In all my years in Las Vegas, only twice have concerts for which I’ve held tickets been cancelled.  Both were reunions of British acts, from the ‘80s.  Both were to have been held at Pearl Concert Theater at Palms Casino Resort.  And both were connected to Alison Moyet (albeit one far more than the other).

The first was the Las Vegas-stop on Yazoo’s 2008 Reconnected Tour, scheduled to land at the Palms, on Sunday, July 6th.  Known Stateside as Yaz, the duo of Alison Moyet and Vince Clarke made some of the most memorable music in the New Wave canon, despite only being “together” for eighteen months.  Their two albums, Upstairs at Eric’s and You and Me Both, left their indelible marks on my impressionable tween ears, back in those very early ‘80s (before marketing gurus ever coined the term, tween); and each spawned a Clarke-penned ballad that remains among my favorites, to this day (“Only You” and “Mr. Blue” respectively).

Sometime before the Independence Day weekend, that summer; it was announced that the band had to cancel.  Boo!  Everyone I know who attended one of the concerts, in other cities, raves about the performances, still.  Alas, I shall be fated to know, only via YouTube.

I get it.  Shit happens.  Life (so I’m told) goes on.

Then, this fall, there was another ‘80s re-appreciation; and the Pearl’s calendar came to include performances by Erasure, Culture Club, and Chrissy Hynde.  Erasure came first, and with them a fabulous concert, a meet-and-greet with a photo-op, and a great two-part Q&A with Andy Bell (where he discusses being “the vocalist who followed Alison Moyet,” with regard to his bandmate’s former bandmate).

Then, before I could implore someone to gag me with the proverbial spoon, it was a week before Culture Club was to preempt their 2014 Reunion Tour in the UK, with a half-dozen US dates, including the one on Saturday, November 22nd in Las Vegas.  I’d put together the questions for what I knew would be a dynamic Q&A with Boy George, whence I received word, about an hour prior to our allotted time, that the interview was being delayed.  Later, that afternoon, word came-down that due to polyps on his vocal-chords, George’s doctors had urged him to cancel – not just the band’s US dates, but their entire UK tour, as well.

Now, you might be thinking to yourself “That’s great, Shulman.  But what has Alison Moyet got to do with Culture Club cancelling their tour?”  Ok, then - guess who was signed-on as the opening act, for the UK dates, on that now-cancelled tour of Culture Club’s?  Yup: You guessed it…  The bluesy Brit chanteuse, herself - Alison Moyet!

I’m just sayin…

Pearl Concert Theater
Palms Casino Resort
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Get into it!