Like many bands amid the Covid era, The Psychedelic Furs had their post-album touring plans abruptly thrown out the window as live music ground to a screeching halt. With things getting back to some semblance of normalcy, the Furs’ San Francisco stop on their “Made of Rain” tour was admittedly long overdue.
Keeping with their successful 2018 run, The Furs brought along openers X for good reason—their dedicated fans show up early and the band puts on a heck of a show. Their 60-minute set proved why this band of all-original members has withstood the test of time: stellar musicianship and those perfectly matched John Doe/Exene harmonies simply can’t be replicated. And for many X fans in the room, this was likely the first time hearing material off their fantastic 2020 release Alphabetland live. While it might be their first studio album in 27 years, it successfully nails that classic X sound.
A quick clearing of the stage and The Psychedelic Furs were ready to roll in front of a near-capacity crowd. With one of the most distinctive voices of the ’80s, Richard Butler was all smiles as he took a bow and launched into their classic “Love My Way.” To be honest it was nice to get that one out of the way because, as the name of the tour suggests, X wasn’t the only band that had been looking forward to busting out some new tunes for the fans and Made of Rain was clearly worth the 31 year wait. Sure, the classics weren’t going to be ignored, but hot damn it was great to hear a healthy dose of new tunes in the mix with “Wrong Train” being a clear standout.
The band, anchored by original bass player and brother Tim Butler and longtime sax player Mars Williams, along with newer members Amanda Kramer (keys), Rich Good (guitar), and Zack Alford (drums) sounded absolutely fantastic and looked ecstatic to be back on stage once again. Richard Butler could hardly contain his glee, frequently kneeling down at the front edge of the stage for the swooning front row. It’s great to see such a legendary band (well, two legendary bands) still relevant and delivering the goods after decades. Don’t snooze on this one, folks.
X
THE PSYCHEDELIC FURS SETLIST
Love My Way
I Wanna Sleep With You
Mr. Jones
You’ll Be Mine
Dumb Waiters
The Boy That Invented Rock & Roll
Wrong Train
Imitation of Christ
The Ghost in You
President Gas
Pretty in Pink
This’ll Never Be Like Love
No One
Heaven
Heartbreak Beat
India
