Summer of Love Live: Andy McCluskey shares his live music memories and OMD tour dates
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark are hitting the road!
Last updated 24th Aug 2021
This summer on Greatest Hits Radio, we've been asking you about your favourite live music memories as part of Summer of Love Live, where we celebrate the return of live music.
We've also been playing out live albums in-full and we're visiting a city near you on our Summer of Love Live ice cream tour!
Now, we've asked Andy McCluskey from Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark about his favourite live music moments as the band prepare to embark on a massive tour across the UK, Europe and North America.
Keep reading to hear more about Andy's best live music moments!
How did Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark start out?
"We did actually start out as a live band, Paul and I basically dared ourselves to do one gig and that's why we came up with the crazy name, because it didn't matter.
"We just wanted people to know it was two guys and a tape recorder playing songs that even their friends thought were rubbish!
"So, this has been a 43 year brilliant rolling accident, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. We're so blessed."
What are Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark like live?
"Because we've always been live, I think one of the things was that I was keen to make people recognise we might be using tapes and synthesisers but this is not boring machine music.
"I started developing what has now become my infamously idiosyncratic dance style, which Paul just basically says, 'You've been overcompensating for me standing still for 40 odd years, haven't you?'"
When was your first professional performance?
"The first time we ever got anything back from performing was probably about our third concert at Eric's in Liverpool where we were given half a crate of beer. That was generous by their standards!
"Without that place, we wouldn't exist. We invented the band in order to play their Thursday night showcase nights and a lot of our contemporaries played the same time. The Teardrop Explodes and Echo & the Bunnymen and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark all played within the same three weeks their first gig at Eric's in October 1978."
"It was the most intimidating place to play, nobody would come near the stage and you could see that everyone in the audience was in a band. They would all become Echo & the Bunnymen, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, everyone was in a band. You could see them all talking to each other behind their hands."
What was it like to play alongside Joy Division?
"Factory Records used to put on concerts of all of their artists and Joy Division and ourselves played quite a few concerts together in 1979.
"It was friendly rivalry, I was amazed when I first saw Ian Curtis because he had a fairly idiosyncratic way of dancing which wasn't dissimilar to mine actually. We were friendly and enjoyed getting on with them."
What is the biggest gig you have played in the last 40 years?
"The biggest crowd we've ever played to live was at a festival in Barcelona in June 1984. We played in front of the palace on the piazza, there was 50,000 on the piazza and police said there was another 300,000 down the avenue. So we played to over 350,000 people, it was just crowd as far as the eye could see. It was terrifying but exciting at the same time!
"Sometimes it's the little gigs as well, in October, we're actually playing one of the smallest gigs we will have played in decades. We're playing our first concert since August 1979 on the Wirral peninsula where we live. It's a new place called Future Yard which is a small venue with rehearsal rooms and studios to develop Birkenhead bands, so we're trying to put something back in there."
Is it more intimidating when you're closer to the audience?
"Because we're going to do it as a two-piece, just Paul and myself, as we would have been in 1979, it's going to be quite intimidating because we're going to play a few songs from the first album that we haven't played for a long time, so we'll have to go and rehearse.
"It's weird when you go and do old back catalogue, you actually have to go and listen to your own CD to relearn the song!"
You can catch Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark performing all over the country from 17th September!
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark UK tour dates:
September 2021
Aylesbury Waterside - Fri 17th
Leeds Let's Rock - Sat 18th
October 2021
Birkenhead Future Yard - Sat 16th
November 2021
Glasgow O2 Academy - Mon 1st
Edinburgh Usher Hall - Tues 2nd
Gateshead Sage - Wed 3rd
Hull Bonus Arena - Fri 5th
Leeds First Direct - Sat 6th
Cambridge Corn Exchange - Sun 7th
Leicester De Montfort Hall - Tue 9th
Cardiff Motorpoint Arena - Wed 10th
Birmingham Resorts World Arena - Fri 12th
London Eventim Apollo - Sat 13th
Bournemouth International Centre - Sun 14th
Brighton Centre - Tue 16th
Oxford New Theatre - Wed 17th
Manchester O2 Apollo - Sat 19th and Sun 20th
Liverpool Empire Theatre - Sun 21st
Liverpool Olympia - Tue 23rd
London Royal Albert Hall - Mon 14th and Tues 15th
Take a look at these other Factory Records artists:
Joy Division
Formed in Salford in 1976, Joy Division changed music forever. The group consisted of lead vocalist Ian Curtis, guitarist and keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris.
Sumner and Hook were inspired to form a band after attending a now-historic Sex Pistols concert at Manchester's Lesser Free Trade Hall in 1976. They were inspired by the early Punk movement and went on to become post-Punk pioneers with songs like 'Love Will Tear Us Apart', 'Disorder' and 'Transmission'.
New Order
New Order was born out of the demise of Joy Division, following the death of lead singer Ian Curtis in 1980. Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook and Stephen Morris continued to make music, before being joined by keyboardist Gillian Morris later that year.
They were the flagship band for Factory Records and the Hacienda nightclub. Their masterpiece 'Blue Monday' became the top-selling 12" single of all time and continues to be a favourite of music fans today. Although Peter Hook left the outfit in 2007, New Order continue to play shows to huge crowds.
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, or OMD, were formed in Merseyside in 1978 and signed to Tony Wilson's Factory Records in 1979 prior to the release of their debut single 'Electricity'.
The band created forward-thinking electronic music and were inspired by artists including Kraftwerk, David Bowie, Brian Eno and label-mates Joy Division. Their stand-out track 'Enola Gay' was released in September 1980.
Happy Mondays
Formed in Salford in 1980, the band's original line-up consisted of Shaun Ryder, Paul Ryder, Mark Day, Paul Davis and Gary Whelan, before Mark 'Bez' Berry joined shortly after the vocalist Rowetta joined the band in 1990.
Their music helped create a bridge between the UK's independent scene and the dance and rave culture which was emanating out of Manchester's legendary Hacienda nightclub.
They released a total of five studio albums, most notably 'Bummed' in 1988 and 'Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches' in 1990.
The Durutti Column
The Durutti Column formed in Manchester in 1978 and were one of the first acts to be signed to the Factory label.
Lead by guitarist Vini Reilly, he was also joined by Bruce Mitchell on drums and Keir Stewart on bass, keyboards and harmonica.
James
Although not officially signed to Factory, James released their first two singles 'Jimone' (1983) and 'James II' (1985) on the label, before signing with Sire Records.
They have had huge hits during their career including 'Come Home', 'Sit Down' and 'Laid'.
Read more:
6 of our favourite Factory Records bands 🎶
Everything Liam and Noel Gallagher have said about an Oasis reunion