BBC 6Music – ➢➢ Shapers of the 80s ➣➣ (original) (raw)

Spandau Ballet, film, Soul Boys of The Western World, pop music, George Hencken, SXSW, premiere,reunion,

Director of the Spandau movie, George Hencken, tweets: “No better way to spend Wednesday afternoon than watching @SpandauBallet in rehearsal. Texas here we come!”

❚ REUNITED FOR THE FIRST TIME in three years, the five men who fronted the New Romantic sounds of 1980 started rehearsals this week. Spandau Ballet were gearing up for their return to the live stage in the US on March 12 as part of the promotion for the biopic about their rise, Soul Boys of The Western World, which is being premiered at the SXSW Festival in Texas.

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Spandau Ballet, film, Soul Boys of The Western World, pop music, George Hencken, SXSW, premiere,reunion

Lauren Kemp’s snap of Tony Hadley

Another snap by film director George Hencken

Another snap by film director George Hencken

Spandau Ballet, film, Soul Boys of The Western World, pop music, George Hencken, SXSW, premiere,reunion, John Keeble

John Keeble: “My Paiste”

Spandau Ballet, film, Soul Boys of The Western World, pop music, George Hencken, SXSW, premiere,reunion, John Keeble

John Keeble: “My office”

Spandau Ballet, film, Soul Boys of The Western World, pop music, George Hencken, SXSW, premiere,reunion

Only When You Leave: Big Tone back in front

Spandau Ballet, film, Soul Boys of The Western World, pop music, George Hencken, SXSW, premiere,reunion

Steve Norman back on guitar, Gary Kemp leading

Spandau Ballet, film, Soul Boys of The Western World, pop music, George Hencken, SXSW, premiere,reunion, Tony Hadley, Gary Kemp

Martin Kemp’s insta-vid of Gary and Tony

Martin Kemp – What an amazing way to spend a day! SpandauBallet rehearsal room was rocking today!

George Hencken as Henckenstein – First time I’ve been in a room with all the boys together. I can’t lie. It was emotional.

John Keeble – My irreplaceable Paiste 3000 24″ Ride. Over a quarter of a Century of Grooves!

Steve Norman – Another fab day at the office.

Gary Kemp – Looking forward to playing in the Lou Reed tribute concert on 14th March in @sxsw. Spandau delivering a peach from Transformer.

SPOT THE LEITMOTIF… ‘REDEMPTION’

Spandau Ballet, film, Soul Boys of The Western World, pop music, SXSW, premiere,reunion,BBC 6Music, interview, Matt Everitt

News hound Matt Everitt interviewing Spandau in rehearsals last Monday – “Such great hair going on in that photo”. (Where’s Big Tone? Hadders was unwell that day)

➢ Listen to this morning’s Spandau feature on BBC 6Music – Matt Everitt interviews band members on their return to the live stage (scroll forward to 1h 44m)

Songwriter Gary Kemp on the documentary film: “It’s warts and all. There are some tough bits because we went through a smash-up, and that’s all there on the screen. But there’s also redemption.”

Drummer John Keeble: “It’s very honest and very difficult. Life comes at you. There was no point in telling the story and airbrushing it. We grew up together, we explored the world together and we fell out – badly. It’s about redemption.”

What next, Martin? “We’ll see! There’s a couple of surprises along the way, coming up.”

redemption / rɪˈdɛm(p)ʃ(ə)n: “The action of saving or being saved from sin”

➢ Previously at Shapersofthe80s: Spandau confirms one-off live reunion gig in Texas – for a tiny elite!

➢ Previously at Shapersofthe80s: Video gems unearthed by the Spandau Ballet movie Soul Boys of The Western World

Spandau Ballet, film, Soul Boys of The Western World, pop music, George Hencken, SXSW, premiere,reunion, John Keeble

Rock god and his gong: John Keeble twit-picced by sax man Steve Norman

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