Either Google isn't working or no-one has reviewed ABC's concert on Wednesday night, so I'm going to rise to the challenge, split some infinitives and mangle some grammar.

Martin Fry has joined the 'play your classic album in its entirety' bandwagon, and why not? 'The Lexicon of Love' was, and remains, a towering achievement. ABC's hugely ambitious first album brought strings, emotion, glamour and 24-carat pop songs (and a 24-carat suit) to 1982 new wave.

It's a small tragedy that they then scuppered their success with the leaden follow-up 'Beauty Stab'. Does Martin Fry, like Terence Trent D'Arby after him, sometimes wake up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night wondering what might, what should, have been?

When I read that Fry would be performing 'The Lexicon of Love' with the BBC Concert Orchestra, I was online within seconds to buy tickets. I saw the same orchestra doing a stupendous job backing Burt Bacharach at the Roundhouse last year, and they didn't fail to impress on Thursday, even if some of its older members looked as if they couldn't quite work out what all the fuss was about. They played well, it's a shame that they were visited by the curse of Albert Hall. The sound was a bit disappointing, of which more later.

Anne Dudley, who arranged the strings on 'Lexicon', walked on stage to conduct the album's dramatic orchestral intro, which had been extended into a proper overture. This was great; it's a shame that the sound felt overamplified and a bit rough sounding. I suppose the orchestra had to be noisy enough to compete with a large band, but the same had been true at the Bacharach concert where the sound was perfect.

The band, featuring only one original member, the great drummer David Palmer, came on stage. We were expectantly waiting for the opening chords and powerful (fretless? - It was the 80s, after all) bass of 'Show Me'. Instead we got 'When Smokey Sings' followed by later, lesser hits, including 'Be Near Me', 'Who Wants to be a Milionaire?'. This was disappointing, but I suppose they had to play the rest of the ABC songbook. Fry was in fine voice, even if the backing singers picked up the falsetto notes that he no longer reached. He looked sharp in a black suit, and is wearing well. He's also developed an uncanny resemblance to fellow 80s icon Max Headroom.

After the interval, living legend Trevor Horn (who was received with a standing ovation, and deservedly so) made a touching and generous speech about the recording of the album in the cramped basement studio of Sarm East in Brick Lane, detailing Anne Dudley's wonderful arrangements, and ending with a tribute to his wife and business partner Jill Sinclair - now tragically in a coma - who first spotted the band on TOTP and suggested he contact them.

And at last the real show began, and the polite applause and occasional light cheering of the first half was replaced by pandemonium. If you were 17 in 1982, there was a big chance that 'The Lexicon of Love' was part of your rite of passage. It opens with four tracks of rejection, unrequited love and defiance ('Show Me', Poison Arrow', 'Many Happy Returns', 'Tears Are Not Enough') . Fry powered through the tracks and although the album's seamless segues between tracks were replaced by patter that was at times on the naff side, when the music played I could forgive anything. 'The Look of Love', "turns this grey sky to blue" and is one of the great singles of the 80s - indeed of any decade. A few thousand people over forty staggered to their feet, moved around a bit and knew every word. It's a shame that the sound remained a problem; the bass was just a dull rumble and David Palmer's drums echoed around the hall. Gary Langan, engineer of 'Lexicon' and producer of 'Beauty Stab' was at the sound desk. Hmm. UPDATE: The concert is available on the BBC iPlayer and sounds fantastic, not least the bass.

'4 Ever 2 Gether' felt like filler on the album when every other track was killer, but with its Fairlight samples, it was in retrospect interesting to sense a few Art of Noise ideas beginning to form. 'All Of My Heart' was still lushly romantic after all these years, and Martin gave it his all. He did at times seem taken aback and moved by the response from a sell-out audience, and we were still right behind him when he returned, in a gold lamé suit of course, for an encore, of 'The Look Of Love' with Trevor Horn joining the backing singers

These days I only get off my sofa to see performers/heroes who I can't quite believe are still performing (Brian Wilson, Burt Bacharach, Steely Dan) and in spite of a slimmer back catalogue than those luminaries, Martin Fry created a fantastic evening.

So that's my first blog post done. If you don't know the album, it's on Spotify. There's no excuse.