
Â
A year later, I followed Erica to U of I myself, and saw the Furs play Huff Gym on campus. Since then, I have seen them on most of their U.S. tours. When the Furs come to town… I’m there. I’ve seen them multiple times at Chicago’s Riviera and Vic Theaters and at least once at House of Blues where our balcony seats were actually behind the stage curtain! And it was super cool when a few years ago they actually played Naperville’s Ribfest, right here in my home town!
So… I don’t know how many times I’ve seen them, but it’s a lot.
When they played The Vic on Thursday night in Chicago this week though, I think I had the “best seat” in my entire life of seeing them. I got there early and was literally first row center, right in front of the microphone. You couldn’t get closer without being on stage with the band!
Â
When the Furs took the stage, it was an instant celebration.
Singer Richard Butler was relaxed and having a good time running through the old classics, but the band also played a good dose of their first album in almost 30 years, Made of Rain. It’s a slower album, the work of a seasoned, reflective band, not the punky upstarts who wrote “Into You Like A Train”. But it’s a solid disc, and it was cool to hear songs like “The Boy Who Invented Rock n Roll,” “Don’t Believe” and “You’ll Be Mine” in a live setting. And it was great to see Mars Williams on saxophone with the band again. There was a long period in the ’90s and early 2000s where he didn’t tour with them. For my first “big name” concert after a year and a half of quarantine, it was perfect!
Here are some pictures from the front row of that night!
I used to have a FURS cassette…Really liked it, but it got lost somewhere along the way…
Pingback: Goodbye 2021. Or really, Goodbye 2020 Part 2. ~ John Everson