It’s the 1980s once more at Wolf Trap as Belinda Carlisle, the Go-Go’s firecracker vocalist, and some of the most popular rock bands of the era reawaken fond memories during their Regeneration Tour 2008.
Carlisle recently toured with ABC and has kept tabs on its co-performers, The Human League, A Flock of Seagulls and Naked Eyes. The show is built around a set by each performing their biggest new-wave hits, pulling the entire package together in the perfect fan-pleasing format.
“I’ve done these sorts of shows in Europe, and the audience loves it,” Carlisle says. “They always want to hear ‘Heaven is a Place on Earth,’ so I’m including it, ‘Do You Feel Like I Feel’ and seven or eight of my singles. I might even toss in a couple of the Go-Go’s numbers.”
She is mulling over the possibility of slipping in something from her most recent album, “Voila.” Since moving to Paris fifteen years ago, Carlisle has become an avid Francophile right down to the nation’s distinctive chansons. Blessed with a Piaf-like vibrato that virtually shouts chanteuse, she created the album under the most auspicious conditions. The mega-caliber studio dream team headed by Brian Eno on keyboards arranged the traditional French songs to flirt with reggae, tango, calypso and Arabic styles.
“I’ve sung them in Europe where they’re familiar to everyone, but I’m not sure what the response would be in the U.S.,” she says. “Since this show is more of a tribute to the songs of the 80s and 90s, the French songs might not go over as well with the American audiences.
“‘Voila’ was a departure from my earlier recordings, but living in France I came to love the music. I wasn’t inspired to make another pop album and when I went to the studio everything came together and sounded good. It was a perfect recording to do at this time in my life.”
When cutting her earlier albums, Carlisle made certain that each new venture contained one or more top favorites from previous albums to prevent their drifting into oblivion. Even as she revisits her early years during the tour, she is looking toward the future and perhaps a musical turn Eastward.
“My tastes have changed and I follow music I hear in the U.K. for the most part,” she says. “There’s not a whole lot I like about today’s American pop stars. They’ve gotten away from artistry and put too much emphasis on image. The American Idol (concept) has become homogenized with dependence on theatrics, a show of smoke pots and images to cover up talent and really good voices.”
(If you go: Regeneration Tour 2008 featuring Belinda Carlisle, The Human League, ABC, A Flock of Seagulls and Naked Eyes, at 7 p.m. Tuesday; Wolf Trap Filene Center; $42 in-house, $25 lawn; 877-965-3872; wolftrap.org)
