SHOW REVIEW: THE FIXX w/Jill Sobule at Infinity Music Hall

THE FIXX w/Jill Sobule at Infinity Music Hall in Hartford, CT on April 8, 2025

The British band The Fixx bought their unique sound and performance energy to the Infinity Theatre in Hartford, Connecticut on Tuesday April 8, 2025. This innovative and underrated band was hard to categorize when they came on the scene back in the MTV era – their music was an amalgamation of New Wave, Rock, Pop, Synth, Techno (before there was a “Techno” label), Emo (before that appellation existed), with intriguing, sophisticated, and introspective lyrics that captured the angst, anxiety, and tension permeating society during the Cold War years, couched in upbeat pop-rock tunes. Maybe they could be classified as “Euro Theatre,” to quote from their song “Stand or Fall.” Although they had their heyday in the mid-eighties, The FIXX are still the same players since then: Cy Curnin on lead vocals and occasional guitars, Adam Woods on drums and percussion, Rupert Greenall on keyboards and backing vocals, Jamie West-Oram on guitars and backing vocals, and Dan K. Brown on bass and backing vocals.

The band entered the stage to the swirling synth sound of their song “Outside,” and took their respective positions. Lead vocalist Curnin made his grand theatrical entrance, clad in a trench coat, black kufi hat, and scarf, and carrying a red suitcase. He produced a telescope and gazed around the crowd, the first of many stage props he used throughout the night in dramatic fashion, others included: a feather ink pen, a paper airplane, a cane, a golden mask, a white balloon, and a mini confetti canon. Curnin’s tall thin frame, vocal sound and stylings, and stage character theatrics are reminiscent of David Bowie. Two songs in, he addressed the crowd directly with, “Hello, all! It is a pleasure to be here.” During “How much is Enough,” Curnin knelt at the edge of the stage to sing the line “Someone put your hand in mine.” After some hesitation, an adventurous audience member casually walked up and took his hand, receiving cheers of approval from the rest of the crowd.

Curnin set the audience at ease, and got them singing along with a number of their familiar hits – “Secret Separation,” “Are We Ourselves?” “One Thing Leads to Another,” “Red Skies,” and “Saved By Zero” – and in between played a variety of songs from their more recent albums, while Curnin poetically pontificated on the human condition with comments like “Look into the mirror. Do not trust what you see? Are we ourselves?” before playing the song of that title, and after “Wish,” Curnin asserted, “We share a soul – one love.” When they began their biggest hit “One Thing Leads to Another,” patrons who had been waiting for this singular moment rushed to the front of the stage, dancing and singing along. As the song came to an end, Curnin stated: “I was not sure what that one meant in the 80s, but I certainly know what it means now.”

Throughout the night, casually dressed drummer Adam Woods and impeccably attired (complete with bowler hat) bass player Dan K. Brown kept a rock-solid foundation with no flash or unnecessary solos. Jamie West-Oram’s skillful guitar playing helped fill out and drive the songs, and he provided some impressive, dynamic, and energetic solos on “Driven Out,” “Cause To Be Alarmed,” and “Deeper and Deeper,” while Rupert Greenall played some tasteful and ethereal keyboard parts, synth vocoder accents (featured on “One Thing Leads to Another”), and a melodica solo on their first encore “A Life Survived.”

When the band exited the stage, the audience stood cheering and clapping until the band reemerged. The crowd remained standing for all three encores, even the slower-paced “A life Survived” and “Happy Landings,” which Curnin claimed was his mother’s favorite song, dedicating it to “all your mothers,” and at the end, he pointed up and humbly uttered, “Thanks, Mom.” Turning his thoughts back to the anxiety of today’s world, Curnin explained, “You have to live in a bubble these days,” instructed the crowd to “Take a breath,” and then added, “Why does life have to be so complicated? It doesn’t have to be complicated,” before launching into their final number “Saved By Zero,” which had the rapt audience singing the phrase along with Curnin. By the end of the night, The Fixx proved that they can still put on a dynamic two-and-a-half hour performance, and that their catchy cautionary songs and thought-provoking lyrics questioning life and leaders is still as relevant today as it was four decades ago.

More information about The Fixx: https://www.thefixx.com/

Singer-songwriter Jill Sobule opened the show with her unique, quirky, provocative songs in an intimate acoustic performance, playing solo with her signature Vagabond Traveler guitar (as well as a fuzz pedal, which she used to accent a few songs). At 66 years old, Sobule still possesses a clear, cutesy young voice, as well as her irreverent youthful spirit. She spoke personably to the audience from the start, telling them how thrilled she was to be opening the show for The Fixx. “It is nice to know you can meet your heroes, and that they’re not a**holes,” she quipped, then launched into “Jetpack,” a whimsical song that established her vibe and musical musings. In between songs, she told humorous stories, reminisced old friends (even name-checking a few), and explained how she’s been working diligently on her musical memoir “F*ck 7th Grade.” Her casual conversational banter had the audience intrigued and invested in her performance. After playing a new particular politically-charged song where she had the audience singing a controversial word, one patron yelled out that “You’ll get arrested!” and another quickly retorted, “I’ll bail you out!” Before playing “Cinnamon Park,” she told a story about taking mushrooms at a friend’s house in L.A. and witnessing an incredible U2 concert on TV, only to find out in the morning that she’d been staring at a poster the whole night. During the song, she played snippets of Jimi Hendrix’s “Purple Haze”(using her fuzz pedal) and the iconic intro to Yes’s “Roundabout” to provide a trippy backdrop to the lyrics.

At one point, she asked, “Do you want to hear a song about the anorexics at my gym or sex on trains?” When the audience shouted out the latter, she played “Trains,” then explained how her brother had told her about the “four bases,” but had got them all wrong. She was thoroughly engaging, entertaining, and at times poignantly captivating and vulnerable, especially during “I Put My Headphones On,” which referenced a number of 70s AM radio hits. Sobule ended the night getting the crowd to sing along with “Ooh Child,” and then asking them to support her “ten kids with leprosy by buying some merch,” before her final song “A Good Life,” leaving the audience in good spirits.

More information about Jill Sobule at: https://www.jillsobule.com/

The Fixx SETLIST:

Outside

Treasure It

How Much Is Enough?

Driven Out

Closer

Secret Separation

Wake Up

Are We Ourselves?

Wish

Chase the Fire