Suddenly, lurking over the horizon, comes the specter of summer concerts: Music in the Park has announced its first booked act for its 35th season. On July 26, post-punk progenitors the Psychedelic Furs will layer the outdoor space with such songs as “Love My Way,” “Heaven” and “The Ghost in You.”
Downtown San Jose’s home-grown music festival, now managed by members of Metro’s team, is listed as the final stop on the Furs’ summer tour, which begins with a set at the UK festival Forever Now. Opening for the Furs in San Jose is the Los Angeles band Rooney.
Born out of the United Kingdom’s post-punk scene, the Psychedelic Furs are led by the Butler brothers—vocalist and songwriter Richard and bassist Tim. Their current touring lineup includes Rich Good on guitar, Amanda Kramer on keyboards and Zachary Alford on drums.
A staple of college and alternative radio, the Furs have released eight studio albums, multiple compilations, a boxed set and a live concert DVD. The song “Pretty in Pink” inspired one of the most iconic motion picture soundtracks of all time. In 2020, they released Made of Rain, their first studio album in nearly 30 years.
The Furs, however, especially thrive live in concert. They headlined at the UK’s Glastonbury Festival and much more recently took the stage at the inaugural Cruel World festival in 2022 at Pasadena’s Rose Bowl. After gigs at venues as diverse as Royal Albert Hall, Radio City Music Hall and the Grand Ole Opry, the band will now join the diverse acts that have performed at Plaza de Cesar Chavez.
Last year’s lineup included well-known bands from many eras—the Beach Boys, El Tri, Steel Pulse and J Boog—as well as rising acts such as Cuco, Rey Resurreccion, Rainbow Girls and Strawberry Guy.
Unlike other brother acts, the Psychedelic Furs have endured conflict free. As Richard Butler said in a 2022 cover story in the Weeklys publication Good Times, “Tim and I share pretty similar tastes and aims. We have never really had any serious fights that I can recall. No more so, at least, than any other band members. We are pretty close, actually. I never understand why brothers in some bands have such a tough time. There are plenty of bands with siblings involved that get along famously, but I think people tend to focus on the disastrous ones.”
“When we started, we used to make a wall of sound. The things around us have always influenced our [sound]. So, we might be influenced by the people we influenced,” brother Tim said in the same article.
“We’re excited to play as long as the energy is still there,” he added.
Tickets are available for purchase now on caltix.com. And watch mitpsj.com for details on the rest of the summer lineup, which will include as many as seven other dates.
