HEAVEN 17 // O2 ACADEMY, LEEDS
Heaven 17 Ignite Leeds with Synths, Swagger and Sharp Suits
Heaven 17 @ O2 Academy, Leeds
Photo Credit: John Hayhurst
⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5)
Heaven 17 roll into the Leeds O2 Academy with the sort of swagger only a band who’ve survived every synth-pop apocalypse can muster. Before they even appear, Rusty Egan warms the floor with an impeccably curated flashback to the Blitz era — Soft Cell, Visage, the whole neon-lit underbelly of the eighties. It’s less a support slot, more a time-tunnel prelude setting the room to a steady electronica hum.
Then the lights drop and bang — “Crushed by the Wheels of Industry” detonates through the PA. Martyn Ware strides out in a multicoloured jacket so loud it could headline on its own, topped with a studded fedora that glints with every sweep of the stage lights. Beside him, Glenn Gregory commands the centre like a man born holding a mic, behind him two powerhouse backing vocalists who give the chorus work enough lift to shake the balcony. The crowd, already rowdy at 8:20pm, surges into motion as if someone flicked a switch labelled 1983.
“(We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang” lands second, and the room reacts as though it’s been waiting decades for the chance to yell that hook with renewed fury. Gregory’s wearing the message across his black T-shirt, the slogan glowing in the strobes, and the audience responds with fists in the air. There’s a thunderous, knowing roar — this is a song that shouldn’t feel relevant anymore, and yet here we are.
Between tracks, Gregory and Ware riff off each other with the ease of two men who’ve spent a lifetime swapping jabs. Ware’s infamous ousting from The Human League becomes recurring comic material, each mention earning cheers of sympathy — or mischief — from the floor. Their chatter gives the show a matey looseness, as if the whole Academy’s piled into the world’s most chaotic pub booth.
The hits keep coming, drawn largely from their two defining albums. “Let Me Go” gets a mass sing-along so tuneful it practically counts as a third backing choir. “Penthouse and Pavement” turns the room into a synth-funk stomp, punters bouncing shoulder to shoulder, pint plastic rattling in their fists. The band sound lean and revitalised, and Gregory drops the nugget everyone wants to hear: a new Heaven 17 album is promised for next summer. The crowd answers like it’s breaking news of national significance.
But it’s “Temptation” that blows the roof off. As soon as the bassline creeps in, people lose their minds — phones up, arms out, strangers grabbing strangers to belt the chorus together. The backing singers soar, Gregory howls, and the whole room feels wired to the same voltage.
For the encore, they swerve into a trio of covers: a swaggering “Party Fears Two,” an irresistible “Let’s Dance,” and a snarling, triumphant “Being Boiled” that sends a shockwave through the faithful. It’s a finale that nods to their history while flexing their continued bite.
Forty-plus years on, Heaven 17 are not coasting on nostalgia — they’re owning it, remixing it, and hurling it back at a crowd who can’t get enough. The Academy leaves buzzing, drenched in 80’s synths and grins.
Words and Photos - John Hayhurst
