Go West (8/4/25, London Palladium, London, England, UK)

I almost bailed on seeing Go West at the London Palladium, two Thursdays ago, partly on account of one of the vocalists, Richard Drummie, having to sit out proceedings due to illness
Almost.

In the end, I’m glad I didn’t.

Johnny Hate Jazz put on a nice little support set, standouts being ‘Don’t Say It’s Love’ and, of course, their highest-profile single ‘Shattered Dreams’. Nice work from Clark Datchler and co.

As for Go West, they, too, put out a strong set, aided by the Southbank Sinfonia orchestra, not suffering too much for Richard’s absence. Peter Cox and co did bangers such as ‘Don’t Look Down’, ‘Faithful’, ‘Call Me’, ‘King of Wishful Thinking’, and their most prominent single, and my personal money shot of the night, ‘We Close Our Eyes’ more than adequate justice. The presence of Kelly Barnes, who I usually see on stage as part of  Heaven 17, on backing vocals was a nice little personal touch.

So, yeah, a top show despite the absence of a key member, not to mention the absence of two of my favourite first-album deep cuts, ‘Haunted’ and ‘Innocence’. Perhaps this would’ve been even better with a full playthough of said album, given it’s its 40th anniversary and all.

~MRDA~