OMD absolutely slays sold-out Anaheim show

Walking into the House of Blues in Anaheim on November 9th, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. It had been decades since I’d last seen Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark; the last time was back in 1988 at the Rose Bowl when they opened for Depeche Mode during the Concert for the Masses. I remembered them being good, but memories can be tricky things… especially when filtered through nearly 40 years of other concerts and experiences.

Let me cut right to it — OMD absolutely blew me away.

This wasn’t just a nostalgia trip or a competent run-through of the hits by a band coasting on their legacy; this was one of the best live shows I’ve seen in years — and I go to a lot of concerts. I’m talking top 10 material here, which is not something I say lightly.

Before OMD took the stage, the Southern California-based opener Midway set a strong tone for the evening with solid original material and a particularly sharp cover of The Smiths’ “This Charming Man” that had people singing along. It’s always a pleasant surprise when the opener does their job well and Midway definitely earned their spot on this bill.

But once OMD hit the stage, it became clear this was going to be something special. Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys have aged, sure — we all have — but whatever magic they had back in the 80s hasn’t diminished one bit. If anything, it’s more refined, more confident. These guys know exactly who they are and what they do well, and they’re completely comfortable in that space.

The visual production was excellent without being overwhelming.

The lighting design and video screen work complemented the music perfectly, creating an atmosphere without distracting from the performance itself. It was the kind of thoughtful staging that enhances the experience rather than trying to carry it.

But, really, this show lived and died on the strength of the music and the performance, and OMD delivered on both counts. The 100-minute set touched on everything you’d want: the hits that had us dancing at clubs like Florentine Gardens back in the day, plus some deeper cuts for true fans only. From “Isotype” to kick things off through classics like “Enola Gay”, “If You Leave”, “Tesla Girls”, and “So in Love”, they hit all the marks.

What really made this show work, though, was the energy and genuine enthusiasm radiating from the stage. Andy McCluskey, in particular, performed like a man half his age. From the moment he walked out, he was moving, dancing, engaging with the crowd, and he never let up. There’s something infectious about watching someone who clearly still loves what they do and Andy’s energy spread through the entire venue. Multiple times during the night, he had the mostly 50+-something sold-out crowd jumping up and down hard enough to literally shake the floor of the House of Blues.

I’ve been to plenty of shows at this venue and I can’t remember the last time I felt that floor move like that — especially not for an 80s act.

One of my favorite moments came when Andy talked about working with John Hughes on “If You Leave” for Pretty in Pink, though he humbly just referred to it as “the movie”. The story about getting the last-minute call from Hughes, rushing to write and record the song after reading the script, and having to master it in jus days really drove home how much had to go right for that iconic track to exist. It’s one thing to hear a beloved song; it’s another to understand the circumstances that created it.

There was also a great moment when Andy revealed that Paul had just become a father again at 65, which led to some good-natured ribbing about who would need diapers more — Paul or the baby. Paul, for his part, was equally locked in, handling the musical heavy-lifting with precision. When you’re dealing with synth-pop, the performance has to be tight; there’s nowhere to hide when your sound is this clean and electronic.

Paul and the band nailed it.

The encore closed with “Electricity” and it felt like the perfect way to end the night. Looking around at the crowd singing along, dancing, genuinely engaged and happy, I realized this was one of those shows where everything just clicks. The band was on, the crowd was into it, and that feedback loop of energy between stage and audience built into something really special.

Photography by Shane Pase

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