I’ve had closer calls in my life on the ‘looking like a donkey’ scale, but I can’t remember when.
Thank God I was running late last night, which led to shoulder pads, hairspray and the blue and pink eyeshadow combo staying in my bag. A full-on onslaught of 80s grooming had been planned to welcome seven of the decade’s chart toppers to Tyneside. But my first downbeat moment came as I entered the Metro Radio Arena. No-one was dressed up. So in the bag it stayed.
The second arrived, I’m sorry to say, with Kajagoogoo frontman Limahl. But the pop was put back into the evening with the welcome return of the original Bucks Fizz (although a little too much was revealed with the legendary skirt-ripping routine).
Midge Ure, Nik Kershaw, Kim Wilde, Belinda Carlisle and Living in a Box made it a night of nostalgia, helped by the audience’s festive spirit and fuelled by a collective energy to roll back the years.
But you have to wonder how long it is before the tour is renamed the Then and There Farewell.