I saw the Furs the first time at the Riviera Theatre in Chicago on August 21, 1981, 34 years and 11 months to the day before last night’s show at the Santa Monica Pier.
That show was opened by the Chicago power pop band, The Kind, and was followed by a night of dark droning guitars punctuated with saxophone and brooding lyrics on the absurdity of life in a the modern (1980s) world. The Furs were more Joy Division than joyful, yet had energy and focus that made me return to see them a number of times (in increasingly large venues) over the next four years. A Furs fan up to MIRROR MOVES, I lost interest after MIDNIGHT TO MIDNIGHT. They did two records after that. I have noted from time to time that they are still touring and wondered how well they and their sound have fared over the years.
Last night they followed Oakland alt-pop band Day Wave, with no fog but with an enthusiastic reception from one of the most diverse cross-sections of society I have seen at a concert since U2 in Anaheim a few years ago. Fronted by a now bespectacled Richard Butler and his brother Tim on bass (the only original members), with their long time sax great Mars Williams in tow, and three youngsters on guitar, drums, and keyboards, they opened with INDIA, first song, first side of their debut LP. The only chestnut they would play from that watershed recording. If the Furs are now running on fumes, irrelevant and relegated to free concerts and county fairs, no one told them. Although the mix was rough at times, and the spotlights were seldom on spot, the show was high energy and the music fresh. They probably played to much from their last 3 records for my taste, but the largely young and female audience was enrapt at those attempts at new-wave pop. (Since when did the Furs become a favorite with females?) Although Richard B at times was a caricature of his former self on stage, he still demands your attention as he for the umpteenth time delivers their now aged catalogue.
In the end they left me wanting more, wishing they would have played more of the first record, or chosen songs to showcase Williams more. It left me recalling days of a younger me and a younger Furs. However, neither they nor I—nor anyone there, I think—had any reason for embarrassment for the evening we shared.
NO TEARS*,
– Todd
*Didn’t play this either!
