The Ponte Vedra Concert Hall is a former church converted to music venue. It's a little small and seating was composed of folding chairs. The concession area was separated from the hall by a couple of curtains and there was a lot of noise from people at the concession area laughing and shouting during Royston Langdon's opening that was really distracting. Additionally, the speakers could have been toned down for the small size of the venue as the volume was on the verge of painful for those of us that were in proximity to the stage.
That said...
The show was fantastic. Royston Langdon opened and I was very impressed. His voice was amazing. I had never heard his music before and was pleasantly surprised by how good he was. He did a number of songs from his album 'Leeds' and finished his set with an absolutely beautiful cover of David Bowie's 'Space Oddity'.
What can I say about The Psychedelic Furs? I've seen several bands from the 80's in the past few years and been saddened by how much their lead singer's voices has deteriorated over the years.
That certainly isn't the case for The Psychedelic Furs. They sound just like they did back in the 80's. It's almost as if the past (almost 40!) years didn't exist. Lead singer Richard Butler's distinctive voice is more mature than it used to be but he basically sounds just like he did back in the heyday of the band. Richard danced and moved around the stage with all the energy and joyfulness of a 20-year-old which is amazing since he turns 63 in June!! He's still having fun and obviously loves what he does.
Guitarist Rich Good pumped out some blistering solos during the concert that brought back memories of going home with my ears ringing following concerts back in the 80's.
Saxophone player Mars Williams put on one hell of a show. Sax was present in so many of the 80's classic hits and Williams showed us the incredible sound that a true professional can wring out of the instrument. I brought my 17-year-old daughter to the show and she had never heard saxophone played live. She was wide-eyed and jaw dropped as he played through several solos. It was gratifying to introduce her to what a real band sounds like in this age of auto-tuned committee-produced junk.
Bottom Line: If you already love The Psychedelic Furs, you won't be disappointed. If you don't love them, go see them anyway, you'll learn to love them.
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