Heritage Live has announced the first show of its 2023 summer outdoor concert series in the grounds of English Heritage’s Audley End House & Gardens in Saffron Walden, Essex.

Celebrating the most defining music of the 80’s, this seismic synth-pop spectacle brings a line-up of three acts who continue to release ground-breaking new music.

Soft Cell headline the event, which also features very special guests Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, and Heaven 17.

The show will take place on Friday 11th August 2023, with tickets going on pre-sale on Wednesday 9th November at 9am, and general sale on Friday 11th November at 9am. Tickets will be available from AXS.COM/HeritageLive.

On the show, Heritage Live Organiser Giles Cooper said: “It’s been an ambition of us all at Heritage Live to stage a show for the legendary Soft Cell, but to also have them joined by the iconic OMD and Heaven 17, will make this concert so unique within such a spectacular setting, that it’ll undoubtedly make this a night to remember for many years to come. We can’t wait!”

Having met at Leeds Polytechnic University in the late 70’s, Soft Cell (Marc Almond and Dave Ball) released four UK Top 20 albums between 1981-1984, spawning hits such as Memorabilia’, ‘Torch’, ‘Say Hello, Wave Goodbye’; and of course their boundless, era-defining No.1 hit ‘Tainted Love’.

The duo performed to a sold-out crowd at The O2 in London in 2018 for what was intended to be a farewell concert, but in the intervening years spawned a brand new album ‘*Happiness Not Included’, as well as recent UK and North American tours celebrating the 40th anniversary of their debut album, ‘Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret’.

Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark (OMD) were formed by Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys in the late 70s, and are known for their trademark electronic sound, achieving hits throughout the 80s including ‘Souvenir’, 'Joan of Arc', ‘If You Leave Me’, and the anti-war anthem ‘Enola Gay’. Formed after a split from The Human League, Heaven 17 were formed in 1980 in Sheffield, and achieved chart success with hits including ‘(We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang’, ‘Play To Win’, and ‘Temptation’, cementing their status as one of the most forward-thinking bands of the decade.