Photos and review by Jennie Book
@jenniebookphotography

Erasure’s Andy Bell has been touring his Ten Crowns Tour throughout the US for the last few months, and he ended his run at The Fonda Theater in Los Angeles with two final sold out shows on December 12 and 13. On the 12^th, the venue was packed with GenXers eager to hear new tracks from Bell’s solo album, plus some Erasure favorites, especially since Erasure hasn’t toured North America since 2018.

Savannah Pope opened the night with a drummer and a keyboardist/guitarist backing her, and dressed in her super deco/glam ensemble belted some great pop/rock-opera songs which got the crowd more than warmed up for Andy Bell. And on night two at The Fonda at the end of the night, her boyfriend got onstage and proposed to her– a memorable end to tour and fun for the crowd to witness.

Andy Bell took the stage at 10pm, a risky timeslot for the Uncs in the crowd, but Bell’s fans are generational fans, right there with him since his 80s beginnings, and they took the late hour in stride, happy to be there singing and dancing at the top of their lungs. The set started with “Breaking Through The Interstellar,” an energy-filled solo track from Ten Crowns, a great way to begin the night. Songs two and three were Erasure favorites “Blue Savannah” and “Sometimes,” big crowd faves that got everyone smiling and singing along. And it’s a given that the Erasure tracks will be loved, but Bell’s Ten Crowns solo album is great too– it’s current, catchy, and filled with guest artists like Blondie and Sarah Potenza, and has some nice Pet Shop Boys and CamelPhat influences running through it. Singer Luciana joined Bell on stage to sing Debbie Harry’s part on the song “Heart’s A Liar,” and then Sisely Treasure from Shiny Toy Guns joined him onstage for “Put Your Empathy On Ice,” later in the set. And a fun surprise of the night was hearing Bell perform “Xanadu,” a perfect choice for his voice, the venue, and the vibe.

Bell’s signature voice was in fine form, as strong as it was in the summer of 1988 when he belted out “Oh L’amour” down the street at The Palladium, and his uniqueness remains solid, both in voice and personality– he wore a custom suit made of iridescent red leather pieces that when hit with light reflected rainbow colors, an imaginative and one of a kind outfit. After a few songs he unhampered himself from the jacket portion of his ensemble to reveal a tanktop filled by his muscular, tattooed arms, and he took off his aviator shades to let the crowd see into the windows of his soul while he sang them their favorite songs.

The band was locked in, with Dave Aude on keyboards and programming, Jerry Fuentes on Guitar, Sarah Tomek on drums, and Chelsea King on backing vocals. They played a tight set and seemed like they were enjoying being onstage playing together. Bell was chatty with the crowd throughout the night, and seemed genuinely appreciative of his fans and his bandmates and his guest singers, and it’s easy to say the crowd had a fantastic evening with one of their favorites hearing songs that have meant a lot to all of us over the past many decades.

The Ten Crowns Tour has finished its North American run, but stay up to date at www.andybell.com for news and tour info– he heads to South America in mid-January.