Spandau Ballet to perform at Pacific Amphitheatre
“Why do I find it hard to write the next line? Oh, I want the truth to be said. I know this much is true.”
The lyrics from the hit Spandau Ballet song “True,” made its way to music history topping the charts with the 1983 hit and garnered even more popularity with placement in movies and television shows like “Sixteen Candles,” “The Wedding Singer,” and “Modern Family.”
But before the song had been covered a number of times and appeared in media, Spandau Ballet bassist Martin Kemp remembered the original version he heard long before the song exploded into a worldwide hit, No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100.
He was 19, living in his parents’ house he shared with his older brother Gary, the group’s leader who was in his early 20s at the time, when Gary called him in to his room and asked him to hear the first sounds of “True” on acoustic guitar.
“I knew it was a game-changer,” Kemp said by phone. “Each time I hear it, it always takes me back to that moment.”
It’s that memory that Kemp likes to relive when playing for audiences.
He will when he and Spandau Ballet bandmates make their debut at Pacific Amphitheatre with a concert July 29.
“We are so looking forward to this show,” Kemp said. “We’ve been on tour now for several months, gone around the world twice and it’s just a wonderful place to be in Orange County.”
“What an incredible pleasure it is to play when you’re 53,” he said.
The British new wave band that formed in London in the late 1970s reached top hits with other singles like “To Cut a Long Story Short,” “Gold,” and “Only When You Leave.”
But after a hiatus from recording, the band released its next album in 1989 but it was deemed unsuccessful in the U.K. The album was not released in the U.S.
A year later, the band split up.
The group separated into solo projects but after a 20-year-break, they re-formed in 2009 beginning a new world tour, releasing a new album, “Once More,” and coming together again to promote a documentary about themselves and 1980s culture.
“I’m just really pleased that all the boys were big enough to get back together,” Kemp said. “The thing that sticks with us is that song. It means a lot to us.”
“Before each show we all shake hands with each other and we try to turn it into a Spandau Ballet celebration with the old and new hit records,” Kemp said. “These songs mean as much to us as they do to the people there. They’re the tracks to a poignant part of life.”
Lisa Sexton, Pacific Amphitheatre talent buyer, said she and her colleagues were excited to learn that the group wished to play at the Costa Mesa venue.
Sexton, who said Spandau Ballet performed in Los Angeles and wanted to bring their show to Orange County fans, mentioned ticket sales were doing “very well.”
“We’re thrilled,” Sexton said. “I’ve never seen them before and I can say I’m really pumped.”
The group, who will continue their “Soul Boys of the Western World Tour,” with visits to Germany, Italy and Spain among other nations up until September, said they look forward to playing a song that is the most popular.
“True,” Kemp said, is America’s favorite Spandau Ballet song.
He said he likes looking out at the audience’s reaction when they first hear the beginning notes live.
“When you see people’s faces, you learn more about the country than sightseeing because you see their expressions and personality,” he said. “Each country has a different reaction.”
Kemp said he and Spandau Ballet’s original musicians always look forward to continuing sharing their hits with fans, appreciating the time when they decided to reunite as a group.
“We knew we had something special and that people wanted to hear it,” Kemp said. “Now we’re enjoying the biggest success and no matter what we do, we will always be remembered for Spandau Ballet.”
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IF YOU GO
What: Spandau Ballet
When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday
Where: Pacific Amphitheatre, 100 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa
Cost: Tickets start at $32.50
Information: Call (714) 708-1500 or visit pacamp.com