A Flock of Seagulls + Strangelove - The Depeche Mode Experience
Saturday, November 4, 2023
Doors 6:30 p.m. | Show 8 p.m.
Tickets start at $35 (incl. fees)
Upper Balcony $35
Balcony $35
Loge $42
Main Floor GA (standing) $52
Main Floor $75
This show is not included in 2023-2024 season tickets. No dinner service at this show. Concessions and the bars will be open.
A Flock of Seagulls with STRANGELOVE - The Depeche Mode Experience
One of the most infamous bands of the new wave era – exceptionally well known for their bizarrely teased haircuts and MTV’s heavy run of the video “I Ran” in the summer of ’82, A Flock of Seagulls joins Strangelove-The Depeche Mode Experience for an unforgettable blast-from-the-past concert event.
ABOUT A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS
As well-known for their bizarrely teased haircuts as their hit single “I Ran (So Far Away),” A Flock of Seagulls were one of the infamous one-hit wonders of the new wave era. Growing out of the synth-heavy and ruthlessly stylish new romantic movement, A Flock of Seagulls were a little too robotic and arrived a little too late to be true new romantics, but their sleek dance-pop was forever indebted to the short-lived movement. The group benefitted considerably from MTV’s heavy rotation of the “I Ran” video in the summer of 1982.
Hairdresser Mike Score (lead vocals, keyboards) formed A Flock of Seagulls with his brother Ali (drums) and fellow hairdresser Frank Maudsley (bass) in 1980, adding guitarist Paul Reynolds several months later. The group released its debut EP on Cocteau Records early in 1981, and while the record failed to chart, its lead track, “Telecommunication,” became an underground hit in Euro-disco and new wave clubs. The band signed a major-label contract with Jive by the end of the year, and their eponymous debut album appeared in the spring of 1982. “I Ran (So Far Away)” was released as the first single from the album, and MTV quickly picked up on its icily attractive video, which featured long shots of Mike Score and his distinctive, cascading hair. The single climbed into the American Top Ten, taking the album along with it. In the U.K., “I Ran” didn’t make the Top 40, but “Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You)” reached number ten later that year; in America, that single became a Top 40 hit in 1983, after “Space Age Love Song” peaked at number 30. “Wishing” was taken from the group’s second album, Listen (1983), which was moderately successful.
The band released 1984’s The Story of a Young Heart failed to produce any hit singles but Reynolds left after the album and was replaced by Gary Steadnin; the band also added keyboardist Chris Chryssaphis. The new lineup was showcased on 1986’s Dream Come True. Shortly after its release, the band broke up. Mike Score assembled a new lineup of A Flock of Seagulls in 1989, releasing the single “Magic” and touring the U.S.A. The band continued to tour worldwide, although with major changes to its members, and in 1996 released a new album, The Light at the End of the World.
ABOUT STRANGELOVE-THE DEPECHE MODE EXPERIENCE
Los Angeles based STRANGELOVE-The Depeche Mode Experience delivers a career spanning, pitch perfect “best of” concert that transports the listener through time and touches on several key points in Depeche Mode’s 40+ year career. Songs from throughout the Depeche canon are lovingly recreated; from favorites on DM’s debut Speak and Spell to the newest fare from ‘Mode’s latest- 2017’s “Spirit”. No detail of STRANGELOVE’s presentation has been overlooked. The visual presentation with stage set pieces and in-show costume changes reflect different eras of Depeche Mode’s story.
Truly evocative of a Depeche Mode arena/stadium stage show; the scale of STRANGELOVE’s theatrical stage production is unparalleled, save for the real article. Custom-produced multimedia projection visuals delight the concertgoer’s senses and enhance the illusion that they’re witnessing an actual Depeche Mode concert.
These accomplished musicians have a reverence and devotion to Depeche Mode’s body of work that’s driven them to recreate every possible detail and bring the “Music To The Masses” in a concert setting that transcends a mere tribute production; and feels more like a shared communal fan-club celebration of halcyon days of new wave/emerging electronica. Accuracy and authenticity is a hallmark of the project, with the band employing as many authentic vintage synthesizers and samplers as possible in recreating the classic and widely varied sounds of Depeche Mode’s discography.
With over 120 million records sold and a rabid international fan base, Depeche Mode’s status as elder statesmen of electronica was recently cemented with their induction into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame last year. Their enormous fan base encompasses all ages and crosses every demographic. Their last stadium/arena tour in 2018 set world box office records. STRANGELOVE –The Depeche Mode Experience brings a thoroughly enjoyable and staggeringly authentic DM concert to concertgoers, and connects with international audiences, wherever the group performs.
Sponsorships available. For details, contact Development Director Nita Hartley at 360.932.3051 or nita@admiraltheatre.org
