Boy George and Culture Club opened the 2026 Washington State Fair concert season Friday night, September 4, with a colorful trip through more than four decades of pop history. One thing was noticeable before Boy George even sang a note: for an opening-night concert featuring one of the most recognizable pop stars of the 1980s, there were quite a few empty seats in the grandstand.
The concert also arrived amid controversy surrounding Boy George’s solo song, “Od Nirkod (We Will Dance Again),” released in solidarity with Israel and criticized amid the continuing war in Gaza. There is no way to know whether the controversy had any connection to attendance, but it was part of the backdrop surrounding his Puyallup appearance.
One important distinction: “We Will Dance Again” is a Boy George solo song, not a Culture Club song. It wasn’t performed Friday night, and George made no apparent reference to the controversy. Once onstage, the focus was firmly on the music.
And there are plenty of hits to choose from.
The show kicked off with a clever mashup of Culture Club’s “Church of the Poison Mind” and Wham!’s “I’m Your Man,” immediately establishing that this would be more than a straightforward greatest-hits performance. It was part Culture Club retrospective and part musical love letter to the artists who helped define the glam, soul, rock and pop landscape surrounding Boy George.
“Standing Tall in a City of Love” followed before the band dove into familiar territory with “Move Away,” “It’s a Miracle” and “I’ll Tumble 4 Ya.” Those songs served as reminders of just how distinctive Culture Club sounded during its early-’80s peak. Pop, reggae, soul and new wave somehow lived together comfortably, with Boy George’s unmistakable voice tying everything together.
Boy George, now 65, remains a fascinating stage presence, but vocally he isn’t the Boy George of 1983 — something I had already witnessed when I last saw him perform in 2016. That’s hardly shocking after more than four decades of singing, and rather than pretending otherwise, the current Culture Club arrangements often work with the voice George has today.
That was particularly evident on “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me.” Instead of attempting to recreate the original note for note, the song arrived in a new arrangement, with George getting some welcome vocal assistance from Natalie Palmer, who has essentially stepped into the powerhouse backing-vocal territory once occupied by the legendary Helen Terry. Palmer and George turned the Culture Club classic into a duet, allowing his deeper, weathered voice to play against hers.
There was another absence I noticed almost immediately.
Where was Jon Moss?
For those of us who remember the original Culture Club, Moss wasn’t simply the guy sitting behind the drum kit. He was one-quarter of the band’s classic lineup — and, of course, famously Boy George’s former lover. Seeing Culture Club without him felt strange.
After the concert, I did some digging and discovered that Moss officially left Culture Club in 2021.
Still, it was great to see the other two original Culture Club members, Roy Hay and Mikey Craig, very much present and front and center. And they weren’t exactly difficult to spot. Both were sporting identifiable hats, making it easy to pick them out even from across the grandstand. With George, Hay and Craig sharing the stage, three-quarters of the classic Culture Club lineup was represented — a welcome sight for longtime fans.
But then somebody else onstage caught my eye.
Among the backup singers and occasional lead vocalists was a striking performer who, from where I was sitting, bore an almost uncanny resemblance to a young Jon Moss — if someone had handed Moss an eyeliner pencil and told him to join the singers instead of sitting behind the drums.
Naturally, I had to find out who he was.
His name is Vangelis Polydorou, and there is another Boy George connection. Polydorou competed on the 2016 season of The Voice UK, when Boy George was one of the show’s coaches, and has since become part of George’s musical orbit.
So, no, Jon Moss wasn’t secretly back in Culture Club wearing makeup and standing at a microphone — although for a few minutes, I genuinely wondered.
The middle of the show became an especially interesting tour through Boy George’s influences and contemporaries. After performing his solo track “King of Everything,” Culture Club moved into Prince’s “Purple Rain.” Rather than attempting to imitate Prince, George made the song his own, turning one of pop music’s most sacred sing-alongs into a heartfelt tribute.
T. Rex’s “Children of the Revolution” brought some glam-rock swagger before “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me” and “Time (Clock of the Heart)” transported the fairgrounds straight back to the early ’80s.
“Do You Really Want to Hurt Me” remains Culture Club’s defining ballad for good reason. Even with George’s changed vocal range and the new arrangement, its vulnerability survives. In some ways, hearing it sung by the 65-year-old George gives the lyrics an entirely different weight. This is someone who has lived through extraordinary fame, addiction, tabloid scandals, broken relationships, reinvention and survival.
The band then paid tribute to another British icon with David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance,” which fit surprisingly naturally alongside Culture Club’s own material. “Miss Me Blind” closed the main set and brought the evening squarely back into Culture Club party mode.
For the encore, Boy George and company took another detour with The Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil.” It was an unexpected choice, but considering George has built an entire career around refusing to do what people expect, perhaps unexpected should be expected.
Then came the song everyone knew was coming.
“Karma Chameleon.”
Within seconds, the fair grandstand became one enormous 1983 sing-along. Whatever controversy Boy George brought with him to Puyallup remained outside the performance. For those 90 minutes, he and Culture Club let the music do the talking.
Culture Club ultimately delivered what longtime fans came to hear: a hit-filled retrospective balanced with tributes to George Michael, Prince, T. Rex, David Bowie and The Rolling Stones. Seeing George alongside original members Roy Hay and Mikey Craig — hats, hits and all — also provided a reassuring connection to the band’s past.
More than four decades after Culture Club helped define the MTV generation, the lineup and Boy George’s voice may have changed, but the songs still connect. When “Karma Chameleon” closed the night and turned the Puyallup grandstand into one big sing-along, those red, gold and green dreams proved they still have plenty of life left in them.
