Live Review: Spandau Ballet

The '80s' New Romantic subculture was misrepresented in the UK music press as a bunch of apolitical poseurs, many contemporary journalists disgruntled punks.

This pacey documentary, directed by Julien Temple associate George Hencken, tells the story of Spandau Ballet – the zeitgeist band of Steve Strange's New Romantic Blitz Club in London.

Pic by Chrissie Francis.

The five school pals were all saliently from working-class backgrounds. Soul Boys…, narrated through voiceovers, incorporates remarkable footage of early pop-up gigs and, endearingly, the band behind-the-scenes – intercut with archival material to recapture Thatcherism's social volatility. It follows Spandau as they evolved into a smooth, internationalist R&B outfit with their third album, True, actually guesting on the US Soul Train (ironically, smoothfm is presenting tonight's event). The doco then depicts their sorry implosion.

Indeed, Spandau's songs were all written by guitarist Gary Kemp – and a legal battle over royalties ensued in the '90s, Kemp pitted against charismatic frontman Tony Hadley. While three members have published candid autobiographies, Soul Boys… is more visceral.

Spandau, now reconciled, appear post-screening for an "intimate" Q&A (with much fan geekery) and mini-performance. Alas, a guitar-heavy rendition of To Cut A Long Story Short sacrifices the strangeness that made New Romanticism so avant – even if it's a bit fashionably Royal Blood.