Soft Cell review, Heritage Live: Synth-pop stars are in fine form

When Soft Cell frontman Marc Almond quipped that he was only a “little bit” anti-establishment upon receiving an OBE, he wasn’t wrong. The countercultural genesis of the New Pop movement, famed for chic bad-breakup anthem “Tainted Love”, now find themselves performing in the grounds of a Jacobean stately manor, but somehow make it seem like the most natural thing in the world. No one in the crowd seemed to mind. In fact, it’s rather nice.

Sheffield’s synth-pop stars Heaven 17 open proceedings before the headline act, joking that they would have bought tickets to see Soft Cell, even if they hadn’t been booked to perform. They kicked off emphatically with “(We Don’t Need This) Facist Groove Thang”, a skeletal rendition of their debut single. Less good is a cover of Bowie’s “Let’s Dance”, which strays into wedding band territory.

Experimental electronic pioneers OMD bookend their supporting slot with, well, “Electricity”, along with their anti-nuclear anthem “Enola Gay”, from their second album Organisation. Later, they hit their peak with a mid-set suite from 1981 follow-up Architecture & Morality. Throughout, Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys walk a thin line between banter and bickering.

Soft Cell’s star burned fast and bright in the early Eighties thanks to their own string of inimitable hits. Now, after re-emerging briefly around the turn of the century, they’re hitting form in the twilight of their career.

For the main event, Almond looks comfortable out front, dressed in black and wearing shades, while Dave Ball pulls the musical strings behind his desk of synths. “Monoculture”, their war cry against the homogenisation of a corporate world, is an early set highlight. It doesn’t lose its prescience, either, despite being surrounded by such opulence. “Happy Happy Happy”, from their 2022 album Happiness Not Included, is elevated by a claustrophobic, dystopian backdrop of instrumentation.

Later, Ball’s portamento synth alongside Gary Barnacle’s saxophone lends a fantastic energy to “Sex Dwarf”, and it’s a delight to hear 10,000 people sing along through the rarefied air of Audley End. After the song, Almond joked he could get cancelled, before swiftly taking it back and launching into a rousing rendition of Memorabilia which gave credence to his claim that he was only getting warmed up, despite earlier claiming it was past his bedtime.

Almond and co bring out the stabs of synth for “Tainted Love”, immediately before segueing into their cover of The Supremes’ “Where Did Our Love Go”, much to the audience’s delight. Ending on “Say Hello, Wave Goodbye”, Almond is clearly having a ball. His polite bedside manner belies the more risqué content of some of his songs, but we’re left with a sense of genuine vitality. They’re not done yet.