I had an opportunity to spend a couple of days with Clive Farrington, to see what is going on with the former front man and lead singer of the popular 80s band, When In Rome. On the itinerary was sitting in on a rehearsal with his new band prepping for 2015, checking out the New Wave Bar & Restaurant in Bellflower for Danny Sanchez’s birthday (“70s Disco Night”), and a few days later attending their special charity concert at Hogue Barmichael’s in Newport Beach, which benefited the Orangewood Children’s Foundation.

Who: Clive Farrington, former lead singer of When In Rome
Supporting: 8tease
Concert Venue: Hogue Barmichael’s
Where: Newport Beach, California
Promoter: Benefiting Orangewood Children’s Foundation
When: December 6, 2014
Seating: General Admission (also photo pass)

Party Venue: New Wave Bar & Restaurant
Where: Bellflower, California
When: December 4, 2014

I first met Clive Farrington back in 2012 as he toured and performed as part of Lost 80s Live! with a number of other 80s era artists.

The band originally formed in 1987, and had broken up by 1990. In that time, they had released just the one eponymous album, which included the huge pop hit, “The Promise”, which has proven to be one of the most enduring and decade-defining songs of the 80s.

When in Rome’s original keyboardist, Michael Floreale, maintains an alternate Texas-based version of the band while Clive Farrington tours with other artists, and, at times, original co-vocalist Andrew Mann.

I also interviewed Clive as part of my podcast program back in 2012, which can be found here: LINK

Private Rehearsals: Clive Farrington, former lead singer of When In Rome

Members

Clive Farrington (vocals)
Pancho Burgos (MD, keyboards, vox)
Danny Dean (guitar, vox)
Dave Casad (keyboards)
Norman Antonini (drums, vox)

I was in the Los Angeles area last week and reached out to Clive to see if we could connect and I could check in on what he is working on these days, and he invited me out to his private rehearsals on December 4th, to meet and photograph his new band and hear their new sound, which included a full drum kit, as well as their covering a few of Clive’s favorite songs, which is part of another project…

As always, Clive’s voice was amazing, and the band was phenomenal (some of what they were working on together was a first for them as a band – amazing!).

Below is a video I shot (iPhone quality) of “The Promise”, just to give a taste of the experience:

Below are some photos of Clive Farrington and his band rehearsing:

New Wave Bar & Restaurant

Clive and friends were heading out to the famous New Wave Bar & Restaurant after their rehearsals, and invited me to come along. I’ve never been before but frequently hear about some of the awesome events going on there, so was eager to check it out.

It is located in Bellflower, and it so happened that the night I went out was a special 70’s Disco Night in celebration of owner Danny Sanchez’s birthday.

The place is split into two spaces – the larger being a restaurant and bar with dance floor and DJ’d music and the smaller set up for karaoke.

A lot of fun and friendly people all around, and those running the place could not have been nicer. Definitely worth checking out if you are in the L.A. area, and you can keep up on their events on their official website at www.newwaverestaurant.com and their official Facebook page at www.facebook.com/newwaverestaurant.

Below are some photos taken at the New Wave Bar & Restaurant on 12/4/2014:

Concert Charity Event

A few days after meeting up with Clive and his band for their rehearsals and party at the New Wave Bar, I also came out to their special charity concert at Hogue Barmichael’s in Newport Beach. Proceeds from this event benefited Orangewood Children’s Foundation.

8tease

Members

Rg “Alexander” Stewart
Natalie Wilde
Julian Shah-Tayler

Supporting Clive Farrington’s band was 80’s party band, 8tease, with an opening set of excellent cover versions of popular 80’s hits.

The threesome each took turns singing and performing, with Rg “Alexander” Stewart performing a number of Rod Stewart hits, Julian Shah-Tayler doing several David Bowie songs as well as hits from other artists, and Natalie Wilde tackling a number of female led hits.

I came away very impressed with all three, and loved the duet with Julian and Natalie doing Animotion’s “Obsession”, and was particularly impressed with Julian’s cover of Prince’s “Kiss” (a very challenging song, vocally). Natalie showed a tremendous amount of range with well-controlled and powerful vocals, and I have to say I’ve never heard anyone do justice to a Cyndi Lauper song as she did.

A really fun group and I would certainly turn out to see just one of their shows – they were awesome.

Below are some photos of 8tease performing on stage:

Concert: Clive Farrington, former lead singer of When In Rome

Members

Clive Farrington (vocals)
Pancho Burgos (MD, keyboards, vox)
Danny Dean (guitar, vox)
Dave Casad (keyboards)

The new band that Clive has put together is awesome, and they play really well together. It was fascinating to watch their rehearsal and then see it all come together on stage for their show.

I was lucky enough to hear a few of the cover songs that they are working on in their rehearsals, which in my opinion actually sounded better than the originals. Two I love in particular I understand will be made part of shows coming up in 2015.

Unfortunately, the awesome live drums were not in play at the concert, as Norman was not available for this show. But he adds tremendously to their sound, and look forward to hearing the full band in concert at a live show next year.

Having talked with Clive about things that he has in the works, I’m really excited about his future endeavors (read more on his official site here). He and the band sounded amazing, and put on a fantastic show.

Below is the set list from this show:

Below are some photos of Clive Farrington and his band performing on stage (click any image for higher resolution versions of each photo):

Jason DeBord