Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark today announced details of two concerts and a book marking the band’s fortieth anniversary later this year.
Formed in the Wirral, Merseyside in 1978, the duo of Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphries released its first single Electricty on the influential Factory label, before beginning a run of commercial success throughout the 1980s with hits such as Enola Gay, Souvenir, Joan of Arc, Locomotion and (Forever) Live and Die. When the band split at the end of the decade McCluskey continued to use the OMD name for a further string of 1990s hits including Sailing on the Seven Seas, Pandora’s Box and Dream of Me. The original line-up reformed for concerts in 2006 and has since released three new albums: History of Modern, English Electric and The Punishment of Luxury, the latter achieving a top five chart position in 2017.
The two 40th anniversary concerts, due to take place at Liverpool’s Philharmonic Hall on October 6 and 7, will team McCluskey and Humphreys with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. The shows promise some of OMD’s “large scale ambient tracks” such as Stanlow, Sealand and Ghost Star as well as songs from The Punishment of Luxury, classic hits, rare B-sides and songs that have never been played live before, including a new instrumental piece entitled And Then She Saw The Minotaur from an as-yet unreleased film soundtrack. Tickets for the shows go on sale this Thursday, February 22.
In addition, the band is inviting submissions from fans for a new book, provisionally entitled Pretending to See the Future, to be published later in 2018. The book promises to “tell the story of OMD from the band’s beginnings to the recent The Punishment of Luxury Tour.” Fan contributions – including stories, photos or scans of ticket stubs or other OMD memorabilia – can be sent to omdbook@gmail.com for potential inclusion in the book.
