Tony Hadley – Powerstation: March 6, 2026 (13th Floor Concert Review)
TONY HADLEY brought his band along to charm loyal fans in Auckland last night, mixing showmanship with a selection of Spandau Ballet classics. The 13th Floor’s Carin Newbould was there to witness him wow-ing the crowds, with Leonie Moreland shooting the action.
TONY HADLEY – smooth, suave, solid, solo… well, with an awesome five piece band behind him. On this trip to The Powerstation – his first return to NZ since 2014/15, by his reckoning – he brought plenty of Spandau Ballet classics along for the ride, if not his former bandmates.
Since somewhat acrimoniously leaving the British New-Romantic chart-toppers in 2017 (after a couple of previous bust-ups and court cases), Hadley has forged his own path, releasing a number of solo albums – most recently last year’s If I Can Dream, covering classic tracks from the Sixties onwards. His voice is mighty enough to carry the standards and do them justice – whilst not on the album, he opens with Anthony Newley’s Feeling Good, seated and self-assured. Dressed in a suit, shirt and pulling off a natty cravat, Hadley could be dressed for a Vegas residency rather than a steamy venue in central Auckland, ahead of a couple of festival dates, other city gigs and an Australian tour.
Nina Simone he ain’t, but the crowd lapped it up. Hadley qualifies for his Gold Card (just), and it’s fair to say that there are a lot of Gold Card-holders in the audience tonight, reliving the Eighties through songs lodged deep in their psyches. There’s an enthusiastic response to the pacy ditties To Cut A Long Story Short and Highly Strung (although accompanied by somewhat dodgy references to women’s mental health). There’s so much familiar material here, taking us back to the days when Spandau were never off the radio – and clearly they’re still a True fixture on the playlists of Gold stations. Everyone knows the words and sings along, other than to the new material Hadley introduces. Alibi has a Sixties vibe, reminiscent of a Bond theme, whilst Turn Me On is introduced as “old style rock’n’roll”, but is actually pretty slow and ponderous. Hadley seems relieved to successfully get through it, having warned that the band had “only rehearsed it a couple of times today” and it’d be OK “if I remember the lyrics”. It wouldn’t really matter if he didn’t, as nobody else knew them, unlike the Spandau classics – etched word-for-word into the nether regions of our aging brains. We may not remember what we were fetching from the next room, but will never forget epic (?) lyrics including These are my salad days/ Slowly being eaten away/ Just another play for today. What do they mean? Does it matter? No! We may be old, but we’re indestructible, reminded so by a persistent earworm since 1983.
Hadley reverted to full crooner mode for I’ll Fly For You and sat down for “my favourite Spandau Ballet song” Through The Barricades, raising a glass of Jack Daniels in a toast “to peace”. The current troubles of the world seemed far from the venue tonight though, as clearly merry punters swayed and (rather unsteadily) bopped their way through a Spandau-heavy programme. The energy level was raised with a rendition of Queen’s Somebody To Love, which followed an anecdote about our Tone schmoozing with Freddie Mercury and the two of them getting pissed on a bottle of port in 1984. The crowd hung on his every word and lapped it up, groovin’ away to the funky and upbeat vibes of Chant No. 1 and Lifeline.
Hadley seemed to be having a fine old time with his five piece band, laughing, joking and hugging them. The lead guitarist pulled his weight, with impressive solos in Round and Round, Through The Barricades, Somebody To Love and taking on the famous sax interlude in True. There was a Hammond organ style keyboard solo in Chant No. 1, interrupting the crowd’s chanting of “I don’t need this pressure on.”
Tony showed no signs of pressure at all and seemed to be having a whale of a time, frequently thanking the audience for showing up, telling us how much he loves coming to “this part of the world” and commending us on our participation – “you guys sing good!” No question, he definitely sings good – you can’t fault his pipes, his showmanship or his humour. They lapped him up, even before reaching the inevitable big hitters which closed the night. Hadley introduced True by telling the audience that it was “that time, if you fancy a bit of a snog” (thankfully, I didn’t witness any geriatric school-disco smooching around me) and pre-empted the finale with a wink and “you know what song we’re gonna do!”.
Obviously, it was Gold… probably the one word review a lot of those leaving the venue at a “past our bedtime” hour would use to sum up their big night out reliving their youth. The Soul Boy done good. Cheers, Tone.
Carin Newbould
Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Leonie Moreland/Red Raven
Tony Hadley:
Jan Hellriegel:
Tony Hadley plays Selwyn Sounds, Christchurch and Hutt Sounds at Brewtown on March 8th, before his Australian dates. Tickets for Hutt Sounds available from www.huttsounds.co.nz
SETLIST
- Feeling Good (Anthony Newley cover)
- To Cut A Long Story Short (Spandau Ballet)
- Highly Strung (Spandau Ballet)
- Only When You Leave (Spandau Ballet)
- I’ll Fly For You (Spandau Ballet)
- Alibi
- Round and Round (Spandau Ballet)
- Turn Me On
- Soul Boy (Spandau Ballet)
- Through The Barricades (Spandau Ballet)
- Somebody To Love (Queen cover)
- Walk of Shame
- Chant No. 1 (Spandau Ballet)
- Lifeline (Spandau Ballet)
- Mad About You
- True (Spandau Ballet)
- Gold (Spandau Ballet)
