Psychedelic Furs at Palace Theatre, St Paul (30 July 2022)

English post-punk band The Psychedelic Furs headlined the Palace Theatre on July 30th.



Opening the show was Los Angeles’ X, a band that’s been together since 1977, with all the original members: vocalist Exene Cervenka, vocalist-bassist John Doe, guitarist Billy Zoom and drummer D. J. Bonebrake. It’s really a rarity that a band can stay together for 45 years, and X is quite proud of that fact.



As we previously mentioned, their original guitarist Billy Zoom suffered bladder cancer and had to bail out on going on tour with the band, as they stopped in at the Mill City Nights in August 2015. Since then, Zoom is back with the band, often playing seated on a stool.



Beyond playing the guitars, Zoom would handle all their saxophone needs, sometime storing his guitar pick on his sweaty forehead.



As for X’s fanbase, I have to admit they are all really diehard fans. Many of them have seen X multiple times, despite the band having one of those impossible to find band.



While X doesn’t have a new album (their last album Alphabetland came out during the pandemic), it would seem that their singer/bassist John Doe recently released Fables in a Foreign Land on Fat Possum records. Although the band are all in their late 60s (Billy Zoom in his mid-70s), they were still rocking out on stage… It was fun watching Exene dance and just having a good time.



Midway into their set, before “Water & Wine”, the band announced that they were going to play their first single, “Adult Books”… the song was released in 1978 and would set the tone for X’s songs.



It’s always good to have the Butler brothers back in town. The last time The Psychedelic Furs played at First Avenue in April 2017 we said, “The Furs’ second half of the set picked up with some of their biggest hits, including ‘Love My Way’ and set closer ‘Pretty in Pink’. Half the audience were singing along to the latter song.”



This time around, they played their signature song, “Pretty in Pink” (everyone helped sing this song) in the middle of the set, and their second hit, “Love My Way” as the penultimate set closer.



Since Minneapolis/St Paul never got a Made of Rain tour (the record came out in 2020), they group made up for lost time by including some new songs on their set, including “The Boy That Invented Rock & Roll” and “Wrong Train”.



Their eighth album, and their first studio album in almost 30 years, were well-received… and became the band’s second-highest charting UK Album ever and featured at the end-of-year Best Albums roundup in Mojo, Uncut, Classic Pop, ABC’s Good Morning America, and Vive Le Rock among others. Critics were welcoming, “a return to the Furs’ classic blend of aggression, tender melody and brooding ambience.”



Interestingly enough, the band did not play “Evergreen”, which was released after Made of Rain. The single was recorded during the Made of Rain session, but did not make the cut… and I guess the song did not make the cut for their live setlist either.



Remaining tour dates: