Dexy’s at York Barbican

Dexy’s premiere “The feminine divine” in Jorvic

DEXYS – YORK BARBICAN 5^th September 2023

In the 60’s it was the Beatles and the Stones, it was Slade or T-Rex in the 70’s and many more besides. In the 1980’s you could switch on Top Of The Pops on a Thursday night and hear tunes from Madness, Duran Duran , Spandau Ballet and of course Dexys Midnight Runners. The 90’s though…it was Stock , Aitkin and Waterman who were making the soap stars that we were seeing on TV or hearing on mainstream radio and since then it has seemed to be a never ending queue of TV talent show winners that pollute our ears. No…DEXYS had proper tunes and would experiment within the confines of what Pop music is and this eager Yorkshire audience were lapping it up tonight.

Kevin Rowland is 70 years old, but you could barely believe it as his voice sounds wonderful as ever tonight. And the focus is on the word, performance as it had a real theatrical feel. The evening was split into two halves with the first consisting of a run through of the whole of the recently released album, ‘The Feminine Divine’ with the songs played in order linked by Rowland and his bandmates in conversation. The theatrical flair comes right from the off when I genuinely believed that there had been a massive row between Rowland and his bandmates which ended with the female fiddle player storming off stage during ‘The One That Loves You’…..yes, this Northern Irish rocker was totally sucked in.

Highlights were undoubtably recent singles ‘I’m Going To Be Free’ and ‘Coming Home’ that really come to life on a stage. There was hardly a dry eye in the theatre when pictures of Rowland and his father, from childhood to two old men embracing provided the visuals to accompany the reworking of the DEXYS song ‘It’s Alright Kevin’ (originally from the previous DEXYS song ‘Manhunt’). I think in many ways the best part of the first set comes in last song ‘Dance With Me’ where Rowland and the previously mentioned fiddle player dance cheek to cheek as the song and indeed the first half comes to a close.

There is an interval, after which the band return to the stage and the audience are treated to classics such as ‘Come On Eileen’ and ‘ Geno’ which get a majority of this audience, many of whom are of a similar age to Rowland, dancing in the aisles. A surprise comes when a track is dedicated to the actor John Inman, Mr Humphreys from the 1970’s sitcom ‘Are You Being Served?’ which brings a smile to many of the audience’s lips. Yes, there are some points in this performance that did not quite work, this was the first night of the tour but I can’t help believe that DEXYS will have the talent and tenacity to iron them out after this really intriguing show goes round the UK and the United States later in the year.