It was supposed to be just another night in the City of Angels; it turned out to be anything but! With a lot of weirdness happening in L.A. this past week, the celestial sonic renderings that was about to take place was very welcomed as the Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (“OMD”) Bauhaus Staircase Tour was about to land at The Greek.
The Greek is a landmark that is worthy of the description it has been given, “iconic.” As you drive up the hillside to get to The Greek you roll up to a breathtaking view of the rolling hillside above the entrance creating an atmosphere of indulgence at Mount Olympus.
I got there early, and it’s a good thing because there was a crazy long line out front to get in. This show was a re-scheduled one, it was night two of OMD at the Greek on June 21st.
THE GREEK
Los Angeles, California
June 21st, 2025
The crowd was diverse, every age group was accounted for, and what really surprised me was the number of twenty-something year olds standing in line to see OMD.
Admittedly and to my embarrassment, I was not as familiar with the opener as I should have been. Luckily the crowd had a nice mix of fans that knew Walt Disco.
The Scottish glam / post-punk inspired band definitely had a positive impact on the early birds. Hailing from Glasgow, lead singer James Potter brought a theatrical feel to their set. Combine a vocal range that captures the vocal essence of Malcolm McLaren, Stan Ridgeway and David Bowie, Potter made fans and believers that night.
Being an opener, their setlist was short, but it captured it good part of their music catalog. Opening with “to the moon,” and “My Body Knows When to Run,” Potter welcomed everyone to the show and joked about the Scottish ancestry booth out front.
Other songs that garnered a great response were “drag queen,” “I Won’t Forget You,” “I’ve Been Trying,” “Coupe de Fourde,” and “Don’t do This Alone.” Before they could vacate the stage, they closed to “My Body’s Still Mine,” and the now near capacity venue gave them a big cheer!
It was amazing how quickly the road crew was able to covert the stage to heaven on earth as the divine renderings of this iconic ‘80s synth-pop was about to take place. The opening video prepped the crowd for what was coming, it popped!
Despite forming in 1978, these Englishmen still have a pep in their step and genuinely appear to be very happy to be on stage performing for their loyal fanbase.
Opening with new music off Bauhaus Staircase, Andy McCluskey launched their openning spng to “Anthropocene.” That was an electric moment showcased by the aforementioned video element behind the band.
Immediately they segued into “Messages,” and then McCluskey welcomed everyone officially to the show.
There were no Elon Musk jokes this time around, but there was a John Huges reference thatmade veryone go bonkers. McCluskey laughed and said, “no, not that movie,” and launched into “Tesla Girls,” off the soundtrack to “Weird Science.”
The setlist was very well balanced – newer songs “Kleptocracy,” and “History of Moden (Part 1) sounded great! But, the classics – that’s what drove the crowd nuts.
As he does, out came Paul Humphries from behind the keys to sing “(Forever) Live and Die.”
From there, the hit parade took off – first to the John Huges film everyone lost their minds over, “If You Leave” from “Pretty in Pink.” Some people literally lost their sh*t over that song; men and women alike singing along to every word and some of them were in tears.
With the sun now behind the mountain range and the moon looking over the Greek, other songs “Souvenir,” and “Joan of Arc,” sounded fantastic. McCluskey and Humphries bantered back and forth entertaining concertgoers with their mini-standup routine.
Other newer songs included “Verushka,” and “Don’t Go,” while “Pandora’s Box” and “So in Love” took us back in time.
McCluskey encouraged everyone to dance with him as he amped up his energy for “Dreaming,” “Locomotion,” ” Sailing the Seven Seas,” and a clever lead into “Enola Gay.” That was supposed to be the end of the show, but everyone knew better.
The band came back for their encore to the crowd’s delight and closed with “Look at You Now,” and then brought the house down with “Secret” and then their uber-hit, “Electricity.”
OMD ended on a very high note with an energy and sincerity that captured the hearts and souls of the newcomers while solidifying admiration from their fans for the decades magic they bring to the stage.
That being said, there are bands that are part of music history, and then… there are bands that are music history. OMD is the latter of the two.
I highly recommend you go out and see them whenever they play at a venue near you.
For the locals, OMD will be back in Orange County later this year. You can catch them at the House of Blues in Anaheim on November 9th; tickets are now available for that show.
