On July 17, New wave hitmakers, the Fixx, performed at Birch Aquarium at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Part of the eighth annual Green Flash Concert series, held the third Wednesday of each month from May to September, proceeds from the event go to educational programming at the aquarium.
Set in the outdoor tide pool plaza, the crowd surrounded the small stage, with the setting sun over the pacific as a backdrop. As a bonus to the music on hand, concert goers could view the aquarium exhibits, with speakers in the main hall allowing you to take a break from the crowd and not miss a note.
Opening act, Bushwalla, was well received by the audience, particularly his take on the Talking Heads classic, “Psycho Killer.”
Meanwhile, The Fixx is no stranger to San Diego having performed in the area numerous times since their mid 1980’s heyday, most recently this past September at the now defunct club, Anthology. While they have not had a Top 40 record since 1991’s “How Much is Enough” (#35), they have continued to release new music, most recently 2012’s Beautiful Friction. They also tour frequently enough to maintain a significant following, with this performance witnessed by a capacity crowd of 800 people. Live they are no nostalgia act; in their current basic tour set list, seven of eighteen tracks are from their latest album.
Still led by frontman Cy Curnin, and featuring original members Jamie West-Oram (guitar) Rupert Greenall (keyboards) and Dan K. Brown (bass), the quintet took the stage to hearty applause and played music from throughout their career. Opening with a batch of songs from the new album, including “Anyone Else” and “Just Before Dawn,” the first big cheer of the night was for the song “One Things Leads to Another,” (1983 #4) but this was an audience that knew the band’s catalog. “Less Cities, More Moving People” (1985) a single that didn’t chart anywhere on the planet, received almost as warm a welcome from the crowd as “Saved by Zero” (1983 #20), a bonafide hit.
The set closed with “Stand or Fall” (1982 #76), the band soon returning for an encore mini set capped by a dramatic reading of “Red Skies” (1982 #101). (If those chart positions seem low, the songs performed much better on the Billboard genre chart, Mainstream Rock, at #7 and #13 respectively.)
Curnin is still a great showman, with the bands new music, slotting in well alongside their classics. Although currently operating under mainstream radar, on the evidence this night, The Fixx still have something to offer.
Two Green Flash concerts remain for 2013, Matt Costa (August 21) and Steve Poltz (September 18).
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/jul/20/49724/
On July 17, New wave hitmakers, the Fixx, performed at Birch Aquarium at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Part of the eighth annual Green Flash Concert series, held the third Wednesday of each month from May to September, proceeds from the event go to educational programming at the aquarium.
Set in the outdoor tide pool plaza, the crowd surrounded the small stage, with the setting sun over the pacific as a backdrop. As a bonus to the music on hand, concert goers could view the aquarium exhibits, with speakers in the main hall allowing you to take a break from the crowd and not miss a note.
Opening act, Bushwalla, was well received by the audience, particularly his take on the Talking Heads classic, “Psycho Killer.”
Meanwhile, The Fixx is no stranger to San Diego having performed in the area numerous times since their mid 1980’s heyday, most recently this past September at the now defunct club, Anthology. While they have not had a Top 40 record since 1991’s “How Much is Enough” (#35), they have continued to release new music, most recently 2012’s Beautiful Friction. They also tour frequently enough to maintain a significant following, with this performance witnessed by a capacity crowd of 800 people. Live they are no nostalgia act; in their current basic tour set list, seven of eighteen tracks are from their latest album.
Still led by frontman Cy Curnin, and featuring original members Jamie West-Oram (guitar) Rupert Greenall (keyboards) and Dan K. Brown (bass), the quintet took the stage to hearty applause and played music from throughout their career. Opening with a batch of songs from the new album, including “Anyone Else” and “Just Before Dawn,” the first big cheer of the night was for the song “One Things Leads to Another,” (1983 #4) but this was an audience that knew the band’s catalog. “Less Cities, More Moving People” (1985) a single that didn’t chart anywhere on the planet, received almost as warm a welcome from the crowd as “Saved by Zero” (1983 #20), a bonafide hit.
The set closed with “Stand or Fall” (1982 #76), the band soon returning for an encore mini set capped by a dramatic reading of “Red Skies” (1982 #101). (If those chart positions seem low, the songs performed much better on the Billboard genre chart, Mainstream Rock, at #7 and #13 respectively.)
Curnin is still a great showman, with the bands new music, slotting in well alongside their classics. Although currently operating under mainstream radar, on the evidence this night, The Fixx still have something to offer.
Two Green Flash concerts remain for 2013, Matt Costa (August 21) and Steve Poltz (September 18).
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/jul/20/49724/