Alison Moyet
Fillmore Auditorium
May 16, 2025
Photos by Raymond Ahner
Legendary synth-pop chanteuse Alison Moyet captivated a packed Fillmore Auditorium, making her first visit to San Francisco in nearly eight years. Ironically that 2017 appearance was also at the venerable Fillmore.
Perhaps it was the familiar surroundings, or maybe it was because Moyet was winding down the US leg of her 2025 theater tour, but when she emerged onstage with bandmates Brendan Cox (guitars) and Sean McGhee (bass, percussion, keyboards, backup vocals) there was a very relaxed aura about her.
Positioned front and center of the backlit stage, the now 63-year-old Moyet looked fabulous and cut a very dramatic silhouette. With her hair slicked back and pulled into a ponytail, and wearing an all-black dress with a flared skirt, she radiated a genuine air of sophistication with a bit of a Robert Palmer girl look going on.
As soon as the trio started into the stripped down ‘Fire’ (The Turn – 2007), Moyet commanded the attention of everyone in the full house with her captivating presence and powerful voice. By the time she ended the opener, the crowd gave loud and raucous roars of approval.
As I have stated in previous reviews, bands that perform with canned tracks are always facing an uphill battle with me. Being that there was no drumkit onstage, that was the case with Alison Moyet and her mates.
For that reason, I was very interested in seeing how the band was going to handle driving the energy of the set, as without live drums it can be difficult at times for bands to be dynamic and lift the room.
The next song ‘More,’ a spooky and atmospheric number from her Hometime release (2002), started out with the pre-recorded drum track. All I could think of was how much better it would sound with live drums, but no one else seemed to mind as folks started swaying to the well-played instrumentation from Cox and McGhee over the patterned computer percussion.
To their credit, Moyet and company leaned into this semi-acoustic ‘story tellers’ type of presentation, going for a more intimate experience that worked wonders with the crowd.
Her fans were with her throughout the entire main set, mouthing the words with Alison through set highlights which included the Yaz (Yazoo if you want to be technical about it) staple ‘Only You’ as well as fantastic versions of her solo songs ‘It Won’t Be Long’ (Hoodoo –1991), and ‘Is This Love’ (Raindancing – 1987), which got the crowd moving.
The tandem of ‘All Cried Out’ (Alf – 1984) and the Jules Shear cover ‘Whispering Your Name’ closed the main set on a high.
When the band returned for an encore, there was an ovation of anticipation as the crowd wanted to hear songs that would keep them dancing.
As soon as the synth line for ‘Situation,’ penned with Vince Clarke (also of Depeche Mode and Erasure fame), the Fillmore floor exploded, turning into a scene from the old Das Klub (shout out 1015 Folsom).
It’s funny how when a band is at the peak energy of a set they can power through what otherwise could be a fatal error. This was evident a bit more than halfway through the banger ‘Love Resurrection’ from Moyet’s debut solo release Alf, as Alison got a bit lost in the timing of the song (a problem, which when it occurs with a drum machine, is very difficult to resolve).
After trying to come out of the spiral for a few rounds, she signaled to stop the song and re-start from the beginning. This was a bit of a buzz kill, but like the class act she is Alison Moyet recovered nicely during the replay, and then turned up the heat a few more notches with the knockout show closer ‘Don’t Go’ from Yaz (Upstairs at Eric’s – 1982).
In the end it was mission accomplished for Alison Moyet and her fans. The crowd got what they wanted…to end the festive Friday night with hearing songs from the soundtrack of their youth. And Moyet struck the landing, not only of a great show on this evening, but a US tour that has emphatically marked her return as a landmark artist.
