A bit late on this one, but I couldn’t let it pass. Of course I was going to go and see the film and I expected to be dazzled to see the seminal catwalk shows on the big screen. What I didn’t expect was just how brilliant, immersive and emotional the whole (almost) 2 hours would be. The footage from the Highland Rape, Voss and the Spring 1999 No 13 show are stunning. Kate Moss as a hologram, Plato’s Atlantis. I want to watch it again, right now.
Such a fierce talent.
On Tuesday we went to the film premier of Soul Boys of the Western World at the Royal Albert Hall. The film is the story of Spandau Ballet.
I loved a bit of 80’s pop, but I wasn’t a big Spandau fan. However, after watching the film you couldn’t help but warm to them, and I hadn’t realised quite how cool and ‘in the moment’ they were at the beginning. The early footage of Billy’s and The Blitz was brilliant, as were the fashions and the faces. Spandau were flamboyant, but you got the sense they were also just five down-to-earth Islington boys. They weren’t a political band, but it did help to have the context of late-70’s and early/mid-80’s backdrop through some of the footage. Looking back on that time was brilliant and very nostalgic.
The film, directed by George Hencken, is constructed entirely of found footage, with a wonderful storytelling narrative overlaid from interviews with the band. The fact it was audio only and didn’t feature talking heads meant the story didn’t get interrupted and it became totally absorbing. The band recorded all of their parts separately, and I suspect the film left out a lot of the worst excesses, though Martin Kemp’s assertion that it was all ‘vodka and cheese sandwiches’ made me laugh. At it’s heart it feels like the story of a friendship, with a bunch of lads that just happened to go on to become internationally famous pop stars. Which is why the acrimonious split and subsequent court case was so poignant. There was a quote (I think it was John Keeble who said it) that went something like ‘everyone’s lives were getting in the way of the band. People were having to leave early because they were having a sofa delivered.’ It seems everyone knew that the band were falling apart during the recording of the Heart Like A Sky album.
I think the film really works because the band weren’t involved in the edit and none of the audio was recorded with them together. So it has an honesty that you probably wouldn’t have got if they’d have directed or produced it. Some of the footage really took me back – the recording of Band Aid, the Live Aid concert, various TV appearances – and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Following the showing of the film, there was a 20 minute Q&A with the director and band and a short, hit-heavy set from Spandau. It was really, unexpectedly, good and a lot of fun.