HEAVEN 17 + PETER COYLE – DE LA WARR PAVILION, BEXHILL-ON-SEA 11.6.26
Tonight we arrive at the iconic De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill-on-Sea for the third of 12 dates for Heaven 17’s ‘Celebrating 45 Years Of Penthouse And Pavement Tour’. Glenn Gregory (lead vocals) and Martyn Ware (Roland V-Synth 61-key polyphonic synthesizer and sound-design workstation, and vocals) are assisted by Florence Sabeva (Roland and other keys), Rachel Meadows (backing vocals) and Hayley Williams (backing vocals), and they kicked off with gigs in Wolverhampton and Cardiff prior to this evening’s set. From here they venture on to London, Manchester, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Sheffield, Norwich, Northampton, Liverpool and Leeds.
Back in 1977 Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware were both working as computer operators and had decided to found The Human League, an avant-garde electronic music outfit. Interestingly, their first choice of vocalist was none other than Glenn Gregory who had previously been in a punk band called Musical Vomit with Marsh. Legend has it that the band took their name from a music paper’s hostile review of the band Suicide. But Glenn had moved down to London to work as a photographer, so they chose Martyn’s school friend Philip Oakey instead. Philip Adrian Wright was also on board and handled The Human League’s visuals.
After the release of their ‘Reproduction’ (1979) and ‘Travelogue’ (1980) albums, personal and creative tensions within the group reached a breaking point in late 1980, Marsh and Ware left the band, (ceding the Human League name to Oakey) and formed the production company British Electric Foundation (B.E.F.) as well as Heaven 17. This proved fortuitous for both parties, as immediate chart success came to both The Human League and Heaven 17.
‘Penthouse And Pavement’ was released in September 1981, was certified Gold the following year and climbed to No.14 on the UK Albums Chart. It has since become widely regarded as a trailblazing essential work in the early synth movement, earning a place in ‘1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die’. Fusing cutting-edge electronics with political lyricism and hard-hitting funk, this album was a defining moment of the era and genre.
A cornerstone of the British post-punk movement, Heaven 17 built a foundation for modern music that continues to bear its influence today. Their musical footprint is monumental, and that is recognised by their loyal audience from those who have been there since the beginning, to those who have joined them throughout their colourful career. Ian Craig Marsh left the band in 2006.
The De La Warr Pavilion house lights are extinguished at 8:30pm and the B-side of The Human League’s 1979 ‘Empire State Human’ single, known as ‘Introducing’, booms out around the spacious room as the musicians take to the stage. Martyn is stage right (our left) and is taking care of synth duties and is sporting a new long coat which looks as though it’s made from many reels of cassette tape. He is topped off with a sparkly silver hat. Centre stage is vocalist Glenn who is wearing a new white suit and a cap. To the centre-rear of the stage is Florence Sabeva who is dressed in black and on double synth duties, at least one of these is a Roland. Stage left (to our right) are backing vocalists Rachel Meadows and Hayley Williams, who too are clad in black and this time around are sporting the dark hair look. We are in their company for the next 100 minutes, until 10:10pm.
They kick off with debut single ‘(We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang’ and opening cut from 1981’s ‘Penthouse And Pavement’ album. It feels as though the beat is so fast that it’s almost running away from itself. It doesn’t quite sound exactly like the original released version, but it’s a close approximation. During the song, Glenn’s freestanding microphone stand rocks as he lets go of it and it comically hits the floor and the wireless mic falls off the stage and into the photographer’s pit, where the solitary photographer Sara-Louise Bowrey is. She fails to notice Glenn beckoning her to retrieve it for him, as she’s far too busy looking down the lens and snapping Martyn. Cue security staff to the rescue, as well as Martyn who fills in Glenn’s missing vocals whilst this is all going on.
After this Glenn greets the punters and explains that the ‘(We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang’ cap he is wearing can’t be bought any more and won’t be found on their merch stall. He then signs the cap and tosses it into the crowd. Someone got a unique souvenir!
Luckily for us, Heaven 17 are performing all of the nine tunes on ‘Penthouse And Pavement’, an album I was obsessed with at the time of release. It was the perfect package! Revolutionary music packaged within truly iconic sleeve art of a painting of the group by Ray Smith (1949–2018). The compositions on the record aren’t actually being performed in the correct running order though, no idea why? On the record the album title track is next, but we get ‘The Height Of The Fighting’ with its earwork “He-la-hu”. It’s a fabulous rendition this evening as it literally gives me goosebumps as I heartily sing along. In fact I sang along to every track this evening, so apologies to Tanya and Zoe, who were standing next to me.
Glenn and Martyn discuss that astonishingly the whole album literally came together in just one month! The trio were certainly on a creative roll, is all I can say!
The next selection is ‘Penthouse And Pavement’ track six, ‘Let’s All Make A Bomb’ which the crowd get behind with their hearty handclaps. Album track four is ‘Soul Warfare’ and it’s tune four tonight, a not often performed cut, unlike their ‘Play To Win’ single from the LP which comes next, and again I get another body tingling goosebumps by listening, watching and singing along to this. The obscure ‘Song With No Name’, album track eight, follows and we are told that it’s a song that they haven’t played for many many years, other than obviously two days ago in Cardiff and three days ago in Wolverhampton. Tonight’s version sits in the ‘Travelogue’ sound and is very much a rare treat!
Album track five, ‘Geisha Boys And Temple Girls’, is their next song, a tune we are told was penned about Martyn and Glenn dressing up and going out in Sheffield in 1981 to a club called Penny’s, which has been relatively famous in the previous two decades as The Penny Farthing. It later became known as Scamps.
Album title track ‘Penthouse And Pavement’ finally gets performed this evening and witnesses Rachel taking centre stage in order to highlight her vocal prowess. The final track from the LP is performed in the correct order, this being ‘We’re Going To Live For A Very Long Time’, which never ever gets an outing! It’s a rare treat which witnesses Martyn’s opening synth notes sounding not too far off Soft Cell’s ‘What!’ single. Mid tune he also incorporates Kraftwerk’s ‘Neon Lights’ riff, which goes down massively well with yours truly who is wearing one of his Kraftwerk T’s this evening. It gives me my third bout of goosebumps, which is honestly unheard of! I’ve already made my mind up that come 31st December 2026, this performance will be in my Top 10 live sets of the year!
With ‘Penthouse And Pavement’ completed, Glenn informs us about other songs that were recorded at the same time. The first of these being their ‘I’m Your Money’ 1981 single, which is my favourite ever Heaven 17 song. Tonight’s version incorporates verses of Donna Summer’s 1977 ‘I Feel Love’ monster which was created by Giorgio Moroder, who gets namedropped by Martyn. Astonishingly, I got a fourth bout of the tingles! I swear it, I haven’t had a drop of alcohol all day and I don’t do drugs, it’s the music that’s responsible!
Glenn then explains that the first song he sang in the studio as British Electric Foundation (B.E.F.) was ‘Wichita Lineman’, a 1968 song written by Jimmy Webb for American country music artist Glen Campbell. Tonight’s version sees Martyn playing the synth with a feel of The Human League’s ‘The Path Of Least Resistance’ from their debut long player. There’s a croon to it as well which sits in with the League’s rendition of ‘Morale…You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling’ from the same platter.
The final song from the ‘Penthouse And Pavement’ era recordings is the B-side of ‘I’m Your Money’ (released 15th May 1981), this being their version of Buzzcocks 1980 ‘Are Everything’ single which Glenn informs us that’s only the third ever time that they have played the song to a live audience. Catch remaining Buzzcock Steve Diggle at Concorde 2 in Brighton on 10th December – tickets here.
Heaven 17 move into the last half dozen songs and are now on their homeward straight with the performing of ‘Come Live With Me’, which is the first of four from 1983’s ‘The Luxury Gap’ album, which Glenn informs us they played in Germany at a festival and there was a sea of lights from mobile phones going on, this being the cue for us to do the same. This is followed by ‘Crushed By The Wheels Of Industry’ with its “whoo whoo” chorus and vintage train wheels rotating arm action dance. Glenn then informs us that the next song is both his and Martyn’s favourite Heaven 17 cuts, this being ‘Let Me Go’.
Martyn leaves the stage to discard his cassette tape coat and to swap it for a long red flamboyant Pet Shop Boys vs Sgt Peppers style attire. Glenn introduces the girls Florence, Rachel and Hayley, as he moves away from the front of the stage and watches in the wing as the 12” mix of their most famous track, ‘Temptation’ is jazzed up. Not surprisingly, this receives the longest, loudest cheers and claps thus far.
The fitting penultimate selection is the title track of David Bowie’s 1983 ‘Let’s Dance’ album. Glenn having literally just come off the Holy Holy supergroup farewell 9-date UK tour featuring Tony Visconti, Woody Woodmansey, and himself under the banner of ‘The Final Tour – A Celebration of Bowie’ which concluded on 19th September in Hull. Sadly there wasn’t a Sussex date. Tonight’s version is a very close proximity to the original No.1 smash.
They bid us farewell with The Human League’s 1978 ‘Being Boiled’ single, which this evening features Martyn switching to his vintage analogue synth, which I must say sounds bloody epic! They really should use it more often! The heavy droning and sharp electronic bursts emanating from it are pure joy, just like this evening’s set has been. In conclusion, a bloody great night out!
Heaven 17:
Glenn Gregory – lead vocals
Martyn Ware – synths, vocals
Florence Sabeva – keys
Rachel Meadows – backing vocals
Kelly Barnes – backing vocals
Heaven 17 setlist:
‘Introducing’ (The Human League cover originally 1979 B-side of ‘Empire State Human’ single)
‘(We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang’ (from 1981 ‘Penthouse And Pavement’ album)
‘The Height Of The Fighting’ (from 1981 ‘Penthouse And Pavement’ album)
‘Let’s All Make A Bomb’ (from 1981 ‘Penthouse And Pavement’ album)
‘Soul Warfare’ (from 1981 ‘Penthouse And Pavement’ album)
‘Play To Win’ (from 1981 ‘Penthouse And Pavement’ album)
‘Song With No Name’ (from 1981 ‘Penthouse And Pavement’ album)
‘Geisha Boys And Temple Girls’ (from 1981 ‘Penthouse And Pavement’ album)
‘Penthouse And Pavement’ (from 1981 ‘Penthouse And Pavement’ album)
‘We’re Going To Live For A Very Long Time’ (from 1981 ‘Penthouse And Pavement’ album)
‘I’m Your Money’ (inc 1977 ‘I Feel Love’ Donna Summer snippet) (from 1981 single)
‘Wichita Lineman’ (Jimmy Webb cover)
‘Are Everything’ (Buzzcocks cover) (from 1981 ‘I’m Your Money’ single)
‘Come Live With Me’ (from 1983 ‘The Luxury Gap’ album)
‘Crushed By The Wheels Of Industry’ (from 1983 ‘The Luxury Gap’ album)
‘Let Me Go’ (from 1983 ‘The Luxury Gap’ album)
‘Temptation’ (from 1983 ‘The Luxury Gap’ album)
‘Let’s Dance’ (David Bowie cover from 1983 ‘Let’s Dance’ album)
‘Being Boiled’ (The Human League cover originally 1978 single)
The support artist for the tours is Peter Coyle of The Lotus Eaters fame. Liverpudlian Peter’s connection to Heaven 17 is that Martyn Ware featured on the opening two tunes of the Peter Coyle Fractal 2023 ‘Phasing’ album, which, along with all of Peter’s other releases can be located over on Spotify.
It’s a half hour set running from 7:45pm to 8:15pm and features a half dozen tunes. Having never seen him or The Lotus Eaters before I’m not really sure what to expect!
Peter comes bounding on stage and it’s suddenly evident that he’s not actually a roadie getting the mic ready, but is the opening act. No doubt those that had arrived in time to catch this set, and there aren’t many of them, are just as perplexed as myself as the audio backing track is barely audible. Half way through the tune, the problem is resolved. A bit embarrassing really, to be honest! This opening number being ‘It Hurts’ which was a 1985 The Lotus Eaters single as well as 2026 Peter Coyle Fractal release. As Peter gets his workout there’s (for me) a really strong whiff of cruise ship wedding karaoke meets a keep fit video soundtrack about it.
The dad vs Happy Mondays Bez dancing continues with a cover of the iconic Simple Minds ‘Don’t You Forget About Me’, which is marginally better than the opener. There are some handclaps from the front row, as Peter, slowly but surely, wins over the easily forgiving crowd. Peter then introduces his new single ‘You Give Me’ out as Peter Coyle Fractal & Tony Miracle on 8th October. There are elements of 1980’s New Order and Pet Shop Boys going on here, along with more modern Dutch DJ and producer Ferry Corsten sounds, which bely Peter’s musical output of late.
There’s another cover as he offloads his take on ‘Rhythm Of The Night’ by Corona next, which briefly morphs into The Human League’s ‘Don’t You Want Me’. The penultimate selection is another dance number called ‘Love Connection’ which dropped in 2024 under the guise of DJ M.O.D. featuring Peter Coyle Fractal. This slightly reminded me of ‘I Beg Your Pardon’ by Kon Kan for some reason. He rounded off his set with a dance tinged version of the Lotus Eaters hit ‘A First Picture Of You’ which was found on their 1984 ‘No Sense of Sin’ album.
I suppose this set was harmless fun, but in my eyes was a lost opportunity for a local young up-and-coming new synth band to have a go instead! There are a number of them around you know!
Peter Coyle:
Peter Coyle – vocals
Peter Coyle setlist:
‘It Hurts’ (a 1985 The Lotus Eaters single & 2026 Peter Coyle Fractal single)
‘Don’t You Forget About Me’ (Simple Minds cover)
‘You Give Me’ (a 2026 Peter Coyle Fractal & Tony Miracle single)
‘Rhythm Of The Night’ (Corona cover)
‘Love Connection’ (a 2024 DJ M.O.D. featuring Peter Coyle Fractal single)
‘A First Picture Of You’ (a Lotus Eaters song from 1984 ‘No Sense of Sin’ album)
