Modern English, Soft Kill, Underpass, Lunch
Recommended
This event is in the past
Thu., May 12, 8 p.m. 2016
Star Theater
Old Town-Chinatown (Portland)
$13 - $35
The thought of seeing Modern English causes me to grin as stupidly as the vest-without-shirt-wearing Nicolas Cage alongside Deborah Foreman in Valley Girl's love montage. Such a visceral reaction is alarming for a band whose 1982 hit "I Melt with You" is pretty much the only thing anybody cares about. Modern English were number seven on VH1's Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the '80s, and it's precisely this that makes Modern English's perseverance so purely beautiful. Once given the title "One Hit Wonder" there's no turning back; it's a cementation of their legacy. Still, 34 years later, Modern English are touring. Touring, knowing that only when they start that iconic bassline will the entire audience be truly satisfied. The rest of their set they're free to do whatever they want without any expectation of the audience other than filling their allotted 45 minutes with some noise. Was it Camus who said, "One must imagine Modern English happy"? CAMERON CROWELL