Live – Midge Ure at Theatre Royal Brighton

Midge Ure at Theatre Royal Brighton, 27th April 2023

Amid the splendour of early 1800’s architecture and a haze of monochrome lighting and smoke, Midge Ure takes to the stage with excerpts from an extraordinary collection of songs spanning his solo career, time with Ultravox, and more besides.

There is a point in all artists’ careers when their live sets tend to start with an established track, cover some lesser know tunes in the middle, and aim for a strong singalong finish. In case of any doubt, it becomes apparent immediately that there is no need for any such planning here – within the first four songs he has treated the crowd to 80s’ classics Dear God and If I Was, Visage’s beautifully melancholic Fade To Grey and his suitably emotional cover of No Regrets.

Throughout the performance, Midge and his band veer seamlessly from moody and magnificent to no questions asked dance-alongs. His vocal is still impeccable, and the range of musical instruments appearing across the stage is impressive to say the least. The Voice and Visions tour is more than a greatest hits outing, feeling more like personal pickings from a vast, eclectic song book. And the strong finish? No concerns there as the encore takes in Astradyne, Vienna and All Stood Still.

There are some ‘one man and his guitar’ moments where it becomes obvious why, despite perhaps being best known amongst the electronic scene, it absolutely makes sense that Midge was drafted in to weave his magic with Rich Kids and Thin Lizzy on his musical journey. And when you take a moment to reflect, there’s no doubting that whichever project he was involved in at the time, the common factor is that he added something special to all of them.

Following a distinguished performance in the most elegant of venues at Brighton’s Theatre Royal, the tour now moves on to Ipswich tonight, Aylesbury tomorrow, York on Sunday, then across the UK throughout May. If you’re still able to grab a ticket, it comes highly recommended.