BBC Tyne met up with Erasure for a "pre-gig soiree" at the Sage Gateshead. They have just published the interview online.
The live recording of the recent Erasure performance at the Shepherds Bush Empire is available for purchase from the Live Here Now website.
As an exclusive, here are two clips from the recording:
- Audio Clip One: Windows Media
- Audio Clip One: Real Media
- Audio Clip One: Quicktime
- Audio Clip Two: Windows Media
- Audio Clip Two: Real Media
- Audio Clip Two: Quicktime
The release date of the CD and digital download of the recording is the 10th May 2006.
A sample of 'Boy (Pete Anderson Remix)' is available to listen to below:
This mix of 'Boy' is only available via the US iTunes store when purchasing 'Union Street'.
Several items have been added to the EIS online store, including further back issues of the Private Ear Magazine, Yazoo 1982 Tour Programme, Andy and Vince prints and a 3D laser etched glass collectable.
All are in limited quantities.
There have been several reviews recently published in local and national media of the 'Erasure Acoustic' shows.
Scottsman.com - Gareth Rose, Usher Hall (Edinburgh)
Erasure unplugged earns a lot of respect
Erasure love to confound expectation. They have toured for years as a duo, featuring only synthesisers and vocals in shows of ever-increasing spectacle. For their current tour, however, there wasn't a synth in sight - instead, for the first time they were joined onstage by six musicians.
The angels' wings and Debbie Harry dresses of the past remained firmly in the wardrobe too, as singer Andy Bell, clad only in comfortable slacks and a T-shirt, sauntered onstage supping a cup of tea.
If the definition of a good song is that it can be performed either with full orchestration or arrangement, or simply with acoustic instruments in an intimate setting, then Erasure have nothing but great songs.
The Usher Hall might be anything but intimate, but the music drew the audience in so much, that it at least felt a little cosier.
The audience had begun roaring as the lights dimmed, but the hall's dome nearly blew off when Bell and keyboard player Vince Clarke actually appeared.
Opening with a blistering version of Home, the crowd weren't content to just sit or stand listening; they were singing along and even yelling their heads off between verses. Not quite Beatlemania, but not far off.
Next up was the new single Boy, followed by Stay With Me. The band comprised three guitarists, one of whom was Clarke, a double bass and a hybrid modern/ethnic drum kit, together with two backing vocalists. For Love Affair, singer Jill Walsh picked up an autoharp, and the music of Erasure took a swerve into very unfamiliar territory. Die-hard fans of the band knew the words to all of the songs, but the more casual listener might have been surprised that this wasn't just a greatest hits unplugged showcase - the band seemed determined not simply to rehash past glories, but to reinvent them.
One of the best reinventions of the night was Oh L'Amour; played at half speed, but with none of the energy lost - if anything, it got the crowd even more excited.
The Grand Old Oprey might be the last venue you'd expect to see Erasure playing at, but if Blue Savannah was their demo song, they'd be booked there for a month. Bell was always known to be a nifty dancer, and any concerns that his recent double hip replacement might impede his footwork were forgotten, as he barn-danced his socks off. In fact, throughout the night Bell danced better than men half his age.
The notion that a banjo, a dobro and a pedal-steel guitar - instruments more closely associated with country music - would work with Erasure's back catalogue appears ridiculous. By the time they got to one of their best loved songs, Sometimes, it all seemed perfectly natural.
Tenderest Moments and Ship of Fools got the crowd whipped up and ready to burst, and when the band unleashed their banjo salsa version of Love to Hate You, what was probably one of the loudest roars ever heard in the Usher Hall nearly deafened both audience and group.
Piano Song, featuring one of the best ever opening lines - "Never get angry at stupid people" - was followed by Rock Me Gently, Stop! and finally, Chains of Love. In a nod to the excesses of previous Erasure tours, on the last number, drummer Ben Wittman used huge drumsticks over a metre long, coloured (what else) bright pink.
The band left the stage to inevitable foot-stamping and screams for more which, of course, they got. A slightly tired looking Bell thanked the crowd before leaping into one anthemic encore. He may have been fatigued, but he had given his all. A Little Respect was the last song, which is just what he got in return, and then some.
floatationsuite.com - Graeme Donaldson, The Sage (Gateshead)
...Soon after came the moment that many fans had been waiting for (I know this, I asked them) when one of Erasure's most horrifically overlooked tracks was finally played and the room remained pretty much silent as the opening notes of 1995's "Rock Me Gently" were sung. This was a performance and a half, with minimalist guitar complementing the genuinely haunting soundscape created by the backing vocalists as Andy sang of a wish that nearly everyone there could relate to at one time or another - the dream that all the bad memories of past relationships could be washed away to leave only the simplicity of being in love. Perhaps the song was best described as Jill seemingly wiped away a tear from her eye as she sang.
The penultimate tracks were new versions of old hits "Stop!" and "Chains of Love" that left the audience gagging for more as the band said their farewells and exited stage left. This was not the end however as an auditorium of fans were quick to bang, yell, clap and stomp in almost rabid desperation for an encore (The woman on my left who I'm sure was press, stamping her foot into the ground like it was Margaret Thatcher's grave) while many joined in on a chorus of a distorted football anthem, "Oley, oley, oley, oley - Vince Clarke, Vince Clarke". It was like nothing I'd ever felt before and sure enough the band heard the call and came out to do one more track, a very high-energy version of "A Little Respect".
All in all the gig was an amazing experience, many of the fans that I spoke to afterwards claiming that it was the best Erasure performance they'd ever seen, one woman stating "I saw them back in 1997 on the Cowboy tour and that was good but that was amazing, when he sang Rock Me Gently it was like he was singing it just to me". But in the highest regard was held my mate's opinion as he came out smiling, having entered The Sage with low expectations of cheesy pop songs, and walking back to the car afterward musing about Rock Me Gently.
The Times - Stephen Dalton, Usher Hall (Edinburgh)
With Brokeback Mountain dominating the recent Academy Awards, 2006 is shaping up to be a vintage year for camp cowboys.
There were certainly dozens of glittery ten-gallon hats evident at the opening night of Erasure's first "unplugged" tour in Edinburgh, but none on stage. For perhaps the first time in two decades of outlandish theatrical excess, the veteran electro-pop duo were dressed far more sensibly than their fans.
Having sold about 15 million albums over 21 years together, Vince Clarke and Andy Bell are one of British pop's great low-key success stories. But in recent years they have struggled to compete in an increasingly youth-dominated pop market. Meanwhile, Clarke married and relocated to America, while Bell endured twin hip replacement operations and publicly revealed his HIV positive status. A more sombre, grown-up Erasure seemed almost inevitable with encroaching middle age.
The duo have certainly reinvented their back catalogue in more adult-friendly form on Union Street, their latest album. Out go throbbing synthesizers and drum machines; in come twanging steel guitars and banjos. Shiny disco-pop is reborn as country rock. You have to admire their nerve, at least. The Edinburgh show faithfully reflected this shift, with a full band joining Clarke and Bell on an assortment of acoustic guitars, jazzy percussion and backing vocals.
Crucial to the operation was Steve Walsh, the arranger and guitarist, and the co-producer of Union Street, who delivered a pleasing patchwork of textures and tempi throughout the set. Presentation was emphatically low-key, a decisive break from the overblown, Broadway-style productions of previous tours.
At times the wilfully synthetic brashness of "old" Erasure sat a little awkwardly alongside the grainy, crafted understatement of "new" Erasure. But Bell's powerful voice provided the emotional bridge, switching fairly smoothly between soulful falsetto and rich baritone. Although melodrama is the singer's default mode, he sounded impressively restrained on sparse torch songs such as Love Affair and How Many Times.
Fortunately, Erasure have not become so grown-up that they have forgotten how to entertain a large crowd.
For the grand finale in Edinburgh, they departed from the Union Street tracks with a barrage of bouncy hits, all rearranged in the new acoustic mode.
Singalong hen-party classics including Oh L'Amour, Sometimes, Love to Hate You, Stop! and a belting encore of A Little Respect, all merged into one long, thigh-slapping, boot-stomping, hog-wrestling hoedown. Yee haw.
Manchester Online - Kate Bradbury, The Lowry (Manchester)
For a band with a history of commanding huge live shows at great expense and excess, Erasure's intimate acoustic gig at the Lowry was something of a surprise.
With gentle lighting and an ensemble of eight musicians, including banjo and double-bass, the sit-down affair was as much a natural progression of the duo's music as it was a magical journey through the softer side of some of their best hits.
And it couldn't have worked better. Even with a hint of irony as singer Andy Bell wooed the audience with a Southern-American-inspired jig, the mellow versions of the songs were instant winners.
The night began with some lesser-known ballads, including new single, Boy, but things soon warmed up as Bell responded to adoring calls from the audience and played some of their better-known tracks.
Hits I Love To Hate You, Blue Savannah and Stop! were as charged as they ever were, but these were banjo-twanging Country and Western versions of them.
The icing on the cake, however, was an encore after rapturous applause that resulted in pure ecstasy when the band returned to play A Little Respect.
The small intimate venue instantly became a church-like disco, as fans roared and screamed for the show to never end. No-one left disappointed.
The unique download mix of 'Boy' is now available for purchase via the US iTunes store (when one purchases the Union Street album).
'Boy (Pete Anderson Remix)' features Pete Anderson (ex-Dwight Yoakam producer) on guitar, mandolin and bass, Bob Bernstein (who worked on the Academy Award-winning score for "Brokeback Mountain") on pedal steel guitar and Tommy Funderburk (Motley Crue, Whitesnake, Boston and many others) on background vocals.
I'm afraid that the potential US fan Nashville show package that was mentioned on the 17th March will not be happening.
Erasure are due for a live appearance on the ITV (London region) local news programme 'London Tonight' at approx 6.15 pm. (19th April).
If you have Sky Digital, you may receive ITV London (and the other ITV regional channels) by following this guide.
The new Erasure album 'Union Street' is now available in North America. If you are unable to find a copy in your local record store, many online retailers have it available.
Keep an ear out for Andy being interviewed on Friday 14th on BBC Radio Scotland at around 10:45 - 11:30, plus another live interview on Radio Forth at around 14:00.
In association with the Erasure Information Service, Live Here Now will be recording the Erasure Acoustic show at London's Shepherds Bush Empire on Wednesday 19th April.
A limited edition 2 CD set in deluxe packaging will be available, as well as a download option with printable artwork.
Please note CD's will be shipped within 28 days and will not be available at the venue for this event.
You can pre-order yours online now via the Live Here Now website.
'Union Street' is released in North America on the 18th April.
You may pre-order it from Amazon.com and immediately have access to an audio stream of the entire album!
Also, iTunes will be exclusively offering a special remix of 'Boy' with the purchase of the album, (link to follow once it's live on iTunes).
Andy and Vince kindly allowed the EIS to video them rehearsing several songs in preparation for the Erasure Acoustic tour.
Footage of two songs (plus various photos) are available within the 'Behind The Scenes' section.
'Union Street' reached number 102 in the UK album charts.
'Simple Kid' who is the support act during the UK dates of the Erasure Acoustic tour, will also be performing at the Hamburg and Berlin shows.
Thank you to Corinna from erasure.de for the following information.
Mute Records, Karsten Jahnke Concert Management and erasure.de present The Erasure Night 2006.
Our very special guest DJ Hayo will be spinning the discs, assisted by his electrisch! sampler fellow Ingo (Hayo treated us with the 'Triggertraxx' and the 'Pocket Orchestra' mixes for various 'Nightbird' single releases. He was also the creative mastermind behind two bands which you may be familiar with - Boytronic and U96).
Besides lots of Erasure music, you may look forward to hits from the 80s, as well as a colourful mixture of electro and synth pop.
The party will take place on 26th April in the Schauspielhaus canteen, immediately following the Hamburg acoustic tour show. You will enjoy the Erasure night long after the show is finished!
Tickets will be available via the box office only, and are priced at EUR 4.00, of which EUR 1.00 will be given to 'AJS / Children And AIDS'.
As with previous years, raffle tickets will be sold and attractive prices can be won. All raffle ticket money will also go towards 'AJS / Children And AIDS'.
Tickets will be limited in number, so don't hesitate for too long or you might miss out on this great night!
A reminder that fans are selling (usually at face value) and requesting tickets for the forthcoming tour dates via the Erasure Forum.
Time is running out for any transactions for the initial tour dates.
Erasure's new album 'Union Street' featuring eleven songs reworked in an acoustic / country and western style, is now available in major record stores as well as digital download sites.
If you have trouble finding the album in your local store, there are many online retailers such as Amazon UK selling the album.
'Union Street' is also available for purchase via UK & European digital download sites such as iTunes and MSN Music.
As previously mentioned, 'Boy' is only being released in the US as a digital release, which is now available via iTunes (US) and MSN Music (US) (amongst others).
The new EIS shop is now online, which much improved functionality.
New items available include 'Union Street' t-shirts, mouse mats, mugs and (very limited edition) key rings. These items are only available via the EIS and will not be for sale on the forthcoming tour.
Note: If you want your items (i.e. t-shirts) delivered before the tour - place your order this week, as it will not be possible to process orders during the UK tour dates.
On Saturday the 5th of August, an unofficial Erasure convention is taking place near Sheffield (UK).
"For just £20 each you can enjoy a whole day celebrating the work of the UKs most successful pop duo with a full day of fun, exciting events and Erasure themed entertainment."
For further details see the Reunion Street website.