Who would have known that a Sunday evening, in the grounds of Cardiff Castle would have delivered one of the best gigs in the ‘TK Maxx Presents Depot Live‘ season. It’s not that the others haven’t been great, because believe me, they have. But when a packed crowd gathered for a nostalgic night of 80s classics, something very special happened.
Out headline act was THE HUMAN LEAGUE, one of the bands who really shaped the sound of the 80s with their pop/rock/synthesised blend of catchy and yet carefully crafted songs which made us think as well as sing. But the tone of the evening was set long before ‘The League‘ took to the stage.
As the Castle grounds filled, the all too familiar voice of Neil Arthur and his band BLANCMANGE filled the early evening air and as familiar song followed very familiar song, it wasn’t long before we were all singing and reliving our 80s days. By the time they got to ‘Living on the Ceiling‘ I just knew this was going to be a special night.
We were blessed with two supports acts last night, the second being the THOMPSON TWINS’ TOM BAILEY.
For those of us of a certain age we remember just how big a deal they were back in the day and in fact were one of the main acts on the American side of Live Aid in 1985. Check out YouTube to see them performing the Beatles classic Revolution with backing from Nile Rodgers, Steve Stevens and Madonna.
But this was Cardiff and with a catalogue of sing-a-long hits, that’s exactly what we did, as you can see below.
With our voices well and truly warmed up the hyper-excited crowd waited for the arrival of our headline act.
I always like to take a walk around the crowd at this point to see just who has come along to the show. Unsurprisingly there was men and women of a certain age revelling in the memories of ‘better days‘ of music as they frequently told me. There was also a massive younger crowd too who seemed to know every song and lyric and were enthusiastically dancing along to these classic hits.
PHIL OAKEY, along with his long-standing singers JOANNE CATHERALL and SUSAN SULLEY arrived on stage, with a huge cheer from the Cardiff crowd. Five minutes in and they showed us we weren’t only here for a night of nostalgia but a gig filled with songs which remain relevant today and yet had the ability to take us back to times when radio and MTV was king and The Human League sat atop the throne.
I remember my sisters really being into the band but particularly Joanne and Susan. There is something about their ‘girl next door’ vibe which captured many a girls imagination back then. In fact the three women stood next to me had a long debate about how good they’d look in Jo’s dress. The years may have passed but times never really change.
The set wasn’t packed with lots of new songs but was rammed with classics, which at times felt like my favourite ‘Singles & Remixes‘ CD, (praise not criticism by the way).
The took us through tracks from some of our favourite albums, including ‘Dare‘ and ‘Hysteria‘ and each and every one of them brought a ‘I love this song‘ from various members of the audience, including the 18 year old girl behind me who knew every word to every song, putting us all to shame.
The band may be 40 years on from the crazy days of number one singles and regular TV appearances but they haven’t lost a beat of the power they always had. Phil delivered faultless vocals and gave the most enthusiastic performance for a man knocking on the door of 70. As for Jo and Susan, they still had the girl next door vibe but were clearly loving the reaction from the Cardiff crowd. They didn’t stop smiling through the entire set.
It’s difficult to pick out highlights as each song took us back to a moment in time to our formative years. I do have a special place however for ‘Mirror Man‘, ‘Louise‘, ‘(Keep Feeling) Fascination‘ and of course ‘Don’t You Want Me‘, which sent us into into vocal overdrive.
But for me, the highlight always has to be ‘Together in Electric Dreams‘. Not strictly a Human League song, but I remember exactly where I was when I first heard it in 1984, and musical memories are a very powerful thing.
With more great gigs to come over the next few weeks at Cardiff Castle, all of which we’re looking forward to, I just know this one is going to stay with me and the crowd for a long time to come.
More details HERE.
TK MAXX PRESENTS DEPOT LIVE AT CARDIFF CASTLE 2025
JUL 10 – JAMES + SHED SEVEN + JAMIE WEBSTER
JUL 13 – RAG’N’BONE MAN + ELLES BAILEY
JUL 19 – ROCK THE CASTLE – FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND, THE BLACKOUT, PUNK ROCK FACTORY + MORE
JUL 20 – UB40 FT. ALI CAMPBELL + BITTY MCLEAN + REGGAE ROAST FT. MR WILLIAMZ
JUL 26 – DEPOT IN THE CASTLE – JESS GLYNNE + MAXIMO PARK + SIGMA + KATE NASH + PROFESSOR GREEN + GLC + BLUE DOLPHIN WRANGLERS
JUL 30 – FONTAINES DC + KAE TEMPEST + HIGH VIS
JUL 31 – PET SHOP BOYS + DAVE PEARCE
AUG 1 – FAITHLESS + KOSHEEN + CHICANE
AUG 20 – TOM JONES + STONE FOUNDATION
AUG 21 – TOM JONES + STONE FOUNDATION
AUG 24 – BASEMENT JAXX + EZRA COLLECTIVE + EATS EVERYTHING
AUG 25 – WILL SMITH + NILE RODGERS & CHIC
