Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Culture Club’s show was a deep dive into the past of a band who, for a delirious moment, were one of the biggest music acts in the world. It opened with a montage of video images from back in the day, including Boy George giving his acceptance speech when Culture Club won a Grammy award in 1984. “Thank you America, you know a good drag queen when you see one,” he said. Then the singer himself emerged from a red telephone box on a platform at the back of the stage, refulgent in elaborate make-up, big hat and outré outfit. A connoisseur of grand entrances, he descended a staircase as though to get closer to us, the little people down below.The never dowdy George O’Dowd is among the most fabulous of pop stars. Joining forces in 1981, he and his Culture Club bandmates were a London foursome from different backgrounds (hence their name), led by a David Bowie-idolising singer who boldly turned pop’s traditions of androgyny up to maximum. He was joined here by bassist Mikey Craig and guitarist Roy Hay from the original line-up. Absent was drummer Jon Moss, with whom George had a turbulent romantic relationship in the 1980s. Moss officially left the reunited group in 2021 amid acrimony. Last year the band agreed to pay him £1.75mn to settle a legal battle over earnings.Their current tour shows no signs of consequent belt-tightening. The production was handsomely staged. The visuals and light show were well designed and there were three backing singers and a horn trio. A drummer and a percussionist played on the raised platform where Boy George had made his entrance. A back-up guitarist and keyboardist added further musical heft. Following his initial outfit, a zanily tailored suit covered in sticky notes bearing the names of songs by the likes of Bowie and Nico, George reappeared in three other elaborate costumes. The format was a run-through of their first two albums, 1982’s Kissing to Be Clever and 1983’s Colour by Numbers, the latter a huge hit that sold 10mn copies. The setlist had been rejigged mid-tour to move the biggest of their big numbers, “Karma Chameleon”, to the finale. The mix of styles in Culture Club’s songs — soul, new wave, funk, pop, reggae — was brought out strongly. “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me” had the sound of lover’s rock. Craig’s basslines were limber and well mixed, while Hay played guitar skilfully, embellishing the textural detailing with the occasional dexterous solo. But the gig nonetheless felt a bit flat.One problem was Boy George’s voice. At 63, he is no longer the singer he was. Once venerated for his lightly soulful vocals, he now sings in a lower, huskier after recovering from a vocal polyp in 2014. The backing singers (two female, one male) supported him ably, especially for the gospel belts of “Church of the Poison Mind” and “Black Money”. Accompanied by Hay at a grand piano, George did a good version of “That’s the Way (I’m Only Trying to Help You)”, an Elton John-style ballad about mothers. But mostly he seemed to be singing within himself, as though wary of overexerting his vocal cords.His between-song talk very loosely told the story of Culture Club’s rise. Moss went unmentioned, although he featured as a talking head in some screened archive footage. George’s anecdotes had a repetitious quality: we learnt more than once that he grew up near the venue. At one point, he chided Hay unfairly for supposedly looking bored. The guitarist later joked at the microphone about him and his bassist colleague needing a lot of therapy over the past 43 years. Other than these hints of underlying volatility, the evening offered no real insight into the life of this remarkable band.★★☆☆☆boygeorgeandcultureclub.net
