One of the best bands of the '80s, The Psychedelic Furs, returns to Clearwater on Thursday

Despite the great number of bands that emerged and rose to fame and acclaim during the 1980s, there are truly only a handful of those acts who still record and tour regularly, and do so while retaining their relevance and continuing to amaze their audiences.

Without a doubt, pioneering, British post-punk act The Psychedelic Furs are certainly on that short list. After emerging with an absolutely dizzying and intoxicating self-titled debut album in 1980, the Furs became a band to watch. The decade only saw the band, led by the unmistakable raspy, sneering vocalist Richard Butler, continue to gain momentum and achieve worldwide success. Fueled by new wave dance club hits like “Love My Way” and “Heaven,” the group simultaneously gained exposure thanks to having several music videos in heavy rotation during MTV’s golden years.

Providing their previously released 1981 classic song “Pretty in Pink” as the title track for the teen, coming of age film of the same title in 1986 (although in a re-recorded version) only increased the band’s visibility and brand. The group’s final album of its original run came in the early ‘90s and was followed by a hiatus that found Butler fronting another band, Love Spit Love, and dabbling in solo projects as well.

Several tours in recent years only served to solidify the band’s strengths and to remind its fans and followers of their importance and of the wealth of great songs in the Furs canon. Adding to that impressive catalog is the band’s last release, 2020’s Made of Rain which was a big seller in the band’s native U.K., received rave reviews, and was hailed as one of the very strongest full-length releases of the band’s history.

Joined by his brother and band co-founder and original member Tim Butler on bass, the group returns to downtown Clearwater’s Nancy And David Bilheimer Capitol Theatre this week to again treat fans to its dazzling array of songs and sounds. Setlists from the current tour feature a healthy mix of selections from all the band’s albums and stages of its career so diehards should be elated with the array of material the band will perform.

Previous visits to the area in recent years from the band have only proven that their music still holds up well and that Butler and the group can still manage to bring an audience to its feet to sing along and dance all night.

As an added bonus, Evan Dando, lead singer of Massachusetts-based, alt-rock band The Lemonheads, serves as opening act and will no doubt include some of his band’s best known songs as part of his set.

Tickets to see The Psychedelic Furs and Evan Dando play Bilheimer Capitol Theatre in Clearwater on Thursday, May 18 are still available and start at $52.