Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark at First Avenue, Minneapolis (June 26, 2025)

There are a lot of 1980’s bands out there touring this summer and many of them are bringing back all of the old fans. The very long line on a Thursday night at First Avenue to see synth pop legends OMD was a great example of the phenomenon in action.

The opener was Walt Disco, a Scottish “art-pop” band. Their most recent album is The Warping (2024). Running their first two songs back-to-back, they had a retro feel and were a very good fit as an opener for the evening. Jocelyn Potter’s first spoken words to the audience, “We’re Walt Disco and we’re here from Glasgow” revealed their strong Scottish accent that was softened (though still there) when they were singing. Potter said it was their first time in Minnesota (always love that!) and they were back into the music.

The quintet (vocals/guitar, bass/back up vocals, keyboards/back up vocals, guitar, and drums) firmly fit into an updated version of 80’s synth, and brought the best of that genre forward. Potter’s lower tenor was a strong and pleasant center to the music around it. That heavy synth tone really nailed the aesthetic and the occasionally distorted guitars added a nice supporting touch. This band as rocking a certain visual style, though I was hard pressed to find the right descriptor. This was a noticeably quick set as Potter told us they only had two more. One of those songs had a much more yearning, nearly screamed, vocals and crisp guitar riff. The final number was a more introspective sounding one with simpler musical arrangement around it, before really opening up at the finish. Walt Disco closed out a very effective thirty-minute set and likely made some new fans.

Orchestral Manoeuvers in the Dark, or OMD, is an English electronic synth pop band. Paul Humphreys and Andy McCluskey are the founding members, first hitting the scene in the late 1970’s. With the exception of a decade hiatus from 1996-2006, they have been consistently performing and releasing music, including 2023’s Bauhaus Staircase. The set started with the pre-recorded Evolution of Species, a total downer lyrically and very much a theme of the afore mentioned album. A great digital background was a highlight throughout the show, supporting the quartet as they entered during the first song (McCluskey – vocals/bass guitar, Humphreys – keyboards/vocals, Martin Cooper – keyboards/back up vocals/saxophone, and Stuart Kerahaw – drums).

McCluskey spent the early songs frenetically dancing across the stage, trying to hype up the audience. A joke about having at one time wanted to have the song used for a certain company’s commercial, Tesla Girls got the crowd dancing in full fervor. The range of sounds the band got out of the synth heavy, dual keys approach was quite impressive. Even in the first few songs it ranged from dark and menacing to bight and poppy, as in Kleptocracy. Fabulously, the background art also changed styles to fit, with both ultra modern graphics and very 80’s style art. McCluskey got the crowd to dance along with him in the next number and the joy in the audience was palpable.

“I love to see 1500 people jumping” said McCluskey and you could see and hear he really meant it. A switch of vocalist had Humphreys at front and center for (Forever) Live and Die, and that vocal swap was a nice change of pace and Cooper’s very bouncy keys solo were excellent. The next song, If You Leave, perhaps their most famous, being in the movie Pretty in Pink, had a lot of phones out to capture the moment. Honestly, hearing it live was a good reminder that this number is perfect pop bubble gum. Moving even earlier into their catalogue, we got several songs off 1981’s Architcture & Morality, starting with Souvenir, which might be the best example of their early synth pop era. The two Joan of Arc songs followed and continued the vibe.

A change of pace with another recorded song returned to the new album, and the band came back in with the simply beautiful Veruchska, which may be my favorite off Bauhaus Staircase. It also had McCluskey and Humphreys sharing the front of the stage and was a nice moment for them both. The more up beat and danceable Don’t Go was next, and allowed them to skip around their discography for the remainder of the main set. Rolling past the hour mark, the band showed no signs of slowing down, as we even had saxophone on the latter part of So in Love. Locomotion had nearly the full audience singing along and the pop levels were at max. Ending with the anti-war song Enola Gay, OMD stepped off before a three song encore, which again ranged from the newest, to an oldie (Secret), all the way back to their first album with the final song Electricity. Clocking in at well over an hour and a half, OMD had checked all the boxes and more, promising “oh, we’ll be coming back here soon”.