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Tuesday, April 1, 1997

CONCERT:

Diverse crowd demands challenging mix of old, new tunesBy Brian Remick

Daily Bruin Contributor

In the realm of electronic music, a concert is made or broken by the lead singer.

The Pet Shop Boys has the charisma of Neil Tennant; Depeche Mode has the energy of Dave Gahan. And Erasure has the indescribable spectacle of Andy Bell.

After almost five years since their last world tour, Bell and synth-master Vince Clarke returned to Hollywood at the American Legion Hall on Saturday to promote their latest album, "Cowboy," scheduled to be released April 22.

An extraordinarily diverse crowd packed into the American Legion Hall, consisting of left-over fans from the '80s who came to hear "Chains of Love" and hard-core fans who have kept up on Erasure's current material.

Clarke and Bell have released two albums since their last tour, the spacey "I Say, I Say, I Say," which brought with it "Always" and "Run to the Sun," their last significant singles, and an even more experimental eponymous release. Over the last five years their sound has evolved to a light techno style, and based on their current single from the new album, this trend appears to be continuing, which was bound to leave the older fans surprised and possibly disappointed.

Erasure, however, wisely didn't let that happen.

After an unbearable two-hour delay, Clarke and Bell took the stage clad in shiny vinyl suits. With the mere press of a button on his computer, the first notes of "In My Arms" made their appearance. Although the single has only been released on import, its catchy melody made it easily acceptable to the frustrated crowd.

"I don't know how many 'Cat in the Hat' fans are out there, but tonight we thought you could choose the songs," Bell said, revealing a deck of oversized playing cards. Almost with no exception, each card had the name of a song from their best-of album "Pop" from a few years ago. A lucky front-row fan chose "A Little Respect," and Erasure had arrived.

Bands like Erasure have a problem touring in that an individual show could easily last for hours given their choice of material. Older fans obviously wanted to hear the hits from the past decade, while others wanted material from their past two albums that they had never heard live before. The band itself, meanwhile, probably wants to play material from the unreleased new album.

Erasure left virtually no one disappointed. Tearing through the deck of cards immediately, the band sped through one of their earliest hits, "Sometimes," the Abba cover "Take a Chance on Me" and the immensely popular "Chains of Love," all the while letting fans choose which song would be next.

The problem with playing electronic music live is that, in a sense, it has already been played. All Vince Clarke did, besides the occasional guitar-strumming for songs like "Star," was hit a button on his synthesizer to start the music, and then watch as Bell made the song come to life. His role was almost trivial, even though he was essential to writing the music itself.

Andy Bell more than makes up for Clarke's lack of activity. His relentless dancing and facial expressions make him impossible not to watch, and his vocal abilities are incredibly dynamic.

Erasure did force a couple of newer songs on the audience, including an amazing "Rock Me Gently" from their eponymous album, as well as the well-received hit single "Always." Surprisingly, the only other song from "Cowboy" that appeared on the set list was "Rain," a slower-paced track that satisfied the hard-core Erasure fans eager for a taste of their new material.

The band came back on the stage for a single encore, playing more of their early hits like "Star." They left few songs unplayed from the "Pop" album, which was surprising considering the amount of new material left untouched.

Erasure's show on Saturday was their first stop in Los Angeles on the "Cowboy" tour. Their show in May at the Universal Ampitheatre will provide a much better audience for their new material.

While Vince Clarke's signature sound is still easily recognizable, it has evolved enough to keep Erasure one of the most consistently enjoyable bands in electronic music.

Andy Bell hasn't hurt either.

MUTE/ELEKTRA

Andy Bell (left) and Vince Clarke of Erasure played a mix of old and new hits at the American Legion Hall on Saturday.

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