The music scene returned to the '80s over the weekend

The English electronic pop duo Erasure returned to Chicago for two nearly sold out shows at The Chicago Theatre on July 27 and 28. The World Be Gone Tour had already traveled around much of the world by the time it arrived in the iconic venue.

The set up had keyboardist Vince Clarke on top playing his instruments from above with Andy Bell and the two longitme backup singers below out front. There were plenty of lights throughout the set and Clarke did eventually come down from his tower towards the very ed of the night.

The song list was heavy on the past hits with songs from the album World Be Gone mixed in. Beginning with "Oh L'Amour" they moved into "Ship of Fools" and "Breathe." There was one cover song of Blondie's "Atomic," but with the current popularity of Mamma Mia this seemed like a ripe time to play something from their EP Abba-esque.

Bell's voice handled the classic catalogue well with "Blue Savannah" and "Drama!" being standouts. Some of his banter was a little hard to hear, and I could have stood for more costume changes to cover the unflattering tattoo bodysuit, but overall lots of fun to watch Bell's dance moves."A Little Respect" closed out the evening and left diehard fans gasping for more.

Over the same weeked on July 29 a multitude of groups from the past performed live and in concert at Ravinia Festival in Highland Park. Lost '80s Live was a mixed bag from artists are still bringing in the crowds.

Headlined by Flock of Seagulls, there was plenty of music to take in before Mike Score arrived at the end.

Trans X kicked things off and had trouble with the early arrivals. It would have helped if he announced who was at some point.

Gene Loves Jezebel, who I had seen perform in Nashville in high school still had a nice set of pipes to carry some of the high reaching vocals. Farrington and Mann from the group When in Rome played their massive hit "The Promise" and seemed in good spirits.

Nu Shooz stood out from the crowd with a fun attittude and a song that got people to their feet with "I Can't Wait." They were geniunely nice to fans at a meet and greet afterward and that always says a lot about a band. Singer Valerie Day knows how to dress and there's no reason they shouldn't continue to tour. It had been many years since they played in our area so a real treat.

Wang Chung was a highlight of the night with such energy and hit after hit. They didn't even play "To Live and Die in L.A." they were so busy bopping to a nice catalogue including "Everybody Have Fun Tonight."

Many of the acts are rotatiing so try taking a retro road trip after viewing upcoming shows on Lost80sLive.com.