Abducted by the 80’s at Florida Theatre, Jacksonville (Oct 19, 2025)

Men Without Hats briefly re-joined Wang Chung and Naked Eyes for their Abducted by the 80’s 2025 concert series for four dates only in Florida, ending in Jacksonville last night. Previously, in 2024, MWH and Wang Chung (along with The Motels) did a longer run under the Abducted by the 80’s banner.

This show is similar to another other 80’s-inspired tour I Want My 80’s Tour (with usually Rick Springfield as headliner). And like those other 80’s tour, the audience lean to the older, mostly retired age group … which is the perfect audience for Florida.

It was fun to see mostly older fans, dressing up for the occasion: neon colors, laced bandana, terrycloth sweatbands, metallic pants, rap clothing (with metal chains), or 80’s hair flairs. Everybody was wang chunging tonight at the Florida Theatre in Jacksonville.

The Florida Theatre is the only historic palaces in Jacksonville, and one of five in all of Florida (the others are located in Miami, Pensacola, Lakeland and Tampa). It’s very similar to other historic theatres of this size (capacity is 1,900) with a very high ceiling and second floor viewing and balcony. For Minneapolis comparison, it looks like the Orpheum or State Theatre in Minneapolis.

Staff were friendly with plenty of ushers showing you to your seats. They’re also not as strict when it comes to audience filming or taking photos (although it certainly depends on the shows and requirements from the performing bands). I did spot a security person asking some dancing fans to go to their assigned seats, but this is more to keep the aisle clear.

Before the show starts, Florida Theatre’s president Numa Saisselin stepped on stage to thank the audience for coming out and that the venue was completely independent (meaning not booked by Live Nation) and that all booking and processing are done inhouse (so they can pass the savings to ticket buyers). He also mentioned that they were holding a giveaway to one lucky winner, who could win a pair of golden tickets, which will grant them entry to every show. I couldn’t immediately find that information on their website, but doing research, he is referring to the Annual Ticket Drawing 2025. It sounds like the odds are good, with only 1,500 tickets will be sold.

 

 

First band on the lineup was English new wave duo Naked Eyes. They were pretty funny, with band leader Pete Byrne asking the audience, “Were you here last year?” Waiting for feedback, he continued in jokingly disbelief, “And you came back?”

Byrne is the only surviving band member, and reminded us that his songwriting partner, Rob Fisher passed away in 1999 (age 42), and that the last song they wrote together, “Lost” always bring a tear to his eye.

The band was most famous for “Promises, Promises” (“you made me promises, promises…”) and a cover of Burt Bacharach’s “Always Something There to Remind Me”… so naturally they ended their set with the two well-known songs. Most fans will likely know Naked Eyes’ version than the original Bacharach version (and in the UK, it’s likely that fans will probably know this as a Sandie Shaw song).

 

 

 

My personal favorite of the three bands on the bill, was Canadian synthdance band Men Without Hats. I’ve seen the band three times, the first time I was shocked when they all came on stage wearing hats. Of course, I was in the minority when it comes to seeing the band multiple times, as there were plenty of fans in the audience that seen them numerous times. Talking to a big fan, wearing a Men With Out Hats T-Shirt, he tells me that he went on their 80s Cruise. I joked that you’re basically trapped with the band, I mean where else can you go but jump into the ocean to escape. I was curious and asked if they change their setlist at all. Sadly, according to the fan, the setlist is basically the same night after night.

Men Without Hats came on stage like a freight train, immediately doing their signature song, “The Safety Dance”. They did their biggest hit, where else can they go from here? We’ll get to that later… but I was right when I said that their “Pop Goes The World” song was the superior song. As an introduction to the song, band leader Ivan Doroschuk tells us that they were signed to Mercury Records and he sent a ten-track demo to the record producer. As a special bonus, he added a 1-minute instrumental (the catchy doo-do-doo-do-do Popcorn-ish keyboard sound). The entire 10-track demo was rejected by the producer… but that one instrumental, they liked. They then asked him to extend that to three minutes and add some lyrics… and then write 10 more songs just like that one. The result is “Pop Goes the World”, which I think was a better song than “Safety Dance”. And as I suspected, the entire audience was singing along.

“Moonbeam” had the lines “and me, I was in a cloud” replaced with “and me, I was in Jacksonville, Florida”, which had the crowding cheering. “Where Do the Boys Go?” had Doroschuk adding, “we still haven’t figured it out.”

Surprisingly, their latest 2025 single “I Love the ’80s” was a big hit with the crowd. Somehow, this “one-hit-wonder” band can still write hit songs.

For their finale, the band dedicated the song to “For those who came in late”, as they re-launched back into “The Safety Dance”! Except, this time around, it’s a little different, doing a remixed dance/club version. This version was popular in the UK, and I believe the song was included in the US-release of Rhythm of Youth.

 

 

 

London’s new wave band Wang Chung closed out the night. This was a little contrast to the goofy Men Without Hats, because Wang Chung, despite their name, is quite a serious band. The group had a few hits in America, including “Dance Hall Days”, “Everybody Have Fun Tonight” (aka “Everybody Wang Chung Tonight”), and “Let’s Go”.

Surprisingly their cover of The Clash’s “Should I Stay or Should I Go” was a hit with the crowd, especially as they extended the song to include the lyrics, “Should I Wang or Should I Chung” outro.

With a little time left on the allotted schedule, the band decided to take us out on their cover of Al Green’s “Take Me to the River”. I was rather impressed with Wang Chung’s version, as it is probably closer to the Talking Heads composition (particularly David Byrne’s rhythmic singing style). According to Jack Hues, they often don’t get to do this song live.

None of the bands overstayed their welcome, their set was a tight 30 or 45-min set (for co-headliners), and all the bands made sure to do all their hit songs.

 

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