The Bowery Presents

The Wellmont Theatre upcoming shows

The Psychedelic Furs

Venue:
The Wellmont Theatre
Date:
Sat 6/13
Notes:
all ages
Doors: 7:00 PM / Show: 8:00 PM
$25.00
Tickets
The Psychedelic Furs
myspace
If you sit and talk to many of the alternative rock artists dominating today’s music, you’ll find that many of them pay homage to the legendary “new wave” bands that emerged in the early 1980’s. Prominent among those bands was a group called The Psychedelic Furs. Led by singer and songwriter Richard Butler, along with bass playing brother Tim, the Furs won over fans and critics alike by combining poetic lyrics, innovative rhythms and melodies driven by an aggressive, punk desperation. Through it all, the band scored major hits with "Love My Way," "Pretty In Pink," "Heaven," "The Ghost In You," and “Heartbreak Beat” in all releasing seven studio albums on Columbia Records and spawning several compilations, and a live concert DVD.

Throughout The Furs reign, critics routinely compared the group’s enigmatic sound to an impressive slew of art-rock icons including David Bowie, The Velvet Underground and The Doors, as well as to punk progenitors, The Sex Pistols. Growing heavier and more guitar-oriented in their later releases, The Furs have since been regarded as a musical icon that bridged the gap between early punk and the alternative hard rock and grunge that would rise during the 90s. And if that weren’t enough of a musical legacy, the Furs also paved the way for a whole new generation of music artists to follow in their footsteps and in the process, assured themselves a nearly legendary status.

Through it all, Butler’s baritone became one of the era’s most recognizable sounds, often managing to be both introspective and aloof at the same time. It was quirky and darkly cynical faire that expressed the detachment of the times and the itchy struggle of a generation to find meaning in the turbulent waters of what would later become the dawn of Information Age. Gaining much of their fame as part of MTV’s first wave of video artists, the Furs will be forever identified with a time when the stale musical paradigms were forever cast aside and replaced by the new rock of an angrier and faster world.

With a career spanning the rise and fall of punk, MTV, glam metal, grunge and hip-hop, Butler is happy to be in a position to communicate with an audience. "As long as there are people, who enjoy music and have fun going to shows, there’ll be a place in the world for artists who try to do something interesting and different," he says. "I don’t really know if you can change the world making music, but it sure is nice to think that you can enable people to have a good time."
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