The Psychedelic Furs brought their signature post-punk, new-wave sound to Austin’s Moody Theater, delivering a nostalgic performance to the ACL Live crowd.
The Psychedelic Furs are an English alternative rock band from London, England. The band is made up of musicians Richard Butler (vocals), Tim Butler (bass), Amanda Kramer (keyboard), Rich Good (guitar), and Zack Alford (drums). The Psychedelic Furs released their first album in March of 1980 and quickly climbed the UK Albums Chart. Despite the great success of their earlier singles, their claim to fame is the track “Pretty In Pink,” which inspired the classic 1986 John Hughes movie of the same name. In 1982, their song “Love My Way,” from the album Forever Now, entered the UK Charts and became their first single to reach the US Billboard Hot 100.
In 2017, The Psychedelic Furs made their comeback in modern culture. Their song “The Ghost in You” was played during an episode of Netflix’s original Stranger Things, and “Love My Way” was heard a few times in Luca Guadagnino’s Oscar-nominated film Call Me By Your Name. They released their most recent album in 2020. It is titled Made of Rain, making this their eighth full-length album.
Opening for The Psychedelic Furs was Manchester’s The Chameleons. The Chameleons are another English post-punk band. Making up the band are members Mark Burgess (bass/vocals), Reg Smithies (guitar), Todd Demma (drums), Stephen Rice (guitar), and Danny Ashberry (keyboard). In the early 80s, they began creating music together and released their first album, Script of the Bridge in 1983. In ‘87 the band broke up only to reunite in 2000. Reformed, they released their fourth studio album in 2001 titled Why Call It Anything. Since then, they have been putting out new music every few years.
In 2022, they released a double LP, Dali’s Picture/Auffuhrung in Berlin (Live). The first half features studio-recorded songs from the days before their debut album. The second half is a live recording of their December 18th, 1983, Berlin show that was performed at The Loft. This blast from the past was received warmly by hardcore post-punk fans, having unearthed a lost succession of music. In May, The Chameleons released the single “Saviours Are a Dangerous Thing” from their anticipated album Arctic Moon. The song touches on political themes and expresses their distaste for the current state of the world. During The Chameleons’ set, they performed songs such as “Monkeyland” from Script of the Bridge (1983) and the title track from the album The Fan and the Bellows (1986).
While waiting for the band, audience members reunited with old friends and created a gracious and merry environment. At about 9:20 PM, The Psychedelic Furs took to the stage. They opened their set with “President Gas” from their 1982 album Forever Now. During its time, the album was praised for being a genuinely new sound. Influences from many genres and artists are spotted throughout, yet no one can describe it with a simple label. They also performed songs such as “Wrong Train” from Made of Rain (2020) and “Heaven” from Mirror Moves (1984).
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