Soft Cell's tour celebrating the 40th anniversary of their classic Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret wrapped up in NYC on Tuesday night at Beacon Theatre. It's only been half of the duo, unfortunately, on this tour as Dave Ball was advised by doctors to sit this one out due to a fractured vertebrae. Philip Larsen, who co-produced their new album *Happiness Not Included, filled in for Dave on synths as part of the Soft Cell live band.
Marc Almond, however, was in great spirits and vocal form. The night opened with a set that included tracks from new album and other favorites from throughout the band's career before performing Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret in full. That had the crowd on their feet the whole time and "Tainted Love," "Bedsitter," "Sex Dwarf" and the rest of the album sounded fantastic in Beacon Theatre's new immersive sound system.
There were some special treats for the encore. Marc Almond talked about how important NYC was to the band and the album -- some of it was recorded in a studio near the then-very-seedy Times Square -- and then brought out JG Thirlwell, aka Clint Ruin, to perform their cover of Suicide's "Ghost Rider" which they hadn't played live since 1984. That was followed by the "Tainted Love / Where Did Our Love Go?" medley that was released as a 12" single, and they ended the night with 1981 non-LP single "Memorabilia." You can watch video of "Ghost Rider" and other songs from Beacon Theatre, below.
Check out photos from the night by P Squared and Soft Cell's Beacon Theatre setlist, below.
SETLIST: Soft Cell @ Beacon Theatre 8/30/2022 Torch Bruises on All My Illusions Happy Happy Happy Monoculture Where the Heart Is Nostalgia Machine Loving You, Hating Me Nighthawks L'esqualita Heat Martin
Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret Frustration Tainted Love Seedy Films Youth Sex Dwarf Entertain Me Chips on My Shoulder Bedsitter Secret Life Say Hello, Wave Goodbye Ghost Rider (Suicide cover) (with J.G. Thirlwell) Tainted Love / Where Did Our Love Go Memorabilia
