REVIEW: Belinda Carlisle York Barbican, February 20, 2023

Words and photos by Dave Lawrence

BELINDA Carlisle’s career took off in the late Seventies after becoming lead singer with The Go-Go’s, the group who surfed high during the new-wave genre

before going on to become the most successful all-girl rock band of all time.

The band broke up in 1985 with the various members pursuing their own projects. Carlisle however possessed that remarkable vibrato voice and duly went on to have a string of classic radio hits and the most commercial success.

Covid robbed UK fans of the chance to see a reformed Go-Go’s last year when plans for them to support Billy Idol fell through after his tour was rescheduled.

Happily, her own solo tour ‘Decades’ – itself delayed – arrived in the UK earlier this month and this week visited York.

Dressed in black top and shimmery skirt Carlisle – an astonishingly youthful 64 – took to the Barbican’s stage opening with (We Want) The Same Thing.

Belinda wowed crowds at York Barbican - photo by Dave Lawrence

Her appearance and graceful movements as she danced barefoot around the stage meant you could have been forgiven for believing she had just stepped straight out of one of her 80s' glossy pop videos. 

Her slick, but low key five-piece band were note perfect throughout as Carlisle delivered a multitude of feel-good hits that were polished to perfection and couldn’t help but send many in the audience directly back to their youth.

Indeed, most them spent the entire 90-minute on their feet happily dancing throughout her set.

In Too Deep, I Get Weak, Leave A Light On and Circle In The Sand, were received rapturously and demonstrated that Carlisle’s vocals were in excellent shape.

A lovely, sultry version of La Luna conjured up images of holiday romance and warm summer nights and when introducing Deep Deep Ocean she spoke of some of the artists she’d worked with, including George Harrison who played guitar on the recorded version of the song.

The loudest reception of the evening though was reserved for Heaven Is A Place on Earth which topped the singles charts on both sides of the Atlantic and brought the main set to a rousing close.

With the Decades tour celebrating 35 years of Carlisle’s solo career sadly there was little room for Go-Go’s material, the exception being Our Lips Are Sealed, a track co-written by the late Terry Hall and Go-Go’s guitarist Jane Wiedlin and which was a hit for both the Fun Boy Three and The Go-Go’s.

Support act - The Christians. Photo by Dave Lawrence

Returning for encores of Runaway Horses, Big Scary Animal and Live Your Life Carlisle left the audience delighted with the performance.

Recently, Carlisle recalled playing a show in the Midlands around 20 years ago when the audience was so sparse, she could literally count them.

To be now playing sold-out shows across the country demonstrates a remarkable career turnaround.

The Christians provided a fine opening set of songs that included Words, Ideal World, Hooverville and Harvest for the World. Garry Christian’s voice is still as smooth and soulful as when the band first broke on the scene in 1987 and it warmed us up for the main act in fine style.