I know one can’t choose how their voice sounds, but if you’re going to be a singer with a long career, it’s nice to be Richard Butler. When The Psychedelic Furs self-titled debut landed in 1980, he was 24 years old, and his gravelly, world-weary vocals were a significant tonal component of the band. With brother Tim Butler still at his side, they are still going strong four and a half decades later, and his vocals remain a hand-in-glove match for their dancey, post-punk music.
A compact five piece, the brothers were joined by longtime synth and backing vocalist Amanda Kramer and guitarist Roger Morris and Peter DiStefano (Porno For Pyros) as well as session drummer extraordinaire Zack Alford (Bowie, Billy Joel, B-52’s etc) on drums. Together, the band sounded great – tight, punchy and always accurate. Their 2020 record Made Of Rain shows they haven’t fully morphed into a legacy act, and while the three songs they showcased were fine (the sweeping, anthemic “Wrong Train” being the high point), the crowd was more than happy to hear the songs from their younger days.
And they did… “President Gas” is as relevant as ever, “Pretty In Pink” still scores perfect scores across the judges for pop song expertise, and “The Ghost In You” is a winsome ballad that tugged on many heartstrings. Good tended to take most of the solos but towards the end, Morris got a chance to let loose while Richard tugged on his shoulders like he was operating a marionette. Note – no notes were missed by Morris during this horseplay. The song choices weren’t too dissimilar from last year’s tour they did with The Jesus and Mary Chain and the absence of a sax player meant “Imitation Of Christ” was a long shot, but someone posted a photo of the set list after the show and “Into You Like A Train” and “So Run Down” were on it but not played. Maybe next time!
Gary Numan is most well-known for the detached, icy synth-driven radio hit “Cars” but that was decades ago and his time spent with Trent Reznor has taken root. Actually, I shouldn’t get ahead of myself since there’s a strong argument that Numan was a bigger influence on Reznor but there’s no denying that Numan’s music has taken on a more muscular, harder edge to it. The band he assembled was tight and proficient, as well as visually striking. The guitarist and bass player both looked like they just stepped off the set from an A24 film. As he was the support act here, he trimmed a few songs that are in the rotation on the dates he’s played without the Furs, and while we did get “Are Friends Electric?” unfortunately The Tubeway Army’s “Down In The Park” was a casualty.
He made use a stray balloon as a stage prop at one point, and generally paced around the stage when he wasn’t playing keyboards or the occasional guitar. Aside from “Cars” (when everyone got their phone out) and “Metal,” he left the early material out and focused mainly on songs from the last ten or so years, showing he’s still got plenty of fuel left in his car.
