Totally Tubular @ Hollywood Palladium 2026-07-24 "review"

 

Thomas Dolby, Flock Of Seagulls, Bow Wow Wow, The Producers, The Escape Club, Animotion, Tommy Tutone.

Had 2 free tickets and spent the day trying to find a plus one as well as informing them tickets were now $13 if they wanted to bring anyone else. Including a friend in one of my favorite bands who haven't played in years and I thought had become inactive since he became a sideman in a much bigger band. "Hey we're playing tonight and I might have a ticket left" Arggghhhhhhhh. Also it was at a club I pretty much refuse to go to unless it's someone I would never see otherwise and thankfully I was assured this isn't going to be the case.

 

I asked the first person at the checkpoint how many tonight and he said 1800. Not sure if that was sold or included the 4 3 inch stacks of comps behind the glass at will call. I took the extra ticket and put in a prominent place to the side of the box office (and took a picture). Then stood a few feet away for 20 minutes and texted it to everyone "if you change your mind I left you a ticket at the box office." The only play it got was someone telling me "if you need a ticket there's one over there." 

First up was Tommy Tutone who was immediately forgettable. But he only played 15 minutes. Without enough songs to fill that out he did Cat Stevens' Wild World. And the sets started coming rapid fire, one after the other with 5 minute changeovers on 1 stage. I wish they did that at Coachella and I might actually pay full price to go. 

Bands fighting over a name and splitting into multiple entities ain't just for washed up hair bands. There are 2 Bow Wow Wows. One is Annabella's Bow Wow Wow and she is always great and the other is just Bow Wow Wow with Lee and perhaps some other originals with Betty Boop on vocals and they are atrocious. My friend who is a huge Adam & The Ants fan was so appalled that when Lee came and stood near him at a show he walked away. I just assumed this was what i was going to see. 

So I was quite elated to see Annabella come out and sing 3 songs. I could have handled another 15-20 minutes while the other acts 10 total would have been enough. Unfortunately no C30 C60 C90 Go! which is one of the most relatable songs any band has ever produced.

Then Flock Of Seagulls for about 40 minutes which was ridiculous since they also only have 2 songs. During their set was my one and only celebrity sighting. Brian Kehew who handles samples and production elements as well as writing in an in depth blog for The Who tours. That iconic scream during Won't Get Fooled Again? That's Brian, hitting a button. I wanted to tell him how much I enjoy his blog but by the time their set was over he was gone. 

After a bit of a longer break to allow half the crowd to quietly and calmy exit, Thomas Dolby took the stage. I saw him about 8 years ago when he was the one with a 20 minute set and I was pretty amazed and said I would pay to see him do a full show. In this case we got 50 mins including most of Aliens Ate My Buick and the obligatory She Blinded Me with Science.  If I weren't already tired of being there for several hours I could have done with another 20 mins or so. He looked and sounded amazing. Would totally see him again. His stuff has actually aged a lot better than most 80's music. 

I was texting with a friend and she told me she went to one of these packages a few years ago  and they couldn't get the changeovers fast enough so everything but vocals was mimed. That would be hilarious if that was the case here since Thomas Dolby resurrected his band The Lost Toy People when he usually plays solo. 

The best part of the whole show was half house didn't mean half AC and it was almost freezing in there without too many bodies to soak it up. It was an easy exit even with all the hot dog carts blocking the driveway wondering where the rest of the crowd is. 

Now one thing that did almost send me on a detour was when I noticed the Happy Together Tour was in Thousand Oaks with the Troggs on the bill. I was all set to abandon all previous plans to pay the 3 figure Lyft ride to see them do their 3 songs but logic prevailed and I looked them up first. Lead vocalist Reg Presley is dead and the original guitarist just sends out scabs. 

Another friend kept texting me about Steelheart at the Whisky. Makes me wonder if it's possible to do 7 hairband package with scab Warrant or Quiet Riot headlining and all the other bands do 3 songs or it would just be the same 20 people you see at the Whisky without Stonebreed or The Hard Way selling presale tickets. 

On the way out I checked the window and the ticket was gone. Staff told me someone took it and that made me very happy.