Spandau Ballet’s Steve Norman has said he would love one final reunion tour to give the band, and their fans, “the closure we all deserve.”
In his Noise11 interview with Paul Cashmere, the founding saxophonist and percussionist reflected on the band’s fractured later years and how the magic of their early friendship still lingers.
“I’d love to do a farewell tour, not just for the fans but for us,” Steve said. “One last time, full of love, without the old squabbles. Everyone’s in their right place now, and I’m at peace with that.”
Watch the Noise11 interview with Steve Norman
It’s the most hopeful sign in years that one of the defining bands of the 1980s New Romantic movement might return to the stage.
Spandau Ballet emerged from London’s Blitz Club scene in the late 1970s. Alongside Duran Duran, Visage and Ultravox, they shaped the sound and style of the New Romantic movement. Fronted by Tony Hadley and driven by the songwriting of Gary Kemp, the group’s 1983 hit True became an international anthem, followed by Gold, Only When You Leave and Through The Barricades.
The original lineup – Gary Kemp, Martin Kemp, John Keeble, Steve Norman and Tony Hadley – reunited in 2009 after nearly two decades apart. Their comeback was announced aboard HMS Belfast, the same ship where they played one of their first gigs. The Reformation Tour that followed sold out across the UK and included Australian dates with Tears For Fears in 2010.
That reunion also produced Once More, an album of reimagined Spandau classics plus two new songs, Once More and Love Is All. The record went Silver in the UK and Gold in Italy.
In 2014, Spandau Ballet returned with Soul Boys Of The Western World, a feature-length documentary telling their story from Blitz beginnings to world fame. They followed it with another world tour and a greatest hits collection, The Story – The Very Best Of Spandau Ballet, which included three new songs written with producer Trevor Horn.
But the reunion faltered again. In 2017, Tony Hadley left the band, saying the split was “beyond his control.” The group briefly continued with new vocalist Ross William Wild, performing in 2018 before he too departed less than a year later. Since then, the band has been inactive.
Steve Norman says he has made peace with the past. “It’s not about egos anymore,” he told Noise11. “We’ve all lived long enough to realise what we had was special. I don’t want to finish with regrets.”
If a final tour ever materialises, it will be the first time the classic lineup has performed together since 2015. Their final full-scale show as Spandau Ballet was at London’s Eventim Apollo in October 2018, when Wild was fronting the group.
The Spandau Ballet Final Setlist with Tony Hadley – Hong Kong (2015)
Soul Boy
Highly Strung
Only When You Leave
Round and Round
This Is the Love
Steal
Chant No. 1 (I Don’t Need This Pressure On)
Reformation
Mandolin
Confused
The Freeze
To Cut a Long Story Short
Glow
Empty Spaces
Gold
Once More
I’ll Fly for You
Instinction
Communication
Lifeline
True
Encore:
Through the Barricades
Gold
The Spandau Ballet Final Setlist – Eventim Apollo, London (2018)
Gold (Intro)
Chant No. 1 (I Don’t Need This Pressure On)
Only When You Leave
Highly Strung
How Many Lies?
Virgin
This Is The Love
Reformation
Mandolin
Confused
The Freeze
To Cut A Long Story Short
She Loved Like Diamond
Once More
I’ll Fly For You
Round And Round
Instinction
Communication
Lifeline
True
Encore:
Through The Barricades
Gold
For Norman, the idea of a final bow is about resolution. “We owe it to ourselves and the fans to close the story properly,” he said. “We started this journey together at school. I’d like to finish it the same way … together.”
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