Monday night the wife and I ventured across the bridge to see one of my wife’s favorite bands from the 80’s, The Psychedelic Furs. This show also marked my second trip to the refurbished (and beautiful) Ritz Theater. The Ritz is quickly becoming one of my favorite places to catch a show.
Opening band, The Happy Mondays did The Furs no favors, acting disinterested for the bulk of their set, requiring a teleprompter for their lyrics and offering little to no stage presence. It was so bad that I actually contemplated booing and heckling them in between songs. Yup, I was seriously on the edge of being the “Freebird” guy. By the end of their set the crowd had had enough and started to pay both the bar and their friends more attention than the band. I don’t even remember the exact moment they left the stage, I just suddenly stopped needing to yell. In a sentence, the Happy Monday’s sucked out loud and I hope they never return to Tampa again.
Needless to say, the opening act failed the Furs and they were gonna need something special to get it back. I guess they knew that as well, ’cause they opened the show with what is arguably their biggest hit, “Love My Way”.
Mission Accomplished.
Polar opposites of The Happy Mondays on stage, the Furs were engaged, appreciative of the crowd and seemingly excited to still be playing those songs. They sang, they danced and the crowd followed suit, singing along and just generally getting their retro on. Now I have to admit I’m not the biggest Psychedelic Furs fan in Tampa, so I spent a lot of their set crowd-watching and it seemed like everyone was having one hell of a time and by the end of the show my wife was all smiles (thanks guys!). I asked her if they played all the songs a fan would want to hear and she seemed to think they had, so I’d say the show was a success.
Hell, I’d go see them again. It was really refreshing to see a “retro” band that at least looks like they’re still touring and playing those old songs cause they love them, rather than because they’re six months behind on their mortgages.
The Psychedelic Furs – Love My Way
The Psychedelic Furs – Pretty In Pink
The Psychedelic Furs – Heartbreak Beat (as featured in this weeks episode of Glee)
5 Responses to “THE ROCK REPORT: THE PSYCHEDELIC FURS @ THE RITZ; YBOR CITY, TAMPA”
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Good writeup!
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AIV when you say “freebird guy” did you mean the guy singing or the dude with yellow and black plaid shirt? I need clarification please
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Teleprompter for their own songs?! That’s ridiculous!
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i saw this show in texas and i have to admit that the mondays kind of intrigued me. after all the drugs and booze that shaun ryder has ingested it’s amazing he can stand on stage (which he barely could do) let alone remember lyrics. did they not have the girl singing most of the time? she added a little stage presence.
anyway, the furs were fantastic and put on a much more quality show than i was expecting.
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Damn I would have loved to see this show. Yr wife has great taste. I can still fully visualize the first time I heard the first pfurs album. I was working at a record store when it came out. Still ranks as an all time fave. Been on a big furs kick for the last month too.