|
Murphy's Law |
| The show should have been called "Peter
Murphy and Friends" because his band was made up of some pretty well known
luminaries of his early 90s heyday as a solo performer. Peter Murphy,
ex- of bauhaus, handled both vocals and 12-string acoustic guitar. Kevin
Haskins, ex- of bauhaus and Love & Rockets, played drums. Eric Avery,
ex- of Jane's Addiction and Polar Bear, played bass (and looked more muscular
and sober than I've seen him in ages). Peter DiStephano of Porno for Pyros
was playing guitar and guitar synthesizer, and Jeff Landis (established
journeyman keyboard wizard) was on keyboards, sequences, and samples.
This band was as seasoned and talented as any solo band he's ever toured
with, and there was a very obvious comradery between them, with smiles
and rocking out and Peter leaning on each of them and graciously handing
them the spotlight. But of course, the crowd came to see Peter himself,
and he did not disappoint. Peter pranced and preened, pouted and bounded from end to end of the stage, leaning heavily on his "Bowie-isms" and feline moves. His energy is only part of the story--Peter rendered such powerful versions of his songs--which consisted mostly of material culled from Cascade and Recall--that the live renditions actually surpassed the studio tracks. In between the songs from his most recent releases, however, he did manage to sneak in "Deep Ocean," a new arrangement of "Crystal Wrists," and "Cuts You Up" from Deep, as well as "The Sweetest Drop" and "Hit Song" from Holy Smoke. While Murphy also performed "Roll Call," it was actually the "Recall-Roll Call" version from the EP Recall that Peter created in a few days with MDFMK off the high of the bauhaus reunions in 1998. This was their first US show, and of course there were glitches. Peter Murphy was often fumbling with his in-ear monitors, which were often tumbling out. Sometimes synth patches seemed mismatched in volume or cords were being tripped over. Peter Murphy himself apologized profusely for his illness-ravaged singing voice, which was only really noticeable on the very final song. But the band recovered brilliantly, and nothing was going to bring down their joy--egged on by the extreme warmth of the adoring audience--and you could feel the friendliness in the air. Even the inevitable belligerent drunks in the audience were being friendly, if obnoxious. It was a show that had no security checks, no ID checks, and yet no violence, stage jumpers, or security problems. I think the thanks for that go not only to Peter Murphy and the boys for putting on a spectacular show, but to the crowd for being considerate, and to the security at The Sun, that never stepped over the line. In fact, never having been to the Sun Theater, I was very impressed with the venue itself. Overall, the show itself was a resounding success for both audience and performers. When the band left the stage for the final time, after 3 encores, they all seemed genuinely moved by the enthusiasm of the crowd. In fact, if there was any complaint I could make, it's that the show only clocked in at about 90 minutes, and it was so wonderful we all wanted more. But Peter Murphy and his excellent team made it a powerful 90 minutes indeed.
|