Adam Ant
with Glam Skanks
The Beacham; Orlando, FL • February 3, 2018
by Jen Cray
I drink, I don’t smoke, and I don’t really know much of Adam Ant’s music beyond the MTV hits. Honestly, I didn’t expect very much from his show, but I like to keep an open mind and I love being surprised – though by these veteran acts that head out on “hits” tours, I rarely am. But the man made good on a promise to reschedule his Florida dates, originally booked for the weekend Hurricane Irma plowed over the state, so that right there gave the dude a gold star in my book.
He looks like Jack Sparrow these days (well, I guess he probably started that look decades before Johnny Depp copped it), but has boundless energy – more so than would be expected for a guy on the other side of 60 – and he’s lost none of his androgynous sex appeal (by the looks of the hot and bothered ladies and lads in attendance). He pairs a straw cowboy hat with sharply applied eyeliner and head to toe black leather, and pulls it off. The guy is the embodiment of all of the the things about the ’80s music and fashion scene that either make you love or hate it (Love) and here he is, in 2018, freakin’ owning the room.
A full balls-out Rock band with two drummers (one of which was a rad chick with a huge nest of blonde hair perched atop her head) backed him as he snaked his way around the stage for nearly two hours. The promised hits were hit (this was Anthems: The Singles Tour, after all), but he also snuck some b-sides in there because, as he told the crowd “I like the B-Sides. If I didn’t like ‘em I wouldn’t’ve put ‘em on the flip side, now would I?”
As I said, I don’t know ass from elbow when it comes to Adam Ant’s non “Goody Two Shoes” songs, but I can tell you this, hearing those songs for the first time in 2018 still felt positively ELECTRIC. Unlike some songs or bands or films from that bygone era, the songs of Adam Ant (or Adam and the Ants as much of these songs originated) are not one of those things you had to grow up listening to love as an adult. This shit still has luster upon first listen.
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Also on the bill was Glam Skanks, a self professed Glitter Rock band out of L.A. – hand picked by Adam Ant for this tour – who delight the crowd with a blend of Runaways-meets-New York Dolls glam and charm. They’re not the most original band to come along, but they’re pretty damn irresistible anyway.
Irresistible. Kinda like the ’80s. Those of us who lived through it can’t seem to let it go, and those that missed out are fascinated by it. How else explain why I have plans to see Erasure, OMD, Tiffany, and Ministry in the upcoming months? ◼
Full photo galleries: Adam Ant and Glam Skanks.
