Un-Chained

Erasure has long been the Penn & Teller of Britpop, with theatrical frontman Andy Bell doing all the showboating and vocal work upstage while quiet Vince Clarke mans the keyboards in the background. In a way, the band—named for Bell's fondness for David Lynch's Eraserhead—has always been an exercise in opposites. Bell, who's flamboyant and queer, recently divulged he's HIV-positive, while Clarke, who's stoic, mannequinlike and hetero, got married and set up house in Maine. Twenty years ago, no one would have dreamed that this odd couple would spawn five No. 1 records and generate a string of '80s hits, such as "Chains of Love" and "A Little Respect," that have become electropop comfort food for the masses.

But why are they back? After a few years of Erasure's retro-infused spiritual progeny Scissor Sisters and Fischerspooner hogging space on the dance floor with electroclash, U.S. audiences seem to have a taste for some original "L'Amour." Eighties brethren (and ex-bandmates) Depeche Mode have just wrapped a worldwide arena tour, while Bauhaus is headlining Coachella and New Order has a sold-out Aragon show Tuesday 3. Erasure is playing the nostalgia card wisely: After 1997's arty, uncommercial Cowboy, followed by 2000's Loveboat (which wasn't released in the U.S.) and a 2003 album of cover songs, the pair returns to form with 2005's Nightbird. It's a catchy, breathy and blippy album that's akin to the signature sound the band moved away from after 1994's aggressively catchy I Say I Say I Say—and it has helped the group sell out two nights in Chicago.

"It's very lovely. It's really colorful," Bell gushes about the production of "The Erasure Show" tour. "In the Chicago show, we have an inflatable forest, which is kind of a fairy glade. Vince is like a fairy spotter. There's two little fairy backing singers and I'm an angel when we come on, but I lose my wings pretty quickly because you can't move around within them very much. From then on, it's the usual strip show."

Why play two gigs at Chicago Theatre when the pair could headline UIC or Tweeter Center, as it's done in the past? "We were looking to do smaller venues and stay in one place a little longer," Clarke explains. "I have more songs prepared than we really need. That means that we can change things around as the concerts progress, depending on the reaction of the audiences. It's good for the audience, but it's good for us because it keeps us sane."

Bell's notorious aerobic stripteases and signature entrances astride giant swans are going to be toned down a little, though—he's just had both hips replaced. "The show's still pretty much the same," Bell assures. "I'm still dancing around, but the recovery time is longer in between songs. I'm concentrating more now on performance as far as singing goes."

Erasure's catchy, up-tempo melodies may betray Bell's rich, plaintive falsetto and torchy vocals, so dialing the camp level down a notch may actually let people concentrate more on the music. "That's what I'm working toward, but I think it's going to be a while because it has more to do with confidence," Bell says. "I feel like I'm a bit on my own. Vince is there, but he's very much in the background. He's very shy with the audience, so I've always overcompensated. I would love to go out onto the stage like Liza Minnelli or somebody and be all dressed in black and stand in the spotlight, and just be able to deliver the songs like that."

Since Bell was among the first out gay pop stars in the '80s, Erasure comes with its devoted gay following, and Clarke, the perennial good sport, dutifully tends to his keyboards and guitars in high-camp wardrobe, whether it's a spaceman outfit, frontier-girl drag or a giant cactus costume. Bell maintains Clarke's getups are not at Bell's insistence: "No, he wants to do it. He wants to outdo me every time." Clarke, though, doesn't see Erasure's audience as gay or straight. "I haven't really thought about it in those kinds of terms. Our audiences are different in different parts of the world. In the States, we have more of a gay following, but in the U.K. we have all types of people."

True, perhaps, but an Erasure song has never been a football halftime anthem or a rally song at a baseball game. "I think that would be really good idea, actually. Especially at an American football final," Clarke says with a smile.

Which song?

"Probably 'A Little Respect.' It would have to be that one, wouldn't it?"

Erasure plays Chicago Theatre Friday 29 and Saturday 30.