On the last night of their East Coast tour dates, China Crisis stopped at the YMCA Boulton Center in Bayshore, NY. They kicked off the night with African and White and I immediately felt like a teenager again in my parent’s basement, listening to their cassettes (over and over again). Each song brought back memories of the 80's and listening to WLIR, a Long Island radio station that helped them gain fame in NY.
They played songs from their albums in the order they were released. In-between each song, Gary told background stories about how each album came to be. He had the audience engaged from the beginning. The stories got more and more comical as the night went on, the guys laughing so hard you wondered how much of it was rehearsed and how much was off-the-cuff. At times, it seemed more like a comedy show than concert, and that was fine by everyone in attendance as we all laughed along.
About an hour into the show, Eddie was walking back to switch guitars and we all heard a “THUMP” from on stage, then “OOOOOHHH” from the crowd. Yup, he dropped his guitar. He tried playing a few chords but the only sound it made was when he shook it. We knew this wasn’t planned as Eddie and Gary exchanged confused looks like “how do we go on with the rest of the show”? Luckily, there was another guitar somewhat nearby and a friend ran to get it for them.
I’m sure he was a bit stressed and upset over this, but Eddie still seemed to find humor in it. I can only imagine what it was like to be on the road with these guys.
The night progressed on, and we heard more hits like “Bigger the Punch I’m Feeling”, “Black Man Ray”, “Tragedy and Mystery” and the ever popular “Arizona Sky” that got cheers from the crowd.
Gary said since there’s nothing really backstage, they’re going to do what would normally be the last song, then do a few more. At the end of the "last" song, everyone gave them a standing ovation and remained standing til the very end.
They ended the night with “King in a Catholic Style” and you can see the video below.
China Crisis shows they still have what it takes to put on a great show, entertaining in more ways than one. Their voices are still as strong and powerful as it was 30+ years ago when I saw them at The Ritz in NYC back in the mid 80’s.
They are currently joined by Jack Hymers on keyboards and Eric Animan on sax.
There are a few shows left on their tour and I highly recommend getting to one if you can. You will not be disappointed.
You can see their remaining tour dates here: China Crisis tour dates