Hollywood Bowl – July 27, 2025
At some point last year Julie told me she wanted to see Wang Chung so I have been on the lookout for Wang Chung tickets. When we saw this show, we added it to our create-your-own package during the Bowl presale. I got us decent seats too – section L1. Since it happened on a Sunday, my drive to the new Bowl bus location for Culver City was easy peasy and the bus ride was pretty fast. This was a bus driver who knew what he was about. He drove up La Brea to Sunset then jotted over to Cahuenga. We got there super fast. I knew I was there much earlier than Julie so I found a spot on the bench around the tree and had a snack. Amoeba was there again too (no surprise since they seem to cater to us Gen Xers). Julie got there with plenty of time to spare so we made our way leisurely to our seats.
Paul Young opened the show and despite the claim that all 4 acts would play full sets, he only did 3 songs. I mean, that’s really all of his hits, but I like Paul Young and would probably have liked the non-hits had he played them. C’est la vie.
Wang Chung was up next. They played 5 songs. Unlike Paul Young, who just had his name displayed on the screen behind him, Wang Chung had clips of past performances and videos. It was amusing to see that they look exactly the same only older. They started with To Live and Die in L.A. (appropriate for the Bowl) which Julie informed me was a great movie. Then it was Let’s Go followed by Dance Hall Days. As soon as they started Dance Hall Days I remembered that I’ve never liked that song…and when it came out it was played ALL THE TIME. Ugh. Then they launched into a version of Should I Stay or Should I Go. It seemed a little strange until they suddenly changed the lyrics to Should I Wang or Should I Chung and then it made perfect sense since it was an obvious lead in to Everybody Have Fun Tonight. They were great. If you have an opportunity, go see them – even if you don’t like Dance Hall Days.
Next up was John Waite. He played 7 songs, some from the Babys, some of his solo hits and then randomly the screen behind him switched from just his name to the Ukraine flag. I was expecting him to tell us his opinions about the Ukraine war with the assumption that he was decidedly pro-Ukraine, but no. Instead he launched into Whole Lotta Love and then he dedicated it to Ozzy Osbourne. It just made no sense. Why not pick an Ozzy Osbourne song – ANY Ozzy song – instead of Led Zeppellin? It’s not like Ozzy was lacking for hits. At the end I turned to Julie to ask who played it better since I knew she’d seen Led Zeppelin once upon a time at the Forum. The guitarist from Matchbox 20 was onstage and he really held his own. It wasn’t bad. It was just weird.
Rick Springfield was the final act of the night and played a full set. They fogged up the stage for him and then showed an extensive montage of past performances and acting roles on the screen before he took the stage. He put on a great show and seemed very personable with banter between songs. He looks fantastic for 75. It’s clear he’s had some work done – he even made a joke about it during the show, saying that once he’d be looking out at the audience in L.A. and would see girls he dated, but now he looks out at the audience and sees his doctors. But he rocked pretty hard and took his shirt off for the encore (Jessie’s Girl) because he’s still in fantastic shape. Also, his choice for an Ozzy tribute was Paranoid, which is totally acceptable.
All in all it was a good show. Not my favorite of the year and if I’m being honest not really the music I listened to in the 80s (Devo and B-52s are coming up at the Bowl and that’s more my vibe). It turns out that it was sponsored by 80s on 8 on Xirius and I’m more of a First Wave girl. Considering it’s a national tour, it’s a little surprising that this wasn’t a lease event. It was fun though, and any night at the Bowl is a good night.