Events

[POP] Long an essential summertime experience in Western New York, the Artpark “Tuesday in the Park” outdoor concert series kicks off this Tuesday, June 14 with an embarrassment of riches. Opener Howard Jones was a major force in the British synthpop movement of the early 1980s, with songs like “What is Love?” and “Like to Get to Know You Well.” Headliners Barenaked Ladies were beloved in Buffalo well ahead of the rest of the country’s discovery of “One Week”, thanks to early exposure on Toronto’s CFNY-FM. Though founder Steven Page left in 2010, the band has continued on with the quartet of remaining original members, and their shows are still known for their good humor and spontaneity. They may even bring Jones back to the stage for a duet of one of his biggest hits. But the highlight of the night will have to be the middle performance by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, the Kraftwerk-inspired band that defined synthpop in the 1980s. As experimental as they were effortlessly melodic, they willfully followed up their biggest album, 1981’s Architecture & Morality, with the challenging but uncommercial Dazzle Ships. Though OMD recently performed both albums live in Frankfurt, they sadly won’t be stretching out in this briefer appearance. Still, it’s hard to complain when their current setlist comprises a dozen impeccable pop gems ranging from “Enola Gay” and “Electricity” through “If You Leave” and the more recent “History of Modern (Part 1).”