Psychedelic Furs at E2NY in 2011 (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

Last fall, The Psychedelic Furs went on a month-long tour with Tom Tom Club, which brought them to the NYC-area a few times in October. Check out some videos from their Irving Plaza show (10/3/11) below.

They'll return to the NYC-area this March on their recently announced short run of Northeast US dates, which culminates on March 24 and 25 at Maxwell's. Tickets for those shows are on sale now. The dates don't include any actual NYC shows at the moment, but they do play NY at Tarrytown Music Hall on March 22, so maybe they'll end up fitting one in. Tickets for the Tarrytown show are on sale now.

All dates and videos below...

Continue reading "Psychedelic Furs playing March shows, two at Maxwell's"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

When we last spoke, The Psychedelic Furs had two dates scheduled with Tom Tom Club including a NYC show on October 3 at Irving Plaza (tickets). The band have since announced a full tour with Tom Tom Club happening in September and October. The tour includes two more NYC-area dates happening on October 6 at Ridgefield Playhouse in Ridgefield, CT and October 8 at Wellmont Theatre in Montclair, NJ. Tickets for the Ridgefield show are on sale now and the tickets for the Wellmont show go on sale Thursday (9/1) at noon.

The tour also coincides with Devo's short run of three North American dates this September at Redhook Brewery in Washington on September 17. Unfortunately, that run does not include any NYC dates.

All dates and more pictures from the show Psychedelic Furs played as part of the Escape 2 NY Festival on Saturday, August 6th (Friday pics HERE), below...

Continue reading "Psychedelic Furs played E2NY (belated pics), announce full tour w/ Tom Tom Club (updated dates, NJ & CT included)"

Psychedelic Furs at Wellmont in 2009 (more by Tim Griffin)

The Psychedelic Furs recently reissued their sophomore album Talk Talk Talk (home of "Pretty In Pink") in Europe, where they toured the album in its entirety. On Saturday (6/25), they kicked off a tour for the album in America. That tour doesn't hit NYC, but they will come through in October for a traditional show at Irving Plaza on October 3 with Tom Tom Club. Tickets are on sale now.

Both Psychedelic Furs and Tom Tom Club also have festival appearances scheduled in August and both are playing the Hamptons. As mentioned, Tom Tom Club play Music to Know Fest in East Hampton. Psychedelic Furs were added to Escape to New York at the Shinnecock Reservation in Southampton, NY on August 5 - 7. Tickets are still available. Other recently confirmed acts include Of Montreal, Savoir Adore, Reptar, Mates of State, Tiger Love, and Jolly Boys.

Full Escape to NY lineup and all Psychedelic Furs tour dates below...

Continue reading "upcoming Psychedelic Furs gigs, updated Escape to NY lineup"

Psychedelic Furs were just in NYC last October to play Roseland Ballroom as part of their tour with the Happy Mondays (Islands played too). Videos from that show are posted below. At the end of May, the Furs will get back on the road for another US tour. Disco-y rock band She Wants Revenge will open.

The tour comes to New York on June 4th for a show at Irving Plaza. Tickets are now on sale.

Psychedelic Furs have been reunited since 2000, but their last record, World Outside, came out almost a decade prior in 1991. Their unofficial Twitter gave a status report on the band: "[former guitarist] John Ashton left the band in '07. Rich Good is the current guitarist. Been promising new album since '00. Don't hold your breath."

All tour dates, clips from their last NYC show at Roseland and more are below...

Continue reading "Psychedelic Furs & She Wants Revenge - 2010 Tour Dates"

Live Nation santas outside Irving Plaza - 7/14/2009 (Jason DeCrow/AP Images)

Live Nation has been dealing with the recession, or at least their recession, by putting tickets on sale like crazy this summer. They've been continuing week after week with their No Service Fee Wednesdays (for lawn tickets at amphitheater shows). This past Tuesday they sent multiple Santa Clauses to give out tickets outside Irving Plaza here in NYC. And there are $5.00 ticket promotions running for both Citi Cardmember holders and Subway sub eaters (code = Subway$5tix). NYC show tickets you can get for $5.00 include Pinback, Bob Mould, Son Volt, Alice in Chains AND STRYPER, Suffocation (playing with Necrophagist on Sunday), Marduk, Obituary, Vader and KMFDM, Brian Wilson in Westbury, and Motorhead, Psychedelic Furs, Happy Mondays, and Islands. Supposedly Pet Shop Boys are $5.00 too, but I can't get that to work.

Islands @ Market Hotel 11/8 (more by Leia Jospe)

Islands and Amusement Parks On Fire are the two bands that'll split opening duties on the Happy Mondays/The Psychedelic Furs co-headlining tour this fall. Islands will take the tour's second half, which includes its NYC stop on Friday, October 9th at Roseland Ballroom. Tickets for that are on sale now.

Islands will be supporting their new record, Vapours, which comes out September 22nd on Anti- (who are releasing the first album by Rain Machine on the same day). That Islands album marks the return of Nick Diamonds' Unicorns bandmate Jamie Thompson (who has also been in Islands before). Their label writes...

Nick Diamonds' polymorphous pop band, Islands, is back with their third studio album, Vapours. The 2006 debut, Return to the Sea, found eccentric and mellifluous pop tunes performed with a cast of characters from Montreal's thriving music scene (including members of Arcade Fire and Wolf Parade), helmed by Nick Diamonds and Jamie Thompson. Thompson departed amicably from the group shortly after the album was released, and 2007's Arm's Way found the band turning in a new direction towards lushly orchestrated, guitar-driven prog-rock. Thompson has returned to the band for Vapours, a record that flits back and forth between moody synthesizers and drum-machine-heavy beats, while remaining firmly rooted in the classic pop sensibilities and multitude of melodic hooks that Islands is known for.

Produced by Nick Diamonds and Chris Coady (who has worked with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Blonde Redhead, TV On The Radio, among others), this is the group's most stunning work to date.

As an aside, Nick recently tweeted from the first Williamsburg Waterfront show on Sunday, July 13th. The verdict: "Nice skyline."

All tour dates below...

Continue reading "Islands (new album soon) & Amusement Parks On Fire touring w/ Happy Mondays & Psychedelic Furs (dates)"

Happy Mondays

Happy Mondays performed before another reformed act, Rage Against the Machine, to put the finishing touches at the 2007 Coachella Music Festival in Indio, California on April 27, 2007. They were introduced that night by Tony Wilson. Bez missed the show because he could not get into the U.S. due to "passport" issues. The band then toured medium-sized venues in England in May 2007, playing old and new material. Various festival dates in the UK and New York City were performed throughout Summer 2007. The Happy Mondays have been announced to play Splendour in the Grass in Australia in July 2009. [Wikipedia]

Continue reading "Psychedelic Furs & Happy Mondays - 2009 tour dates, tickets"

The Psychedelic Furs @ Wellmont Theatre - June 13 (more by Tim Griffin)

"Details are scarce, but it appears '80s stalwarts -- and John Hughes soundtrack stars -- The Psychedelic Furs are plotting a fall club tour of the U.S. with recently reactivated Madchester survivors Happy Mondays.

So far, just five dates have surfaced in September and October, spanning the East and West Coasts, with stops in Texas and Colorado in between (see dates below); it appears likely the somewhat odd pairing will be touring for at least a month in the U.S.

The Furs last weekend wrapped a short, eight-date warm-up tour of the northwest U.S., playing sets drawn mainly from the band's second LP, Talk Talk Talk, alongside some obscure and rarely aired tracks from the Mirror Moves and Forever Now albums, according to fan site PsychedelicFurs.co.uk.

The band currently features co-founders and brothers Richard and Tim Butler, along with mid-'80s additions Mars Williams and Paul Garisto, in addition to newer faces Amanda Kramer and Richard Good.

As for the Mondays, the band -- down to original members Shaun Ryder, Bez and Gary Whelan -- has continued to play sporadic dates since its 2007 reunion album Uncle Dysfunktional. The group has festival dates lined up this summer in the U.K. and Australia." [Slicing Up Eyeballs] (thx Darren!)

Continue reading "Happy Mondays touring US w/ Psychedelic Furs - initial dates"

photos by Tim Griffin

"I can't help but say the word CUTE when it comes to seeing these guys live. They're super smiley and with Richard Butler's jumping and hip shaking and swirls, you can't go wrong. The saxophone player, Mars Williams, was AMAZING. They didn't have him play when I saw them back in 2005(i think?). This guy may be a little short, but he has a lot of energy to belt out the solos that he did. I was a little upset not to see guitarist John Ashton, but the new guitar player was great. The keyboardist wasn't really needed on most songs in my opinion, I'm sure she's awesome and really sweet! Tim Butler will always be cool with his shades and bass lines. It was also cool to see the drummer from Love Spit Love, Frank Ferrer, too." [WHATTITW]

Continue reading "The Psychedelic Furs @ Wellmont Theater in NJ - pics, video"

UK New Wavers the Psychedelic Furs are playing a set of Northeast US dates in June. Those include a show at the Wellmont Theatre in Montclair, NJ on Saturday, June 13th. $25.00 tickets go on sale Friday, May 8th at noon.

More dates below and TBA, including additional European shows this summer. One EU date already set is the Benicassim Fesival in Spain on July 19th.

The band's current lineup includes founding brothers Richard Butler and Tim Butler, classic lineup guitar player John Ashton, drummer Frank Ferrer from Love Spit Love (Richard Butler's post-pfurs band) and more recently Guns N' Roses, keyboardist Amanda Kramer and saxophonist Mars Williams.

Furs music videos, including two crowd clips of the band in Jersey in 2007, with all tour dates, below...

Continue reading "The Psychedelic Furs - 2009 Tour Dates (Wellmont Theater)"

interview by Black Bubblegum, photos by Toby Tenenbaum

DOWNLOAD: Tombs - "Gossamer" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: King Generator - "Tell Me Why" (M4A)
DOWNLOAD: King Generator - "Plagues" (M4A)
DOWNLOAD: Tombs - "Course Of Empire" (M4A)
DOWNLOAD: Tombs - "Darker Than Your Nights" (M4A)
DOWNLOAD: Versoma - "Symbols & Abbreviations" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Versoma - "The Black Train" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Sino Basila - "Draconian" (MP3)

Recently I was talking to a record label owner about Tombs which quickly moved to a discussion about Tombs frontman Mike Hill. The label owner responded:
"He's a lifer."
It's evident by Hill's years slugging away in the metal underground, his many projects, recordings, and his label Black Box Recordings that Hill most definitely IS.

Mike Hill came up as a member of Anodyne, the noise-hardcore band formed in the fertile scene of Boston in the 1990s, a scene that also gave birth to Converge, Isis, Disrupt, Grief, and countless others. Over the course of eight years, two cities (Boston & NYC), two LPs, two EPs, and three 7-inches, Anodyne toured the world until finally dissolving in 2005. Hill's next project, the short-lived Versoma with Jamie Getz of Lickgoldensky, was a sharp left turn from Anodyne, but nonetheless lead to the critically-lauded EP, Life During Wartime. Jamie Getz went on to form Gods & Queens.

Outside from his time on stage, Mike Hill also stayed involved behind the scenes as owner of Black Box Recordings and as an engineer/producer. With Brian McTernan (Battery), Mike Hill co-founded Salad Days Studios which lead to a string of production/engineering work in multiple studios for a veritiable who's who of the hardcore underground including Isis, Premonitions of War, American Nightmare, Hot Cross, Burnt By The Sun, Lickgoldensky, and many others. As Anodyne came to a close, Mike Hill kicked off his Black Box Recordings imprint with The First Four Years: Discography Vol 1, a compilation of Anodyne's recorded output, eventually releasing records by Engineer, ASRA, The Wayward, and a retrospective by the late, great Black Army Jacket.

Which brings us to Tombs, Mike Hill's latest undertaking with Andrew Hernandez (ex-ASRA) and Carson James, who are readying their second LP and Relapse debut entitled Winter Hours. A tour de force of jaw-clenching hardcore, frosty black metal, and swirling shoegaze psychedelia, Winter Hours is one of the few records to stand head and shoulders above the pack in this young new year. We sat down to talk with Mike Hill about the new record, his collaboration with Dave Witte (Discordance Axis, Municipal Waste, others) as King Generator, his time in Versoma, and who he feels is a truly unsung band from the heavy underground.

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Winter Hours is very powerful... not just in a "killer riffs" sense, but more importantly, in an emotive sense. That said, do you care to share your thought process on or where you were (emotionally/personally/spiritually) when you were writing "Merrimack"? Seems to me to be a very cathartic track.

It's about choosing the wrong path with someone and completely destroying something that could have been beautiful. Basically, the character in the song gave into selfishness, ego and immaturity and ended up alone at the end of it; it's similar to gambling, thinking that you can achieve more than you need and losing it all.

continued below...

Continue reading "an interview with Mike Hill of Tombs"