Richard Butler is happy to be here. Up on stage it's as if the Psychedelic Furs frontman is basking in a little ray of sunshine. Even when he's doing a Nazi salute, as he bleats the Furs' 1982 anthem President Gas he still has a wry look.
He camps it
up too. From the sweater tied round his waist, to his half-bow, half-curtsy to the crowd, to his sashaying hips, he is still a showman.
This is the Furs' first visit here since the Sweetwaters festival in 1983.
They started up back in 1977 so it's no surprise that nowadays it takes a while for the old fellas to warm up. But the songs eventually start taking off.
They rock through hits like Pretty In Pink and Love My Way (surprisingly neither song is saved for the encore), as well as early songs like Sister Europe and the pummelling India. They even do Heartbreak Beat from the album Midnight To Midnight (the one the band didn't even like), which is a song that rivals Love My Way for beauty.
But the show sounds sluggish at times, and tracks like Run Run Run, Into You Like A Train and Ghost In You, lumber along. However, this has little to do with the three original Furs - Butler, his brother Tim on bass, and guitarist John Ashton. It's the bored-looking drummer who needs to be fired. And though keyboardist Amanda Kramer is less than energetic, at least she smiles coyly when Butler camps it up.
He still can't sing Sister Europe, though. Admittedly its meandering verses are hard to pull off and it isn't until he ditches his ear piece that he gets it right. It's amazing what a good old-fashioned finger in the ear can do for your pitch control.
Many of the crowd are the Pretty In Pink crew but many are also here to get a fix of the louder, noisier Furs material. And India - the first song off their first album - is tonight's encore, and easily the highlight.
The atmosphere at the St James may be a little more subdued compared with the pubs and clubs of the 1980s, but the song sounds as menacing as ever.
Now, that's a far better way to end the show than with Love My Way.
<i>Psychedelic Furs</i> at the St James, Auckland
Richard Butler is happy to be here. Up on stage it's as if the Psychedelic Furs frontman is basking in a little ray of sunshine. Even when he's doing a Nazi salute, as he bleats the Furs' 1982 anthem President Gas he still has a wry look.
He camps it
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