(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Thomas Dolby – still going strong [1] ['View Profile'] Date: 2026-04-18 I saw Thomas Dolby in concert in Kingston, NY April 16, 2026 at The Assembly, an ‘intimate’ concert venue. For those who only know him from his song “She Blinded Me With Science”, he has had a quite a larger career, producing soundtracks (his work on “The Gate to the Mind’s Eye” displays his incredible versatility.) collaborating with other musicians, continuing to put out new music, and finding new ways to innovate. He’s currently on the faculty at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins, where he leads Peabody’s Music for New Media program. While Dolby is known for his skills with electronica, his time at the Peabody Institute has allowed him to listen to and watch the orchestra they have there. He made a point of how different it is. When he’s composing and performing, he can designate exactly what sound he wants – and then add another, and another, to put it all together. But – they exist separate from each other. The difference, watching the orchestra, is that all of the individual musicians are not only playing their parts, they are listening to everyone else around them and responding to them. He compared it to watching how a flock of birds can seem to move like a single organism, swooping and turning in unison. Electronic music isn’t like that – although he has hopes it could become so. The theme of his current concert tour is “Iconic 80’s Recollections Tour“. (He joked he has to read his own memoir to remind himself of the times.) He’s asked his students what they think they know about the 80’s and they have mostly upbeat takes on the music, like “Walking on Sunshine”. It seems a much sunnier place than Dolby remembers – corporate greed, the Falklands war, Thatcher… He noted the 80’s don’t look quite that dark now in light of current events, which had the audience ruefully chuckling. I’ve seen Dolby live two other times, and each time he’s been making appearances with larger aims than just playing old hits. The Time Capsule Tour displayed a lot of new music – but also gave audience members a chance to record a video message to the future as part of a larger project. It was set up in a small custom trailer, a mobile video studio. His Invisible Lighthouse tour documented his fascination with a key lighthouse that had dominated the landscape for years in a region of the coast of England – and his attempts to capture the moment when it would flash for the last time as it was being deactivated. He talked about his memories, and also demonstrated his musical talents along the way. This concert was part of his exploration of an ambitious project which he is still working on – so we got a preview of a work in progress. I won’t go into details other than to say it was a roughly 40 minute multi media effort, Dolby and three other musicians doing a musical collage referencing the 80’s along with video imagery and some on-screen narration. Gail Ann Dorsey opened for the show. Although a bass player with an impressive resume, she demonstrated that she also has some serious vocal and guitar skills. For her, the concert was a chance to revisit Kingston, NY where she’d spent some time. Dolby came out to start the show with keyboard techno wizardry, and was joined by Dorsey, a drummer, and a guitarist/vocalist. (Sorry, I didn’t get their names – but they were more than good.) There was also a crew member constantly providing support, moving mikes around, bringing instruments back and forth, and keeping things working. It was quite a professional performance. (And yes there was merch.) Dolby reprised a number of his classic songs from over the years with a bit of reimagining at times, while also providing some interesting anecdotes and other things. One of the numbers was a tribute to David Bowie; Dolby recounted how he met with him to join him on stage at the 1985 Live Aid concert at Wembley Stadium. (Hard to believe now there was actually a time when musicians thought they could save the world.) The image below shows the setup, including the screen behind the band that displayed video to accompany the show. It also gives an idea of just how immediate the experience was. Attribution: xaxnar There are still several U.S. tour dates before a swing through the U.K. and then back to the states. If you have the chance to see him – don’t let it go by. As you might expect, he did do “She Blinded Me With Science” – but it was revised to feature new faces reciting the tag lines on the screen behind the band. I won’t give away who it was, but one of the people featured had the audience gasping and laughing when they saw them. Dolby really has some impish humor that can bite. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/18/800022873/community/thomas-dolby-still-going-strong/ Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/