OMD joined by RLPO for their 40th anniversary

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark are celebrating their 40th anniversary in 2018 – and they’re set to team up with the RLPO for two new concerts.

The Wirral-formed band previously played with the orchestra at the Philharmonic Hall in 2009.

The two concerts, on October 6-7, will see them perform their greatest hits, including Enola Gay, Souvenir and Maid of Orleans, along with tracks they have recorded since their reformation in 2006.

And there will also be specially-adapted new symphonic versions of some of their epic tone poem works including Stanlow, Sealand and Ghost Star.

OMD singer and bass guitarist Andy McCluskey said today: “We and the orchestra will take people on a 40-year journey from the very first song Paul and I ever wrote together, Electricity, when we were 16, right up to the last single we released, What Have We Done?, and beyond as we will premiere an as yet unreleased film soundtrack piece entitled And then she saw the Minotaur.

“We enjoyed the scope and scale of the big majestic Energy Suite songs that we did with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra in 2009. This time the first half will be taking songs that lend themselves well to really big orchestral arrangements.

“And with the big screen again, I think the combination of actually seeing the Stanlow oil refinery lit up behind the 75-piece orchestra will be stunning. It will be utterly beautiful.”

Richard Balcombe will conduct the two concerts.

OMD played their first gig at the legendary Eric’s in October 1978. McCluskey and keyboard player Paul Humphreys were former schoolmates who had also been in the short-lived Wirral band The Id.

Tickets for the Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark 40th Anniversary concerts are on sale on the Philharmonic Hall website HERE