Tom Bailey is at York Barbican tonight, Saturday 26 September, with the Greatest Hits UK Tour. Now, the greatest hits here means the Thompson Twins run, and there are a few things off his solo album Science Fiction in there too.
We’ve all been going on for years about the eighties coming back round. What gets forgotten is how odd some of those records actually were underneath the sheen, and Bailey has been playing around with them on this tour rather than reproducing them note for note.
The Songs
Hold Me Now, Doctor Doctor, In the Name of Love, Love On Your Side, If You Were Here, Lies, Lay Your Hands On Me, King for a Day. For a lot of the room tonight, that synth sound simply was the soundtrack to the eighties.
And there’s a real band behind him, which is worth saying, because plenty of eighties tours turn out to be one man and a laptop. Charlotte Raven on vocals, keyboards and cello, Paulina Szczepaniak on vocals and drums, Alice Offley on vocals, bass and keyboards. All 3 sing, so the harmonies hold up.
Why The Name Carries
Thompson Twins were one of the few British bands who genuinely broke America, which is harder than the phrase makes it sound. They played the Philadelphia leg of Live Aid with Nile Rodgers on guitar and Madonna on backing vocals. Bailey also turns up on Grace Jones’s My Jamaican Guy and Foreigner’s I Want to Know What Love Is, which surprises people.
He’s had a busy year. A mini world tour through countries he’d never played, then a summer of UK festivals alongside The Human League, and a standing ovation on every date of it.
Don’t Miss Blancmange
Neil Arthur tours as Blancmange now, and he and Bailey go back to the same scene. Four top 20 singles, Living On A Ceiling among them, so this is no filler slot. Anyone who normally arrives after the support should come and find out what they’ve been skipping.
Before Setting Off
- York Barbican, Paragon Street, York, YO10 4NT
- Tonight, Saturday 26 September 2026
- Support: Blancmange
- There’s a Clifford’s Lounge upgrade going, which skips the queues and comes with a drink
The Barbican seats around 1,500, so the view is fine from most places, though the interval bar queue on a Saturday is real and that’s what the upgrade is for. Doors and stage times weren’t listed on the event page, so it’s worth a look at the ticket first. Then go, because the tour moves on tomorrow.