Monday night, the wife and I ventured across the bridge to see one of my wife's favorite bands from the '80's: The Psychedelic Furs. This show also marked my second trip to the refurbished (and beautiful) Ritz Theater. The Ritz is quickly becoming one of my favorite places to catch a show. (Pictured below: The Furs' Richard Butler in Albuquerque, photo by John Kloepper courtesy of Wikipedia.)
Touring support act, The Happy Mondays, did The Furs no favors, acting disinterested for the bulk of their set, requiring a teleprompter for their lyrics and offering little or no stage presence. It was so bad that I actually contemplated booing and heckling them in between songs. Yup, I was seriously on the edge of being the "Freebird" guy. By the end of their set the crowd had had enough and started paying the bar and their friends more attention than the band. I don't even remember the exact moment they left the stage. I just suddenly stopped needing to yell. In a sentence, the Happy Monday's sucked out loud and I hope they never return to Tampa again.
Needless to say, the Mondays utterly failed in getting the crowd primed and pumped for the Furs, and the Furs were gonna need to bring something special to win them over. I guess the veteran New Wave band knew it as well 'cause they opened the show with (arguably) their biggest hit, "Love My Way."
Mission Accomplished.
This article appears in Sep 30 – Oct 7, 2009.