearing a little of the music that came afterward in their set!
POLECATS
It’s good to see a Rockabilly band out to balance the vibe a little. Will founding member Boz Boorer [the 2nd busiest man in Rock, at least?] still be in the band by this time? There’s one way to find out.
THE VAPORS
We loved that The Vapors have picked up after retirement from their real careers. Dave Fenton hasn’t slacked in his songwriting at all, and by the time that this tour rolls around, their fourth album, “Wasp In A Jar” will have been unleashed! [more on that later] Definitely the band after China Crisis I’m most excited to see here.
…AND ONE TO GROW ON
With a roster of ten acts, there’s still one more yet to be announced, even though tickets went on sale last week! Will they save the universe…or destroy it?!
THE TOUR DATES
- JULY 31, 2025 | Westville Music Bowl | New Haven, CT
- AUG. 01, 2025 | Boch Center – Wang Theatre | Boston, MA
- AUG. 02, 2025 | The Rooftop At Pier 17 | New York, NY
- AUG. 03, 2025 | Koka Booth Amphitheatre | Cary, NC
- AUG. 14, 2025 | Saenger Theatre | New Orleans, LA
- AUG. 15, 2025 | Smart Financial Center | Sugarland, TX
- AUG. 16, 2025 | The Espee | San Antonio, TX
- AUG. 17, 2025 | The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory | Irving, TX
- AUG. 20, 2025 | Arizona Financial Theatre | Phoenix, AZ
- AUG. 21, 2025 | Cal Coast Credit Union Amphitheatre | San Diego, CA
- AUG. 24, 2025 | The Greek Theatre | Los Angeles, CA
- AUG. 29, 2025 | Vina Robles Amphitheatre | Paso Robles, CA
Yow! That seems to be a little slim so I wonder if Midwest/Pacific Northwest dates will be forthcoming? And when I look at the dates, our North Carolina show will be the only date in the Southeast with adjacent ten states in driving distance. I’m half of a mind to do it. Ticket prices are modest for the outlay. The one thing I wonder is whether this will be one of those lead vocalists + one backing band events that’s a little less authentic when taking into consideration established bands like A Flock of Seagulls, Big Country, and The Vapors. Obviously, if you see Josie Cotton, you are seeing her with that year’s backing musicians…as far as I know.
And Ms. Cotton does point out the “boys club” nature of these bookings! I would like to see more women on the stage at events like this. The last I checked, there were a lot more women in my Record Cell than this roster. Where’s Claudia Brücken or xPropaganda? Mari Wilson? Pal Shazar/Slow Children? Lene Lovich? Tom Tom Club? The Primitives? Alice Cohen/The Vels? And I’d pay hundreds of dollars just to see Holly Beth Vincent!!
Local prices for the Cary, NC [a bedroom community near Raleigh] are $40 for lawn, with seats from $69-145. Very comparable to what we paid for the Totally Tubular Festival. And it will be a Hot August Night so I would expect the same need for sunscreen, hats, and hydration. I need to see if my peeps will be up for a rematch next summer. All of the acts pass muster and my tickets are through the more wonderful eTix vendor, so can anyone think of a reason not to go? I didn’t think so. DJ, hit that button!
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Post-Punk Monk 
I really WANT to want to go to this….
and it’s not that it isn’t coming to Seattle, it’s that this will be a thing where too many bands get to perform too few songs. How many of these acts will even get to perform 6 songs? The Vapors? Yes please! Josie Cotton? Hell yeah! General Public? Not the same without Roger. Dave should just tour under his own name performing songs from both bands. Big Country? Certainly. A few others I’m interested in seeing, as in I’d see them if they were on the bill but those are the ones I would pay money for and if I’m not going to get my money’s worth I’m not going.
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hi mr monk,
i’m going for sure. i don’t care about half these bands.
and the other ones, i don’t mind seeing for the songs i know.
the headliners will be great, flock of seagulls always does a ton of hits.
i love big country, but it will feel completely different hearing them, more like a cover band.
as you mentioned, we’re not getting any younger and neither are they.
i say go for it no matter what. sure, these festivals are starting to be yearly, but at least they’re trying to mix up the band listings.
later
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ne gative1
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negative1ne – And this is another well balanced musical diet. Not too much on any one genre. Which goes a long way with me. I’ll PM my PPM Posse to see what we can cook up.
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I used to scoff at this sort of thing and then Peter Hook & The Light, Adam Ant and Kim Wilde all planned to turn up in my local park… I mean. They’re gonna play Unknown Pleasures all the way through.
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steveforthedeaf – You remind me that I need to get tickets for Peter Hook + The Light as they are coming to Asheville again and this time it’s been suggested by friends that it might be better than New Order. I used to scoff too, when I was <60 years of age and there was plenty of time to see Band X headline a tour some time.
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I generally loathe outdoor shows, but that comes mostly from my background and misspent youth in blazingly hot states full of mosquitoes! This lineup is mostly killer, and no filler and if it came to the PNW I might consider making a weekend of it. But August in the south?
Sorry, but I’ll pass. Besides, I’ve seen the AFOS, the Vapors and China Crisis in more “full show” type settings so I think I’m good. I’d be interested in Josie Cotton, and the Polecats and Icicle Works might be fun.
Best wishes to anyone who does make it to the show!
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It seems like last year’s “Totally Tubular Festival” and “Lost 80’s Live” sort of split the 80’s bands in various parts of the country, with neither festival overlapping the cities played.
I wonder if Totally Tubular was successful enough to have dates in 2025? Lost 80’s Live certainly leaves out huge portions of the country with their 2025 tour dates. Since Totally Tubular announced in early January 2024, we should know soon if the festival will continue…..
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AJ – Welcome to the comments! You posit a provocative premise! At the Raleigh Totally Tubular festival it seemed like 85-90% capacity if not higher so I hope that the enterprise was successful enough to continue. My friends and I felt it was good value for the cost. Since there would be no danger of double dipping with acts, who would either be in one festival or the other, that might be limiting for the audience if the two festivals were in any form of collusion. But who’s to say! You may be right and I may be wrong.
The Lost 80s Live does miss a wide swath of America. We can only look forward to a second Totally Tubular Festival and see where any overlap might be. I’m feeling the urge to create some maps now for a post on the issue!
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Thanks for the welcome! I’m glad that I found this website!
Lost 80’s Live, which has been going for over 20 years, seems to have a very similar stable of artists for the past few years. (Not complete overlap, but lots of overlap year to year). My guess is the “package” is put together by the company that manages most of the bands, otherwise there would be more band diversity. For example, I don’t see that many (any?) of the Totally Tubular bands have played Lost 80’s Live.
My friend went to 80’s in the Sand for a lot of years and really liked it. But I think that was really expensive. (It is called The Sands now, I guess so they can book non-80’s bands.) A guy at my work went on the 90’s cruise and had a good time. I see the 90’s cruise is leaving in late January again.
Since I live in the midwest, I’m trying to see if I can get to a Lost 80’s Live show, but it won’t be easy (or cheap). Ten years ago I did see “Replay America” with the Go Go’s, Patty Smyth of Scandal, Martha Davis & The Motels, and Naked Eyes feat. Pete Byrne. It was a fun show! Only the hits – all killer – no filler!
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Also, it would be great if you could do some Totally Tubular and Lost 80’s Live maps! Those would be really interesting!
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AJ – Wait, I just thought of a snag in your theory. This year Wang Chung played both the Lost 80s Live tour as well as filling in on the Totally Tubular Festival when The Romantics had to pull out for health issues.
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Oh interesting! Thanks for pointing that out. I hope there are both “Lost 80’s Live” and “Totally Tubular” shows!
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AJ – And those two weren’t the only Wang Chung sightings in North America this year. They also managed to squeeze into the Abducted By the 80s Festival as well! And one can only imagine that the festival took their name from the double EP that The Chung released under that name in 2011. Or else, they copped it from the festival!
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How interesting! I see “Abducted By The 80’s” toured for several months (May – September) last summer all over the US (and one Canada date). Wang Chung, Men Without Hats, The Motels and Naked Eyes.
These 80’s package shows fly under the radar for me. I had no idea there were 3 packages of 80’s bands playing in2024. (Plus the Cruel Summer festival in LA…)
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AJ – I’m seeing a potentially great TV series built on the conceits of 4-6 different 40+ year old bands touring in various combinations on “the circuit.” It could be amazing.
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Tim Worman, singer of The Polecats, runs an antique mall here in Palm Springs, CA, and I met him last weekend at a vintage market. He said they would perform two or three songs on the tour and he wasn’t sure if Boz would be onboard.
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