Totally Tubular Festival Was a Collective Flashback

North Texans experienced a collective flashback Tuesday night as the Totally Tubular 80's show rolled into town. Seven '80s bands were part of the lineup at the Pavilion at the Toyota Music Factory, varying in their popularity and the amount of original band members appearing.

For some concertgoers, a hit song title might be more familiar than the band's name. While there were some hardcore fans presents — even some waiting around in hopes of grabbing a photo or autograph of one of their idols — the crowd was fairly thin. The lawn section was closed but that meant the mostly older crowd was spared of the 100-degree heat. It seemed apparent that the further we get away from the '80s, the smaller the draw for some of these acts.

The night started out with The Plimsouls. Guitarist Eddie Munoz is the only member of the band remaining, and he lost a legal battle with other band members over song rights and use of the name. It was a tad disappointing to see this band without singer Peter Case, but for Munoz, it seems the show must go on.

The Plimsouls' big moment came when they were featured as the bar band in the movie Valley Girl with their biggest song "A Million Miles Away." Although they brought energy to their set, the group was clearly missing key members. Next up was Annabella's Bow Wow Wow. Singer Annabella Lwin is the only original member remaining from the group whose best-known song was "I Want Candy." The backing band consists of players who matched the feel of the original band with an energetic performance. The Tubes came on next. This band had top-10 success in the '80s with the song "She's a Beauty" and with a performance in the film Xanadu. The Tubes still sport three original members in singer Fee Waybill, drummer Prairie Prince and guitarist Roger Steen. It was an engaging performance, but it was clear that the days of Waybill's best vocals were behind him. Still, he managed to entertain the crowd and had as much of a blast as the dialed-in audience.  Men Without Hats exploded onto the stage next. They did a smart thing for this kind of show, opening with and then reprising their huge hit "Safety Dance." Singer Ivan Doroschuk by far had the most dynamic performance of the evening, bounding back and forth across the stage and dancing wildly — even dangerously. The drummer felt the Texas pull and wore a cowboy hat.  Modern English had arguably one of the most recognizable songs of the night with "Melt With You." This band presents the same core lineup from 1977. Before they got to their hit, lead singer Robbie Grey said something no one in the crowd expected anyone to say on this night of nostalgia: "We're going to play a song off our new album." ("1 2 3 4" is out now.)

The band closed with "Melt With You." and it was among the most beloved songs played all evening. The band extended the song and gave the crowd the chance to sing along, and everyone at Toyota absolutely did. Arguably the best performance of the night came from Tom Baily of Thompson Twins. Baily put together a trio of beautiful women who rocked these songs to perfection. They all wore white, which made a gorgeous stage aesthetic. Baily's set, unlike the previous acts, were all familiar songs. Thompson Twins had a string of hits, and they played most of them.

The singer wore a wireless mic and drifted across the stage, ocasionaly banging a drum, strolling to the keyboard for a solo or posing with other band members.

The highligh of his set was "Hold Me Now," but a pleasant surprise was the song "If You Were Here," which was featured on the closing shot of the film Sixteen Candles.  In some other stops of this tour, Baily closes the bill, but North Texans were treated to a phenominal intimate set by
Thomas Dolby to close the show. Dolby really embraced the '80s theme, mixing other songs and hints of classic songs. Dolby just had a single platform with his keyboard as well as a mic and his sampler. He walked across the stage with a wireless mic and a small keyboard. If you closed your ears, you might think you were watching a Ted Talk, but he sounded fantastic. He opened with a spot on "Blue Monday" by New Order. His second song, "Europa and the Pirate Twins," had incorporated bits of Gary Numan's song "Cars," and The Cure's "Close To You." He then did a dramatic, haunting version of David Bowie's "Heroes."

Dolby finished the set with his two hit songs "Hyperactive" and "She Blinded Me With Science," which were the perfect ending to a truly fun night.

Some of these '80s hit songs are so woven into the fabric of our lives, fans seemed ecstatic to get the chance to hear and see these song performed firsthand. It's easy to forget that the 1980s took place 40 years ago and this may be the last tour for some of these artists. Tubes' singer framed the night perfectly when he said, "It's not about the '80s, it's about the music."