The two pop giants will be sharing the bill on tour kicking off in Buffalo, NY on August 8th, traveling across the U.S. and ending in San Diego, CA on September 9th.
Although their commercial heyday was the 1980s, both bands are still going strong, continuing to delight crowds with electrifying performances. On their most recent Stateside jaunts, The Church played for over two hours, covering material from their 35 year career, while the Furs have been packing their setlists full of the hits - 'Love My Way', 'Heartbreak Beat', 'The Ghost In You', 'Heaven', and, of course, 'Pretty In Pink'. But it isn't all nostalgia that has been selling out the latest concerts by each act. 'Intense' is how audience members describe experiencing these much-loved songs played live in 2015. New and old fans alike appreciate the decades worth of craft that have gone into the power they hold today.
The Psychedelic Furs grew out of the 1977 English punk scene, releasing their self-titled debut album in 1980. Frontman and songwriter Richard Butler's poetic and evocative lyrics combined with his ear for a great melody soon made the band an international force to be reckoned with, releasing three classic albums in Talk Talk Talk (1981), Forever Now (1982, produced by Todd Rungren), and 1984's Mirror Moves. After three number one hits between 1988-1991 - 'All That Money Wants', 'House', and 'Until She Comes' - the band released its final studio album, World Outside, in 1991. Richard and brother Tim (also of the Furs) would go on to Love Spit Love in the 90s (their cover of The Smiths' 'How Soon Is Now' becoming the theme song of WB television series Charmed) before the Furs reconvened in 2000. They released Beautiful Chaos: Greatest Hits Live with one new and three unreleased songs and have been hitting the live circuit hard since.
The Church hail from the opposite side of the world. Formed in Sydney, Australia in 1980 by bassist/singer Steve Kilbey, The Church released their debut album, Of Skins And Heart, a year later. Best known for 1988's hit 'Under The Milky Way' from the album Starfish, the band have released 25 records and countless b-sides and miscellanea in their 35 year existence. Starfish began the transition from the psychedelia-meets-new-wave of their first four albums to the moodier records of the 90's, delving into Kilbey's interest in mysticism.
The band's latest offering, 2014's Further/Deeper, contains all the classic Church elements - alluring soundscapes focused by large pop sensibilities. Check out newest release, 'Laurel Canyon', to hear that they've still got it. The prolific Kilbey, who turns 61 this year, shows no signs of slowing down. Besides having written hundreds of songs and being an avid painter, he released his highly-entertaining autobiography, Something Quite Peculiar, last year, and, has just announced on his The Time Being website, another intriguing item will be sale at the merch stall on this summer's tour. Tarot Of The Time Being is a completely revamped and highly personalized Tarot deck, inventively illustrated by Kilbey, and complete with an accompanying book of the lyrics and thoughts that coincide with each card.
Be sure to catch the magic on what will be one of 'the' tours of the summer.
(with Aug Stone, Guest Writer)