Thomas Dolby

Okay, I admit I went to see Dolby as a laugh. But I should’ve realised something was up after passing his mammoth tour bus. Turns out, the one-hit wonder is actually a ring tone "bazillionaire” and this wasn‘t a sad grasp at fame but simply an opportunity to have fun. And it was. Decked out like the future geek he always was, including a digi-cam attached to his headset that projected onto a backdrop, the bald and beefier Dolby set up behind a bank of electronics and played a serious set of horn section-assisted synth pop that was being recorded for a live album. He tossed out T-shirts into the crowd and didn’t even conclude with "She Blinded Me with Science.” This packed house demanded, and received, an encore — the first I saw at this year’s fest.