FA5 concludes season with 80s-themed night

Sep. 2—Friday After 5 will close out its 16-week season in style with a number of 80s groups, special guests, a variety of music genres and more kicking off at 5 p.m. today, Sept. 2 on the riverfront along the Ohio River.

The Jagoe Homes Riverfront Live Stage at the Holiday Inn Owensboro Riverfront will host a number of groups throughout the night including the California-based new wave band The Motels, English new wave and worldbeat outfit Bow Wow Wow, English synth-pop three-piece When in Rome II and the debut of the acoustic pop project BAXLEY — launched by Adam Gaynor, the former original rhythm guitarist and background vocalist in Matchbox Twenty.

"We're happy to go visit," said Martha Davis, lead singer of The Motels. "I have been there before but I've never played in Owensboro, so that's going to be fun ...."

"We're really excited," said Dame Madelyn, current lead vocalist of Bow Wow Wow.

"I think it's going to be really good (and) we're really looking forward to it," said Michael Floreale, founding member and keyboardist of the original band When in Rome.

Originally starting out as The Warfield Foxes in Berkeley, a move out to Los Angeles saw the band rebrand themselves as The Motels before releasing five albums with Capitol Records beginning in 1979.

Their debut record "Motels" cracked the US Billboard Top 200 Albums chart before their following two follow-ups — "Careful" and "All Four One" — helped the group achieve mainstream success, with the latter's first single "Only the Lonely" peaking at No. 9 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1982.

The group's following album "Little Robbers" also produced another top 10 hit with "Suddenly Last Summer" in 1983.

Davis looks forward to getting attendees through the different styles of music between her group and the other acts alongside them.

"Hopefully, we'll take you on a journey," Davis said. "That's what we'll do."

Branching off as members of the London hard rock and punk group Adam and the Ants, Bow Wow Wow attracted international success with their interpretation of the Strangeloves' track "I Want Candy" in 1982 reaching the top 10 in the UK and Ireland and made appearances on the charts in Australia, Belgium, the Netherlands and the United States.

Leigh Gorman, the band's original bass player, said they wanted to be able to keep some of the Adam and the Ants sound intact while putting another spin on the music.

"We use some of the punk elements ... but we wanted to create a more fun and life and multicultural sound that reflected the London that we grew up in at the time," Gorman said.

When in Rome II originally formed as When in Rome in the late 80s and became known for their song "The Promise" — becoming a top 75 hit in the U.K., top 20 song on the Hot 100 and a No. 1 song on Billboard's Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart.

The current lineup includes Floreale, former Ultravox vocalist Tony Fennell and Nashville-based drummer Jack Ivins and said the sound the audience can expect is "something old, something new, something borrowed, but nothing blue."

"I would say that the sound has evolved a little bit," Floreale said. "It was always electronic-based .... There's a lot of piano still ... but Tony is a great guitar player and we introduced guitar when we started touring again, so that has become more dominant in the sound. ...You'll get a little bit of everything.

After selling over 25 million records as an original member of the four-time Grammy-nominated rock band Matchbox Twenty, Gaynor conceived their first solo project BAXLEY, which will make its live debut for the first time live at FA5.

"I have a tinge of excitement of the unknown ...," he said. "...To play with The Motels and Bow Wow Wow is a super cool honor and really looking forward to watching their show and just having a really great night ...."

While all the groups and acts for tonight may have gone in different directions over the years, they all look forward to celebrating the final night of the FA5 in style with the crowd through connectedness and fun.

"My whole thing with singing and songwriting is just communication so that people know that we have the same emotions and feelings and go through the same stuff," Davis said. "...We're all together in this ...."

"With everything going on in the world right now, I feel like we just want to (lift) people's spirits and bring people joy and get them dancing out there," Dame Madelyn said. "Hopefully they can walk away feeling happy with their experience with us."

Other groups on the entertainment lineup for the final night include the band Stackin' Eights playing from 7-9 p.m. on the Romain Subaru Overlook Stage, Nashville alternative country musician Rayland Baxter performing from 7-10 p.m. on the Lure Seafood & Grille Patio Stage and the WBKR Friday Night Fight winner the Oklahoma Hunnies taking the spotlight from 8:30-11:30 p.m. on the Ruoff Party Stage.

Karaoke will also be available at the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 696's facility, 311 W. Veterans Blvd.

For more information and updates, visit fridayafter5.com or facebook.com/fridayafter5.