Boy George & Squeeze entertain all at the OC Fair

On August 21st, Squeeze and Boy George headlined at the Pacific Amphitheatre as part of the OC Fair Concert Series for 2024 — hosted by none other than renowned KROQ radio deejay, Richard Blade. It was great seeing Richard interacting with fans in the crowd and the interesting 80s music facts about the bands he said over the mic as he deejayed to the early crowd.

Squeeze, one of the early pioneers of New Wave in the 1970s, hit the stage first.

The band got everyone moving and singing along to all the favorites, with hits like “Pulling Muscles”, “Tempted”, “Goodbye Girl”, and “Black Coffee in Bed”. It’s been a while since I’ve had the opportunity to cover Squeeze and I’m really glad I got the chance to again!!

Headlining the night was Boy George, another 80s icon in the early New Wave-meets-pop movement from England. He had such a great personality, joking and talking between songs looking as glam as ever with an oversized blue bowler hat and a deconstructed suit. He did a duet with backup singer Nathalie Palmer of his eternal classic, “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me”, as well as covers like Bronski Beat’s “Smalltown Boy” and Prince’s “Purple Rain”. Boy George closed out the night with “Karma Chameleon” — simply epic.

Photography by Sean McCracken

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