Toyah at Haslemere Hall, Thursday February 10th 2022

Toyah at Haslemere Hall - photo Retro Man Blog

Toyah treated us to a superb career-spanning show last night at Haslemere Hall in deepest rural Surrey, surely one of the poshest places that I've ever seen a gig and definitely a very apt venue to host a date on the "Posh Pop" album tour. Even Toyah remarked on how posh the area was, which, given the size and grandeur of Toyah & Robert Fripp's home was really saying something. Actually, joking aside, it was refreshing to see a show in a real community theatre, staffed by lovely friendly locals with no over-the-top security or regulations and everyone was extremely helpful. Certainly a bit different from when I saw Toyah for the very first time back in 1981 at the Hammersmith Odeon. So, it was great to see Toyah perform in such an intimate environment and it really suited the Electro-Acoustic line-up which featured Nat Martin on guitars, Chloe Dupree on keyboards, Mike Nichols on bass and Jamie Dupree on guitars and all were superb musicians, really doing justice to the songs. I loved the new arrangements, they all worked really well and in my opinion "Brave New World" even beat the original. It was nice to hear something different for a change rather than note by note reproductions of songs that we pretty much know by heart anyway. 

Toyah at Haslemere Hall - photo Retro Man Blog

Toyah at Haslemere Hall - photo Retro Man Blog

They opened with a version of Martha & The Muffins "Echo Beach" and then a few songs into the set, Toyah encouraged the audience to get up from their seats, go to the front and dance and before "It's A Mystery" she even suggested we might want to get our cameras out and start videoing. Toyah was on fine form both vocally and with her between song chat which covered many diverse topics such as teaching Robert Fripp to do the Twist (unsuccessfully apparently...) and upsetting legendary movie director George Cukor with her red hair. She name-checks her musical collaborators Joel Bogen and Simon Darlow and chats about working with Katharine Hepburn and performing as a female wrestler in "Trafford Tanzi". She mentions the support she received from DJ's such as Mike Read and Janice Long and of how she escaped the attentions of Jimmy Saville during Top Of The Pops. Along the way we even learn about the financial benefits of licencing your music to Weight Watchers. Of course she talks about the terrible effects of the pandemic but lightens the mood somewhat with how she came to master Zoom meetings. 

Toyah at Haslemere Hall - photo Retro Man Blog

Toyah is not only in good humour but also full of a positive and uplifting attitude and I really liked her take on how the all-inclusive attitude of the early Punk movement allowed female musicians in particular to be able to start bands and make a career out of music. She also introduces each song with a little anecdote or nugget of background information which goes down well with us music nerds. And what a great selection of songs it was...all the hits such as "Thunder In The Mountains", "Good Morning Universe" and "I Want To Be Free" and the oldies like "Neon Womb", "Ieya" and "Danced" are complimented by a selection from the excellent new album "Posh Pop" including "Zoom Zoom", "Summer of Love", "Levitate", "Rhythm In My House" and a wonderfully moving "Take Me Home" to close the show. The only negative of a thoroughly entertaining night was the complete absence of merchandise which was a bit strange. However, it saved me some money to put towards the pre-order of the deluxe re-issue of "Toyah! Toyah! Toyah!" so I can't really complain. 

Toyah at Haslemere Hall - photo Retro Man Blog

For details on forthcoming "Posh Pop" tour dates or for general information then please check out the official Toyah web-site here. I'd also like to recommend the excellent "Dreamscape" fanzine which is a must-have for all Toyah fans. Check out further details at their web-site here.

Toyah at Haslemere Hall - photo Retro Man Blog