Live Report: Holly Johnson triumphs at Vicar Street

With Holly Johnson being one of the all-time great pop stars, there’s an expectant mood in Vicar Street ahead of his performance. The Dublin date is part of the anniversary tour for Welcome To The Pleasuredome, the immortal 1984 debut by the singer’s ex-band, Frankie Goes To Hollywood.

As teased out in the Hot Press Classics episode ahead of the show, there is an air of the victory lap about Johnson’s run of dates, with a series of recent events – the use of ‘The Power Of Love’ in the Oscar-nominated All Of Us Strangers, and an exhibition devoted to the singer’s life in Liverpool – re-emphasising his revered status.

The set opens with a rapturous ‘Welcome To The Pleasuredome’, its proto-LCD Soundsystem groove irresistibly hypnotic, while Johnson looks ridiculously cool in black leather ensemble and aviator shades. Frankie were arguably the most subversive pop group ever, and the visuals provide some biting socio-political commentary throughout the set, most notably during the glorious satirical anthem ‘Americanos’.

Equally infectious is the rollicking ‘Love Train’, which the singer cheekily introduces with the line, “As you say in Dublin, ‘Are you ready for a ride?’” Indeed, Johnson’s between song banter is often hilarious, no more say than he recalls Frankie’s stay in Carlow’s Borris House 40 years ago, when there were “moving statues of Mary around the country”.

The main part of the set concludes with a phenomenal triptych. First up is a stomping cover of Edwin Starr’s ‘War’ (though sadly, unlike the Pleasuredome version, it doesn’t have Chris Barrie’s Ronald Reagan impression’), while there’s a chilling quality to Cold War paranoia hit ‘Two Tribes’, accompanied by images of the war in Ukraine.

On a decidedly lighter note, the song also climaxes with the line, “Are we living in a land where sex and horror are the new gods?” – which many of us were asking ourselves following Ireland’s 2-1 loss to Armenia. And speaking of climaxes, next up is a rip-roaring ‘Relax’, a bona fide pop masterpiece that predictably brings the house down.

Returning for the encore, Johnson concludes with an intense and emotional ‘The Power Of Love’, which prompts arms-swaying euphoria and a mass singalong. Met with thunderous cheering and an ovation on the balconies, Johnson – whose grandfather was Irish – is clearly moved by his reception.

“I’m speechless,” he says simply, before departing, having performed one of the gigs of the year.