Photos and review by Jennie Book
@jenniebookphotography

The Generations Tour– Alison Moyet, Soft Cell, and Human League– spent the second night of tour at The Warfield in San Francisco in front of a sold out crowd who were eager to hear their hits from bygone days. Even though the tour was a nostalgia play, it was filled with very relevant and unflagging talent from these longtime favorites.

Alison Moyet kicked the show off, and at least half the barricade was there specifically to see her. Her voice is unique and unmatched and better than ever, she’s an icon, and she played “Changeling” and “Midnight” and “Winter Kills”– the last two I’m not sure anyone has heard live in over a decade. She gave the good-time fans what they wanted with “Situation” and “Don’t Go,” and the house definitely whipped phones out of pockets to record those all time favorites. She’s one of those artists for whom the cliché is true about how you could be happy listening to them even if they were singing the phone book. Then she left the stage after about 50 minutes, much too quickly, and Marc Almond appeared to perform as Soft Cell.

Soft Cell has been around since 1979, and their global hit song “Tainted Love” is an earworm for all ages for the ages, but many might not know that they’re still putting out new material, most recently 2021’s Happiness Not Included, which was a collaboration with founding member Dave Ball, who died in 2025. Soft Cell plans to release a final album called Danceteria in September, but look for them to keep touring since they have decades of material to dive into, plus Almond’s great solo work (I was sure hoping he’d play “Tears Run Rings” but he did not.) My personal Marc Almond story is that he’s one of several firsthand celebrity musician sightings I experienced in London back in the day, with another one being Morrissey, and there’s not much more to say about that. It was fun to hear “Tainted Love” live.

Human League came on third, and frontman Philip Oakey is a showman. He gave us many super stylish wardrobe changes through the set, and constantly walked the stage to keep it dynamic so that all sides of the venue could enjoy his talent and flair. As I photographed him I was thinking about his ageless face, and when I found out he’s 70 I set out to find the brand of cyrochamber he’s been sleeping in so I could get one too. During the hour-plus set, Human League played many favorites, and the crowd was happily singing the whole time. “Human,” was a favorite, and “Keep Feeling (Fascination),” and also everyone’s car singalong “Don’t You Want Me.” Longtime bandmates Joanne Catherall and Susan Ann Sulley (“I was seventeen when we started this!”) were in fine form, singing backup and solo parts and bringing their radio hits to life.

The Generations Tour is a great night out, and everyone from a certain era is guaranteed to have a good time. For all the latest tour and ticket info, check out thehumanleague.co.uk. And when you get tickets, stay tuned to @alisonmoyetofficial, which has been great at posting changing set times for each new tour stop.