Review: Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark at Bristol Sounds 2026
Posted on: 28 Jun 2026Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys formed Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark partly as an antithesis to the guitar-driven bands that were prevalent at the time. You might then find it strange that their chief support act are authentic Irish punk rockers The Undertones; at one point, McCluskey makes a joke about how the Irish group actually hate them. Musically they've little in common, other than the fact that they both formed in the late seventies. Both bands, however, boast a back catalogue of recognisable hits with sing-along choruses.
The Undertones blast through hits such as Teenage Kicks and Jimmy Jimmy with machine-gun rapidity; their songs are all short, and if you don't like one of them, you don't have to wait very long for the next one to come along. In between, they have a good craic with the audience, including what is at the moment a de rigeur joke about rehydration breaks (the audience dutifully boos at the mere mention).
Their set is 45 minutes long and packed with hits. When I ask Terry from Dundee, a hardcore Undertones fan down for the weekend, what he thought of the set, he says, "Same as the last time". When pressed for clarification, he adds, "Brilliant!"
OMD arrive on stage amid a backdrop of a US-voiced news reader delivering dire, apocalyptic warnings about current events: appropriately enough for a band who've always woven into their synth-pop themes of genetic engineering and executed historical figures. The great crowd-pleaser Enola Gay must be one of the most upbeat, joyous songs ever recorded about a human cataclysm.
McCluskey, the old pro, has his stagecraft down, and he demands audience participation from the outset. He leads our rhythmic hand-clapping from the first track, and never lets us off the hook. He want us engaged.
To that end, the 90-minute set is a waltz through their greatest hits, all killer no filler, tracks such as Maid of Orleans, Tesla Girls, If You Leave, (Forever) Live And Die and the afore-mentioned Enola Gay. Only one solitary track from their most recent (14th) album makes it into the set: Veruschka, which brings a melodic interlude to their high-tempo cavalcade. Theirs is a big, stadium-filling sound, and the arrangements are tight. This is not the sort of gig that you treat as background music while chatting to your mates. The OMD back catalogue is packed with earworms and catchy hooks that are easy to sing along to. Dull moments do not come along.
McCluskey is full of energy throughout and prowls from one side of the stage to the other. His delivery is strong: if you'll allow me, he is Singing Loud And Clear. Only on (Forever) Live And Die does he temporarily concede lead vocal to Humphreys, which only seems to rejuvenate him when he reclaims front of stage.
The visuals on the back-of-stage screen are pin-sharp, colourful and inventive, the kind of slick graphics you'd expect from any modern headliner. We're served images of star systems, church windows, World War 2 bombers, Molly Ringwald. The stage lights are pretty sharp, considering the stage was only built a few days before; notably, there are no large screens flanking either side of the stage, which at least means there are no on-stage camera operators getting in the way.
Midway through the gig, McCluskey discloses he turned 67 earlier in the week, which coincidentally makes him the same age as Feargal Sharkey, the original (but now replaced) Undertones lead singer. McCluskey says he has no intention of stopping anytime soon, and I believe him. On this evidence, the band's electricity is going to run and run.
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