40th ANNIVERSARY UK & EUROPE TOUR ANNOUNCED

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Tickets and VIP Packages on sale now

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NEWS

“We’re Not as Good as When We Go for an Adventure”: An Exclusive Interview with Andy McCluskey of OMD on the “Souvenir” Greatest Hits and Deluxe Boxset (Part 3) by Mary L. Chang
18 Nov 2019
The second of the two European-coded DVDs is an impressive trinity of material. The first two parts are live shows that Andy McCluskey says demonstrate how time and experience changed the band for the better. The 1981 show filmed at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane was during the “Architecture and Morality” era, “when we were at the peak of our powers, but it just shows how very minimal the stage lighting was. We were trying absolutely not to be a [conventional] rock and roll show, with crash bang wallop full of pyrotechnics and big flashing lights. It was [about] trying to be more theatrical and moody and quite often, it was dark.” He further notes, “When you listen to the Theatre Royal Drury Lane show, this was our third album, but we were still only 20, 21. It’s crazy. We were kids. We still had all of our anxieties and nerves.” In contrast, a 1985 show at Sheffield City Hall (“the most beautiful oval building”) filmed for the BBC’s Oxford Road Show series “shows a band much more confident, much more middle of the road, because we had brass with us. We’d grown into being a bit more capable Read More
Cancelled Watford Show
14 Nov 2019
We are truly sorry to all ticket holders for last night’s show’s late notice cancellation. We were told by the venue at 5pm that the show could not go ahead and that the auditorium was out of bounds. Our crew had loaded all our equipment in and we were in the venue excited and ready for the show. We tried absolutely everything possible to make the show work but we were ultimately obliged to comply with the venue’s cancellation for safety reasons. We spent much time yesterday evening looking at rescheduling possibilities but sadly there are no dates on our current tour where both the venue and the band are available except Sunday November 24th. We have a sold out show some distance away in Rostock, Germany on Monday November 25th, so unfortunately logistical factors also make this date impossible. We also can’t return for a one-off show at any other time for logistical reasons including the availability of our brilliant 20-strong crew who set the show up for us every day. With great regret, we are therefore unable to reschedule the show. Additionally, we have no information on when (or if!) the venue’s problem that caused the Read More
“Oh My God, We’ve Arrived”: An Exclusive Interview with Andy McCluskey of OMD on the “Souvenir” Greatest Hits and Deluxe Boxset (Part 2) – By Mary L. Chang
10 Nov 2019
Two of the five audio discs are live show recordings, and from virtually opposite sides of OMD’s long career. The earlier recorded of the two discs comprises tracks recorded live in 1983, at London Hammersmith Odeon and at the end of their tour campaign for the then-critically-maligned “Dazzle Ships”. While we can now enjoy the audio mixed by Paul Humphreys, Andy McCluskey reports that sadly, the accompanying film footage that was shot that night has unfortunately been lost. For anyone lucky enough to have been in the audience for this show, you may notice there is a track missing from the set. It’s only human nature to remember, with often great and excruciating detail, the moments where we have failed. Despite the event occurring over 30 years ago, both Andy and Paul remembered that ‘Genetic Engineering’ went off that night in an utter shambles, so they chose to omit it from this release. “What happened was we came in out of time with the click track. Throughout the whole song, we knew we were out of time, and each of us kept trying to stop and come back in, instead of all stopping and starting the track again. Nowadays, Read More
“Different Colours, Different Shades”: An Exclusive Interview with Andy McCluskey of OMD on the “Souvenir” Greatest Hits and Deluxe Boxset (Part 1) – By Mary L. Chang
6 Nov 2019
2019 will be remembered for a great many notable anniversaries. In British music history, the greatest will be the 40th anniversary of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD). The pioneering electronic act from a humble, working-class beginning in the Wirral, England, went on to become a successful, multimillion album-selling group who, except for the few times they “had to err on the side of caution”, were uncompromising in their artistic vision. Days before their band were due to begin the anniversary-related European and UK OMD tour in Portugal, I was given the wonderful opportunity to speak with cofounder Andy McCluskey about the gravity of releasing the new greatest hits and deluxe boxset “Souvenir”, available now from Universal Music. As Andy and I discussed what he and Paul Humphreys decided to include in the boxset, it became clear very quickly how important it was to the two of them to be able to present a big picture view of their career through this boxset. It is designed for the fans, with scores of memorable tunes, live performance tracks and video clips, unreleased songs and fragments and more to dive into. As a whole, it is a massive reminder of everything Read More
Souvenir – New Greatest Hits & Deluxe Boxset Announced
20 Aug 2019
We’re excited to announce a brand new 40th anniversary career-spanning boxset and comprehensive singles collections. These are available for pre-order now. “Souvenir – The Singles 1979-2019” will be released on October 4th on 2CD and 3LP formats. It is a comprehensive collection of all 39 of our singles from Electricity to What Have We Done, plus a brand new 40th single, Don’t Go (released today on all digital stores). A limited edition 5CD+2DVD career spanning boxset will also be released. Discs 1 and 2 are the same as the 2CD format – the 40 singles in chronological order. Disc 3 is a collection of 22 unheard and unreleased tracks from the OMD archive, newly mixed by Paul Humphreys. Some of these are unfinished ideas, others are full unreleased songs. Disc 4 is a full live recording from the Mermaid Theatre in London, February 2011. The show was for BBC Radio 2 in support of the History of Modern album. Disc 5 is a newly discovered full live recording from the Hammersmith Odeon in May 1983 in support of the Dazzle Ships album. Disc 6 is a DVD featuring 23 OMD performances on the BBC Read More