As I was viewing the calendar of upcoming events at Yoshi’s in Oakland, I saw that Midge Ure – Acoustic Solo would be appearing and that they were offering Meet & Greet tickets.  The name was vaguely familiar, but I didn’t connect immediately that Midge was the lead singer of Ultravox and the guy who wrote and produced “Do They Know It’s Christmas” by Band Aid and made Live Aid happen. 

The type of music that Midge created in Visage, Ultravox and solo isn’t exactly in my sweet spot, but I was up for a change of pace and bought a ticket to see him by myself.   

Yoshi’s Oakland is a small venue that has about 300 seats and it wasn’t very packed on November 16, 2021.  The meet and greet was a small group of us that were able to come into the venue, get seats close to the stage and interact with the artist.  In this instance, Covid residue was still a thing, so there wasn’t a lot of close interaction.  Midge came on stage and talked to us from there, but the theater is so intimate and front row seating is so close to the stage that he was literally like 5 feet away.   

Midge Ure took a minute or two to warm up to the “meet and greet” situation and said something like “Should I just talk, or do you have questions or what?  I’m not exactly sure how this works.”  Before you know it, audience members had him going and he was quite the raconteur.  Telling us stories about recording of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”, how difficult it was getting all the artists in the studio at the time and the different personalities.  Notably he mentioned how Bono strode up to him super confidently and with a very firm handshake and how the timing in getting Boy George into the studio was at the very last minute.  As Midge answered questions and told us stories, (some of which I had no touchpoint because I didn’t have the knowledge base of his career), it was quite apparent that this was a HIGHLY intelligent and super talented man that was not only talented in music and business, but charitable and deep thinking. 

When the coordinators told him it was time to wrap up the meet and greet, I asked if he wouldn’t mind signing a few things and passed a photo, a 45 and the Band Aid 12” to him.  I think maybe one other person had something for him to sign.  We ran into a bit of a snafu when I handed him a silver pen to sign his photo and Band Aid 12” – both attempts not highly visible – and ultimately the Blue sharpie saved the day (as Blue sharpies always do).  Side note: This very handsome and beautifully shot photo of Midge from 1985 was done by the Golden Age of Hollywood legendary photographer, George Hurrell.  Midge Ure gets the Hollywood glam treatment – I love it! 

Now that I knew more about the man and his history, I was truly ready for show-time and moved back one table to my assigned seat to watch the show.  This is where the story takes a turn. 

Although I’M not a super-fan and knowledgeable of 80’s new wave music, the table of women directly behind me to my left WERE fans.  And they were vocal.  And drinking.  A lot. 

Midge started his set, and I really enjoyed it, even though I didn’t know the songs he was singing.  It was around the 4th or 5th song that the ladies started shouting out at Midge.  At first it was “fangirl” shouts, and he acknowledged them briefly.  But they got progressively louder and changed their tone demanding that he sing certain songs.  “Sing the hits!”  Midge was starting to get irritated.  And keep in mind that this is a small room, he’s the only person on stage, and the crowd is also small.  So basically, the women started overshadowing the performer. 

When he started singing “Vienna” (a song that I DID know), the ladies started screaming and whooping it up.  I thought this was a good sign that he played a song they wanted and that now they would calm down.  Boy was I wrong. You can see from the photo with the seating chart how close these women were to me (and the stage), basically yelling in my ear. 

After he finished “Vienna” they immediately started shouting “Reap the Wild Wind” over and over and over.  So much so, that Midge stopped playing, addressed them directly and told them they were ruining the show for everybody else.  Non-plussed, drunk and super-feisty they yelled back.  Audience members near me turned around and told them to please keep it down.  That was answered with slurred cussing. 

The remainder of the show was super uncomfortable for everyone, except these drink-emboldened women.  When Midge started singing “Dancing with Tears in Your Eyes”, they were screaming and ecstatic.  Afte that song, he said goodnight and left.  No extended goodbye, no encore.  Nothing.  He wanted out.  And I don’t blame him.  The women were super-lit by now and yelling at some audience members who were telling them they ruined the show.  I got out of there.  Ain’t nobody got time for that. 

The thing of note here is that Midge’s setlists before and after this one particular show were usually 17-20 songs in length and virtually ALWAYS included “Reap the Wild Wind” (and sometimes “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”) near the end of his set.  But due to demanding, drunk and rude concert goers, THEY didn’t get to hear what they wanted.  And neither did we. 

He sang 15 songs and left: not a happy camper.  And the rest of the audience was deprived because of the drunken few.  Do manners even exist anymore? 

The good news is that I have a newfound admiration and fondness for Midge Ure and Ultravox and I’m glad to find that I had their music in my collection.