Howard Jones, Roxanne De Bastion – Dream Into Action 40th anniversary – Birmingham Symphony Hall – Sunday 16th November 2025

Those of us old enough to remember the 1980s would swear that they happened around ten years ago. It certainly seemed that way at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall when Howard Jones came to town to celebrate the 40th anniversary of his Dream Into Action album. Anniversary tours are a big thing for 80s artists. Playing the classic album padded out with a few crowd pleasers is a well worn path. As long as the show finishes early enough to get the last bus home in time for cocoa, the audience are happy to brave the journey to the big city. The artist gets to top up their pension fund. Everyone’s happy.

Howard Jones, it seems, is not happy to play that game.

New Song and New Songs

There was no play through of the album. Jones announced that he would play a few tracks from Dream Into Action yet there was more. Much more. There were new songs as well as New Song. Reimagined versions, original versions, versions of versions. Jones delivered all of this with a visual and acoustic presentation that was as fresh and cutting-edge as it was nostalgic and joyful. Jones both looked and sounded simply stunning with a changing wardrobe that would befit any Jean Paul Gaultier catwalk show and a fast paced set packed with polished, thrilling material.

No, there was no status quo here. No jumping on any bandwagons. Jones has created a show as original and exciting as when he first stepped onto the stage in the early 1980s.

Things Can Only Get Better

Opening with 1984’s Pearl In The Shell and sporting sunglasses shooting red laser beams, Jones showed from the start that this wasn’t going to be an aged pop star tickling the electronic ivories for the listening pleasure of the surviving fans. No, at a packed Symphony Hall almost everyone was on their feet from the start. The tight knit band punched out a version of the song which retained all of the original’s novelty and expanded it with what can be achieved with a strong ensemble of varied instruments and genuinely fine musicians.

If anything, this was the essence of the show. The original charm of these songs came in part from its Vince Clarke simplicity. One man, a keyboard and a drum machine. Many of these songs sounded just like the originals but… better. Bigger. Broader. More energetic. Others were tweaked and updated. All were packed with energy and obvious joy.

In the case of Everlasting Love, we got two versions of the song. The first was a whimsical, music-hall rendition with tweaked lyrics. The second began as per the original, morphed into a banging dance floor filler, morphed again into a rock tinged calypso, then again into a stadium rock anthem, back to the original and finally closing with a keyboard flourish that Chopin would have been delighted with. Jones introduced it by saying, “I like reinventing songs“; something of an understatement.

Hope, Freedom and Unity

The One To Love You, a collaboration with American artist BT, was another hyped up arrangement which had the audience on their feet. It was one of a number of songs which showcased the breadth of Jones’ work and influence. Eagle Will Fly Again was his contribution to Eddie the Eagle’s movie soundtrack. Hide And Seek his memorable performance at Live Aid in 2025.

This is music which lifts the spirits and brings people together – Like To Get To Know You Well being an obvious example.

What Is Love?

The support of the band enabled Jones to perform No-one Is To Blame as originally recorded. Saying that he normally performs a stripped down, acoustic version because of the need for percussion, this rendition was as beautiful and heart wrenching as the original and yet also more complete and wholesome. It’s a demonstration of Jones’ evolution from “Look what clever things he can do with a synth” to drawing on the full resources of a full band. No longer synth music for its own sake, it’s a synth sliding effortlessly amongst the threads of more traditional instruments.

Not wanting to leave the audience hanging, the set climaxed with What Is Love? and after another costume change, Things Can Only Get Better. A finale which had the audience once again on their feet.

The evening’s entertainment showed that Jones has moved beyond reinvention for its own sake. This is a new rhythm, full of old and new songs, solo work and collaborations, familiar and unfamiliar arrangements and the classics, just as we know and love them.

Well, maybe with Jones’ infectious enthusiasm we now love them even more.

Whilst this was a Dream Into Action celebration, Jones didn’t shy away from the songs which have defined his career. Sure, they were crowd pleasers too but Jones clearly relishes and revels in the glorious feedback from the crowd when they hear something they can jump up and down to. This doesn’t come across as vanity, more a shared indulgence in that 1980s sense of freedom, possibility, hope and fun. It’s something which can often be missing from more modern forms of performance art.

The Dream Into Action 40th anniversary tour continues across the UK, Europe and US.

ROXANNE DE BASTION

Music Across Time

The evening had opened with a set from singer-songwriter Roxanne De Bastion. Blending acoustic simplicity with flair and dexterity, she created an interesting contrast to Jones’ approach to stagecraft.

The high point of the set was a duet between De Bastion and her grandfather Stephen de Bastion, aka Istvan Bastyai Holtzer. A concentration camp survivor of Hungarian origin, he was a noted musician and composer before the war put an end to his career. De Bastion had written a song utilising a recording of her grandfather’s music which hung eerily in the hazy darkness. Two generations of musicians reached across time to create a stunningly beautiful and moving performance.

Howard Jones online: Website / TikTok / Instagram / Facebook / Spotify

Roxanne De Bastion online: Website / Facebook / Instagram / Youtube / X

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