Rapture and Fascination: Erasure @ Capitol Theatre 10.29

The crowd and I are loving the show so far and “Elevation” live, with its message of pride and acceptance—especially with surely what is one of 2014’s most memorable pop song refrains: “the love gets higher”—is all I hoped it would be, with Bell and the ladies hitting those celestial high notes with aplomb. Bell truly sounds magnificent and it is something watching him perform in person. One of our generation’s best blue-eyed soul singers, his technical voice is a marvel. Taking another unexpected curve, Clarke starts up the dark engines of Tomorrow’s World’s bitchy “I Lose Myself,” and Bell looks like he’s having a blast singing it. Then we are treated to still one of my favorite Wild! tracks—the always thought-provoking and lyrically perplexing “Drama!”—with the crowd gleefully joining in to shout out “Guilty!” during the appropriate moments.

When Clarke emerges from his synths with his guitar, it is almost guaranteed to herald the arrival of the classic “Victim Of Love.” On the limited edition of the new album, the bonus disc features the band’s excellent performance from 2011’s Short Circuit Festival in London. As I’ve been enjoying this lately (it too features a few unexpected oldies from their back-catalogue, like “Heavenly Action”) I noticed that the Chalmers’ background vocals, in particular, are quite effective and charming on “Victim.” To watch them replicate this live was amazing. Later, during the band intros, Bell mentions that these talented ladies have spent the odd past 25 years singing with them. As they dance and sing around him, they clearly are having a good time. During “Breathe,” it is especially nice to watch the three vocalize together on the left side of the stage.

But before “Breathe,” and after a quick costume change into sequined short shorts that show off his amazingly muscular gams, Bell remerges for a fantastic new re-working of “Ship Of Fools.” Clarke has reimagined the song’s music—infusing it with a new hypnotic drum program—but keeps the integrity of the melody intact. In fact, Clarke’s reinterpretations for this tour—some radical, some more subtle—of the band’s back-catalogue is truly impressive. While often simply concentrating behind his desk, he clearly is in his element on stage and even broke into a smile once or twice. “Ship Of Fools” is followed by the last of Violet’s three songs for this set, the joyous “Sacred,” and Bell announces that it is his “favorite song” on the new album. He’s not alone and the crowd really love it. Even the minimal set and lighting help to showcase the power of the duo’s songwriting. This new refreshing approach of touring to promote a new album, but not playing a lot from it, is surprisingly effective. As is the next turn the setlist takes after “Breathe,” in the form of Chorus album track “Joan.” Wow, I don’t think anyone saw that coming—and yet, with its layered swirls and many other textures—like those great background lines—it fits perfectly in the set. “Rapture” and “Fascination” indeed!

And is there an unpleasant mood or bad feeling that the buoyant keys of “Blue Savannah” couldn’t eradicate? Highlighted by another updated remix to the music, the audience goes ballistic as Bell starts spinning and twirling to the time during its interludes and join in singing as he rapturously sings its lovely verses. “Chorus” has a throbbing intro that seems to tip its hat to those great original trance Youth remixes—yet again it is modern sounding—but it is extremely clever how Clarke then deposits some of its low-end loops into crowd-pleaser “Love To Hate You.” Even Bell mocks confusion with his face as if to say “didn’t we just do that song?” A solid “A Little Respect” that always allows Bell’s voice the freedom to soar, leads to the divine closer: an inspired and revamped “Chains Of Love.” Eighteen songs in and there has been no lapse of energy or enthusiasm from the happy crowd. After thanking us, the quartet leave the stage to thunderous applause, returning a few minutes later for the encore. It is always nice to hear “Always” and Bell nails the track’s high notes effortlessly. This could very well be the last song, but then Clarke emerges with guitar again for their break-through hit, “Sometimes.” Is it the longing of the lyrics or the way Bell sings them or the irresistible melody that makes this a guaranteed fan favorite? Perhaps it is all the above that helps end things triumphantly and near perfectly.