LONDON  2008 REVIEWS

 

http://digital-lifestyles.info October 2008

Mike Slocombe

 

Palm Treo Pro London Launch Rocked By The Human League

As part of their profile raising exercise, Palm have been hosting a week long series of events at The Boiler House (renamed ‘The Black Sheep’) in the Old Truman Brewery, right in the heart of trendy Brick Lane.

 

The shindigs were part of the official launch of their new Palm Treo Pro smartphone, and the company certainly dug deep in the PR budget to put on a stellar line up.

 

On Monday, the self-promoting, self-backslapping ego monster Piers Morgan landed on stage and disappointed everyone by being really likeable and jolly good company.

 

We tried to dig around for tales of backstage tantrums and prima-donna antics, but everyone seemed to like the bloke.

Don’t you just hate it when someone you really want to hate turns out to be actually quite nice?

 

Last night, however, was the one we really wanted to see - the mighty Human League in full effect playing a relatively small venue and promising a “all killer and no filler” set.

 

Now, we’d been harbouring grave doubts about this whole corporate gig thing but Palm had at least sweetened the pill by letting in some of the great unwashed through a competition on their event page.

 

Lurking in the dark recesses of our minds, we began to harbour fears that a wheezing bunch of has-beens knocking out seriously dated songs from long gone glory days may have proved a worryingly close fit for Palm’s current prospects, but we were wrong on both counts.

 

The band were sensational, with singer Phil Oakey in fine form, belting out the old floorfillers with conviction and power - and the besuited crowd responded in kind, getting off their well fed bums and giving it large to the band.

 

Some of their songs may be over two decades old, but they sounded fresh and contemporary, shaming much of the lame tosh served up by TV insta-celebs.

 

Perhaps this proves a good metaphor for Palm.

 

They may well have lost a lot of ground to new upstarts, but they’re still a solid brand and their new Treo Pro phone shows them building on their traditional strengths. And they can still put on a great party.

 

...The Human League were an inspired addition to the line-up, proving their pioneering synth-pop hasn't aged at all since their heyday. Hits flew by until the opening bars of Don't You Want Me caused predictable pandemonium...

 

http://entertainment.uk.msn.com October 2008

 

Human League share Electric Dreams

The Human League played a night of Electric Dreams to a crowd including designer Matthew Williamson.

 

The 80s trio rocked the Black Sheep Pub in London's Brick Lane at the launch of the Treo Pro smartphone by Palm on Tuesday night.

Human League had everybody dancing to a string of hits including Don't You Want Me, Love Action, Electric Dreams and Fascination.

 

One partygoer said: "Matthew was literally just rocking out right at the front. I have never seen anybody go for it so much."

 

Lead singer Philip Oakley said: "Electric Dreams has a kind of appropriate ring tonight. We love to still perform and have always tried to pave the way for innovative sounding music."

 

The band made no rock 'n' roll demands, asking only for tea and coffee, vegetables, nuts and jam backstage.

 

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