ABC at the Royal Albert Hall

The rail strike did not deter me from travelling to the Royal Albert Hall for my first live concert in London for a very long time. I may not have originally chosen ABC, but I was swayed by the appearance of  Anne Dudley (see below) conducting the Southbank Sinfonia. And what I thought would be a small orchestra turned out to be massive. Nearly fifty musicians with thirty violins ( the nearly all young women seemed to be having a ball), eight cellos, woodwind, brass (including those saxophone solos) timpani and percussion.  The latter augmented the band's drummer and percussionist. So all four on the top row.

At the front, with leader and vocalist Martin Fry, were ABC's two guitars, piano and keyboards. So the music was brilliant. I loved the parts when the singing stopped and we just heard the music. The first half started promptly at the advertised 7.30pm. How often does that happen? The odd familiar track but it was the second half when 1982's "The Lexicon of Love" album is played in order and in it's entirety , that we all had come to see. And in the most perfect venue.

What I had not realised was that conductor Anne Dudley was involved in the recording of the album 40 years ago. She was brought in by producer Trevor Horn because ABC had nobody on keyboards. When Horn insisted on strings rather than synths, Anne (with very little experience of arrangements in her mid twenties) provided the score. So here she is, re-united with Martin Fry, all these 40 years later. She is in the photo above in the dark suit facing the orchestra. Everything else about Anne's work is on my post of 22nd April and there is an extensive list is on IMDB.com. Her work on this album pre-dates anything on that website. There was one moment last night when Martin Fry mentions visiting her house and sees her Oscar. (This was for the music to The Full Monty).  

A note about the journey for future reference. Because of the rail strike, I decided to drive to Amersham, park at the station and take the Metropolitan Line into Baker Street with two changes to Gloucester Road. I left home at 5pm and made the Albert Hall at 7.10pm. Coming home was even longer with a wait at Baker Street of 20 minutes. Two hours and twenty minutes back. But far preferable, these days, than parking in South Kensington.