John Foxx. To the uninitiated it's a name more likely to conjure associations with Motley Crue than synth pop icons Ultravox. However, Foxx has been at the helm of Ultravox, and, in his solo career, at the forefront of British electronica at it's most influential, perhaps an era now taken so much for granted it's sound is almost
synonymous with the 80s. An avalanche of new material has since ensued, and following an undistinguished set by Swarf you have to wonder where Foxx will start.
Foxx and Gordon launch into instrumental Invisible with gusto, making it perfectly where a great deal of Nine Inch Nails' 'inspiration' came from. This is clever, dirty heavy pop music. Any one of these sounds would appear a miracle to Futurists past, or the electronica pioneers of the 50's and 60's.
And yet this music is true to their ideals. Computer music isn't the music of the future, as Foxx himself states in Broken Furniture "I threw away my books and now I read the walls", computer music is the music of the world around us right now - and in this
respect a night of retro 80's synth pop nostalgia was never on the cards. Yes, the classics are there and the audience is more than appreciative, but songs from the classic album Metamatic - "He's a Liquid", "Plaza", "Touch and Go" and the exquisite "My Sex" are vital, with Ultravox classic "Just For a Moment" sitting against new releases "Dust and Light" and it's gothic twin "Crash and Burn" without friction.
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These two songs alone prove that Foxx is not trading on previous reputation, and whilst there might be some regret amongst the crowd that Foxx and Gordon aren't wrestling with the analogue keyboards which initially made electronic music viable - the sheer scope proffered by current technology is irresistible. These are songs rewriting themselves with society's advances and as such are quintessentially modern folk.
Foxx's angular pout and arch cheek bones do nothing to disguise the fact that he's obviously loving every minute. A well deserved encore reprises "My Sex" and climaxes ultimately in a head splitting but achingly beautiful version of "Endlessly" (oh the irony!), where the vocal freedom which has characterised the latter part of the set really comes into it's own. It's stunning. It's why dance music is better than drugs.
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