Bow Wow Wow – The Old Woolen, Leeds 5/11/25

I love to dance. Now I am not very good at it but it is something that can bring a lot of joy to this Northern Irish rotund rocker. Now if I am going to dance, and this does not happen half as much as it should, well the Burundi influenced beats of Bow Wow Wow can be very hard to resist. It has been a while since I have seen Annabella Lwin on stage (about seven years) but in that time she has lost none of her dynamic stage presence that explodes so brightly tonight. It seems that this Guy Fawkes night, the fireworks are inside this West Yorkshire venue as well as outside.

Sun, Sea And Piracy kicks off this eighteen song set in grand style and it is positive right from the off with Lwin wearing a shirt that says Be Kind, orchestrating all this positivity from the stage. The tour is a celebration with it commemorating the release of the Bow Wow Wow classic, C30- C60-C90 GO! Being released 45 years previously (this must be a mistake surely) and what is wonderful is looking at the faces of the audience, many of whom might not have even been born when the single was released, letting themselves go! In a nice touch, Lwin remembers her ex bandmate Matthew Ashton who had passed away thirty years ago and how she remembered how singing this incredible song changed her life.

It’s interesting that tonight, it is some of the lost gems or wonderful stories that come with some of these songs that I have found myself thinking about after the gig. See Jungle, White Smoke Blue Smoke all sound great but curiously enough it is the track, Do What You Do that I enjoy most of all tonight. Lwin explains how it was the last ‘single’ from 1995 that she released and it is an absolutely wonderful song that in my opinion if had been released by say, Tayloe Swift, Rhianna or Katy Perry would have sold by the bucket load. Annabella Lwin though would never tow the line, she is an artist in it’s truest sense and won’t play the game and more power to her!

Aphrodizziac is another great track from tonight that Lwin tells the story of how it had been used in the Sofia Coppella film Marie Antoinette and Naked Experience which is not only a great track but became the name of one of her projects. The last song of the set is the classic Go Wild In The Country and it makes me realise just how lucky I was to have been a teenager in the 1980’s when Pop music really was of the highest quality and the likes of Adam And The Ants, Duran Duran or Madness ruled the charts. And just think of those amazing female musicians such as Kate Bush, Toyah or indeed Annabella Lwin who changed things so much and paved the way for Lady GaGa or whoever was to follow. The band leave the stage but quickly return and our night is finished with I Want Candy. Annabella Lwin  reminds us that live music and like minded people gathering together to enjoy it is one of life’s greatest pleasures and we should NEVER forget that. Madam, I couldn’t agree more!!!