Culture Club review – Boy George puts his self-destruction behind him

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/oct/22/culture-club-review-boy-george-reunion

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The first time Culture Club played this basement nightclub, Smash Hits’ reviewer Neil Tennant didn’t see much of a future for them. They didn’t appear until 1am; moreover, he was unimpressed by the band’s “white, reggaeish rhythms”. Months later, in October 1982, the single Do You Really Want to Hurt Me? hit No 1 and Culture Club were on the way to becoming one of the most significant pop groups of the 80s.

Unequivocal warmth greets the reunited band tonight. This show, a warm-up for their first tour in 12 years, was an instant sell-out, and fans are celebratory. Despite a handwritten “Cash only” notice, the merchandise stand is doing a steady trade in £20 T-shirts, and a few fearless punters have recreated the spirit of 1982 with tinsel neckerchiefs and Hassidic hats. They’re a good deal flashier than the band themselves, for whom black T-shirts, and a sober black suit for Boy George, suffice.

“Somebody backstage just asked me my name, so there’s work to be done,” George says wryly after an opening funk-strut through Church of the Poison Mind. And that, you infer, is why the original quartet have not only regrouped but made a new album, to be released next year. With George well past his self-destructive stage – the Prince-esque new song Like I Used To promises: “I don’t do emotion like I used to” – he’s set on refreshing Culture Club. These throaty renditions of heritage tracks are counter-nostalgic: The War Song, interwoven with Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s Two Tribes, is reimagined as blistering funk; Karma Chameleon twangs far harder than the original.

“There are people who’ve been talking all the way through, so now is a good time for you to shut up,” is George’s introduction to Modern Science, which, like the other new tracks, cleaves to a warm funk template. Clearly, Culture Club matters to him again, and his passion makes you hope this reunion lasts a while.

• At SSE Hydro, Glasgow, on 1 December. Then touring.