The final-night of the 2010 Galway Arts Festival featured the third of the three nights of the Live At The Festival Big Top events with two of Sheffield’s finest in The Human League & Heaven 17 presenting an evening of Eighties Electronic Pop with by and large a step-back to past glories for each act with a lengthy selection of hit-singles featured within each of the bands sets which went down very-well with the 1.500 present on the banks of the city’s River Corrib.


As somewhat expected Heaven 17 where first to take to the stage itself, doing so at eight to an already sizable number in attendance for what turned out to be an interesting, varied and somewhat unpredictable set that lasted some seventy-minutes with the band itself opening their set with an early-classic in (We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang before leading into a selection of excellent hit-singles through out the set itself with Play To Win, Come Live With Me, Let Me Go & Crushed By the Wheels Of Industry intermixed with tracks taken from their debut-album Penthouse And Pavement in the likes of the equally excellent At The Height Of The Fighting, Geisha Boys And Temple Girls, Lets All Make A Bomb & We’re Going To Live For A Very Long Time that combined with the somewhat surprised inclusion of their version of the Glenn Campbell classic Wichita Lineman originally recorded as a Glenn Gregory solo-track on their first Music Of Quality And Distinction album with the band itself, and least not Gregory providing an excellent and almost haunting version that for me was the first-time to hear the actual track itself as believe it or not I don’t have a copy of the afore mentioned album its taken from!!, while with Gregory in a somewhat devious mood and still in possession of an acoustic guitar and to the surprise of one and all he launched into a short acoustic version of The Human League ’s Don’t You Want Me with the crowd itself joining it while it lasted with Gregory adding at the start of the track itself that I hope Philip is not here yet, while then in finishing the track asking the crowd to not too mention a word to Philip as the band itself where too add a second The Human League cover later in their set with an excellent version of another early-classic in Being Boiled, but, it was not all cover-versions as a new-track was added to their set with the more funk-driven and somewhat repetitive drive of I’m Going To Make You Love Me while somewhat predictably they finished their set with their biggest-hit in an overlong version of Temptation which allowed their backing-vocalists, and least not one Billie Godfrey to display the exceptional voice that she has before the track itself eventually followed into its more familiar direction for a live-version that in general I was never a fan of, not that I was ever over fond of the actual single itself too be honest, but, its big-finish had the audience firmly on their side at they departed the stage to return for their encore with the band covering live for the first-time their version of the Terence Trent Darby single Sign Your Name which as Gregory reliable inform us had not just been recently covered by the band itself during their BBC Radio 6 session with La Roux, but, was also a single that was originally produced by Martyn Ware, while for me Heaven 17 where excellent with a largely enjoyable performance that provided the perfect start to the evening itself.


Heaven 17 was then followed by a forty-minute break until the appearance of The Human League with an early 80’s Synth Pop set that included among others the prefect-pop of Depeche Mode, Kraftwerk, Landscape, OMD, Simple Minds, Soft Cell and the Thompson Twins along with the harsh, minimal edge of both Cabaret Voltaire’s Nag. Nag. Nag and The Normal’s Warm Leatherette sitting somewhat uneasily within the more radio-friendly tracks that helped keep the excellent atmosphere going until the lead-act appeared.

The Human League came on stage at around 9.50 with an ice cold white stage-set and instrumentation being somewhat in stark contrast to the warm and muggy night where thankfully a cool and fresh breeze from the River Corib situated at the back of the marquee itself made its presence felt therefore making the event itself all the more enjoyable for those in attendance as The Sound Of The Crowd opened a strong and solid set which lasted for around a hundred-minutes, but, one somewhat devoid of the unpredictably of that presented by Heaven 17 as The Human League likewise largely proceeded through their back-catalogue of hit-singles, from Tell Me When to the classic Dare favourites Love Action & Open Your Heart with each sounding as superb as-ever while briefly stepping-back to their early-days with Empire State Human before returning to Dare with another superb-version of Seconds that led into The Lebanon and a chance to step-back with Human before turning the tempo up again with the more recent single All I Ever Wanted before returning to Dare with the superb The Things That Dreams Are Made Of and leading into (Keep Feeling) Fascination with the majority of the band itself lined across the front of the stage and onto to Mirror Man and somewhat predictably completing their excellent set with the crowd favourite Don’t You Want Me which was not only loudly sung by the crowd during the actual song itself, but, also after the band had left the stage which clearly summed-up how much everyone had fully enjoyed this concert as the band returned for a two-track encore that began with for the second-time this-evening Being Boiled before completing their set and the evening with a rousing version of Electric Dreams which once again had the crowd singing along for what was a fantastic and very-entertaining evening, and above all one certainly to remember.