Words by Lawrence Mann and Photos by A Rood Photo June 20 2025 Los Angeles CA
What a perfect start to the summer solstice. It was t-shirt weather, the venue was an ideal setting and size, the crowd was excited and anticipatory, and the opener, Walt Disco, had just the right mix to get the evening started. Walt Disco are a Glasgow quintet who wear their influences on their sleeves—’80s new-wave goth with theatrical vocals, at times emulating Klaus Nomi. Fun band.
Coming in confident off their red-hot Cruel World performance, OMD were in prime shape, both physically and vocally. It’s hard to believe Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys have been at this since 1978. Their earlier material—Electricity, Enola Gay, and Joan of Arc—shows their influences, most notably Kraftwerk and Joy Division. Their set did a fantastic job covering the highlights of their career.
If you were (or are) a fan of new wave—and more locally, of KROQ radio—you would know at least a dozen songs they performed. Twice during the night, they got 10 or 15 seconds into a song and I said out loud, “Oh yeah, they did that too!” They performed two songs from John Hughes movies: Tesla Girls (Andy made an Elon Musk joke leading into the song) from Weird Science, and If You Leave from Pretty in Pink. The latter became a huge hit for the band—and it almost didn’t happen. Research groups didn’t like the original ending, where Andie chooses her nerdy friend Ducky over the wealthy heartthrob, Blane. When Hughes reshot the ending, he asked OMD to supply a different song for it. The new song was created within 24 hours. McCluskey and Humphreys work well under pressure.
The night kept rolling with earlier, darker material; dance-inducing pop songs such as Locomotion, which likely influenced Pet Shop Boys; and warmer, in-between songs like (Forever) Live and Die, So in Love, and Dreaming.
McCluskey and Humphreys are both 65, but their voices don’t show it. Andy hit some impressive notes during the evening, but I noticed they worked best vocally when they sang together. Andy’s energy—even after a knee replacement—the song selection, the incredible video backdrop (again, seemingly inspired by Kraftwerk), and the beautiful setting of the Greek Theatre kept the majority of the audience on their feet—or more accurately, dancing in front of their seats—until the very end!
Setlist:
Anthropocene
Messages
Tesla Girls
Kleptocracy
History Of Modern (Part 1)
(Forever) Live and Die
If You Leave
Souvenir
Joan Of Arc
Joan Of Arc (Maid Of Orleans)
Verushchka
Don’t Go
Pandora’s Box
So In Love
Dreaming
Locomotion
Sailing On The Seven Seas
Enola Gay
Encore:
Look At You Now
Secret
Electricity
Pictures by A Rood Photo
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