Alnwick Playhouse 17 October 2025

Earlier this year I was on BBC Radio 4’s You and Yours consumer programme.. There was a feature on live music and how there was a trend towards “residencies”. No tour, several nights at Wembley, maybe a couple more at Manchester arena and somewhere else if you are lucky. If you live in the north east corner of England like me, that involves travelling long distances (don’t get me started about using trains if you are disabled), hotel stays, food, drink (and huge ticket prices: let’s not forget the Oasis dynamic pricing debacle). Coldplay said they were being green and reducing the tour carbon footprint. but I’d really like to know about the the environmental impact of large numbers of fans travelling the length of the country, with associated fossil fuel emissions, junk food consumption etc etc etc. and if this was taken into account. Show me the maths!

I’m used to travelling to Newcastle and, on occasion a bit further, to see the 80’s bands I love (and in my own small way these days, contributing to their pension plans!). What an absolute delight it was to discover that China Crisis were appearing at my local arts venue, just 10 minutes away from where I live. Did I go? Well, it would be rude not to.

Alnwick Playhouse had a major refurbishment a few years ago and it now houses a library, cafe, exhibition space, as well as a nice auditorium. I have very happy memories of drama and musical productions staged there that involved my children when they were in high school. There is parking nearby (behind the Playhouse), ramped access to the front of the building, a lift to other floors and level access to accessible seating, to either wheelchair spaces or seats to transfer into (which would require a walking aid, scooter etc to be left in the corridor immediately outside the hall to avoid blocking access) – staff were really helpful too, both front of house and at the box office. Full details of accessibility can be found here.

So here I was, with the friends who gave me the heads-up about the gig, sat on the front row – basically on the stage. From our vantage point at stage level this was always going to be the most intimate of gigs. It felt like being in someone’s living room – for the band, it was pointed out later, it felt more like a lecture theatre. and (sadly) only around half full.

Back in the eighties when bands like Duran Duran and Culture Club ruled the charts and the headlines, China Crisis were denied the massive success of some of their contemporaries. They wove together complex rhythms and harmonies with often political lyrics: a much softer approach than the aggressive political punk music that was around at the time, but it has given them a timeless quality. No wonder, when they cite the Beatles and Steely Dan as influences from further back, later working in close collaboration with Steely Dan’s Walter Becker.

China Crisis original band members Gary Daly and Eddie Lundon are now joined by Jack Hymers on keys and Eric Animan on sax. Daly commands the stage and takes on the role of MC for the evening.

He’s a great raconteur, talking us through the set with anecdotes from childhood days in Kirkby, Merseyside, where he and Eddie grew up, both children of large families, meeting as schoolboys, arriving in London aged 19, and becoming an established part of the music scene. Eddie Lundon’s guitar playing is heartfelt. He inhabits the music and shares vocals with Daly .

Together they bring beautiful harmonies, wistful chords that would stand alone but with Hymers adding the layers of keys and drum tracks they create perfect pop songs, embellished with Animan’s sax solos “that would get a standing ovation at Ronnie Scott’s”.

The new boys have some cool kit too. Jack Hymer’s expanding rack of keyboards and electronic wizardry includes what looks to be a bit of a balancing act – but it’s kept together with velcro. Jack knows his stuff.

As well as that gorgeous saxophone, Eric Animan plays what appears to be entire woodwind and brass sections combined in a single instrument that resembles a giant silver banana. It even has a bagpipes setting .(more of that later). I’m fascinated.

They open with The Souls Awakening and Here Comes A Raincloud. “What were we thinking? It’s Friday night!” quips Daly (not the cheeriest of songs) . We are reassured that the hits will be played, that there will be an interval to recharge our glasses and even a chance to get up and dance for two or even three songs if we have the energy for that.

Daly is hilariously funny – it’s not just a monologue of name-dropping (ok there’s some of that). There’s some great banter with the audience too. He requests the house light to be turned up a bit so he can see us. It turns out that he’s brought the family to Alnwick on holiday in the past and knows and loves the area, but hates the pronunciation – the silent “L” in Alnwick (which always catches visitors out. To be fair that’s one of easier ones. I wonder if he’s been to nearby Eshottheugh – that’s more tricky!)

The second half opens with African and White, their breakthrough track, followed by Arizona Sky. (a favourite of mine – we get to join in with that one). Best Kept Secret, Black Man Ray, the beautiful Wishful Thinking, King in a Catholic Style (I think we are up and dancing at this point).

The banter with the audience continues. Daly spots a man in the audience with a passing resemblance to Midge Ure. (turning red with embarrassment as the audience peers to see if it’s really him). It’s all good natured though. Daly wonders if China Crisis could have had a Christmas No 1 if they’d added bagpipes and a marching band to one of their songs. It this point Eric finds the bagpipe setting on the orchestral banana – and yes, it really does sound like bagpipes! (NB Midge -the real one, and his band Ultravox were responsible for iconic 80’s song Vienna, denied the coveted Christmas No 1 spot by Paul McCartney’s Mull of Kintyre – with bagpipes a plenty. It was considered a travesty at the time)

The audience may not be huge, but it’s appreciative… and we are all invited to join the band in the pub over the road, where coincidentally it’s karaoke night. Also to say hello if seen in Barter Books the following morning (for a planned bacon butty before travelling). The set finishes with Tragedy and Mystery, then the ethereal Christian.

An encore is demanded (we are all having such a great night and want more). It seemed in doubt for a while and the Front of House staff looked confused, But then CC were back on stage to play Sweet Delight. Daly explained how this was a love song he wrote for his wife and he dedicated it to all the women in the audience (because men mess things up with bombs and violence and the world would be a better place if women ran things). It was beautiful and Daly connected with the audience in a way I’d never seen done before. As he sang Sweet Delight, he indicated and acknowledged in turn every woman in the audience. It wasn’t creepy, it was respectful and rather lovely…

….you don’t get that at Wembley Arena.