It’s Cool to be a Cat: Squeeze & The Psychedelic Furs
The Psychedelic Furs on stage at the Kitty Carlisle Hart Theatre at The Egg, Sept. 7, 2023. Photo by Billy Harrigan.
ALBANY — It was a new wave, post-punk British invasion on Thursday, Sept. 7 at the Kitty Carlisle Hart Theatre at the Egg. English rock bands, The Psychedelic Furs and Squeeze performed back-to-back sets as part of their co-headling American Fall Tour.
The Psychedelic Furs performed first, opening their 16-song set with ‘Into You Like a Train’ off their album 1981 album ‘Talk Talk Talk.’
The band, founded in 1977 by lead vocalist Richard Butler and brother Tim Butler (bass guitar), includes members Mars Williams (saxophone), Amanda Kramer (keyboards), Rich Good (guitar), and Zachary Alford (drums). Together, they time-traveled the audience back to the ’80’s with their post-punk-leather-jacket-style, melodic vocals and songs of the era.
The Furs setlist included hits ‘The Ghost in You,’ ‘Pretty in Pink,’ as well as their biggest Top 40 single in the US, ‘Heartbreak Beat.’ The band performed several songs off their latest album ‘Made of Rain,’ released in 2020, including ‘Youll Be Mine,’ ‘Wrong Train,’ ‘No One,’ and ‘This’ll Never Be Like Love.’ A small intermission broke up the two band’s sets.
Debuting their first album in 1978, Squeeze over the decades has released 15 studio albums, their latest ‘Spot the Differrence’ was released in 2021.
Founding band members Glenn Tilbrook (lead vocals and guitar) and Chris Difford (vocals and guitar) currently are accompanied on stage by Stephen Large (keyboards), Simon Hanson (drums), Steve Smith (percussion), Melvin Duffy (pedal/lap steel guitar), and Owen Biddle (bass guitar). They opened their performance at the Egg with the song ‘Take Me I’m Yours’ followed by hits ‘Hourglass’ and ‘Up The Junction.’
Squeeze’s quirky, alternative vibe was met with exceptional musicianship as they band rolled seemlessly from song to song. Their setlist was comprised of crowd-favorite after favorite, leading to a slowed-down version of their American hit ‘Tempted,’ followed by a sped-up rendition of ‘Black Coffee in Bed.’ The upbeat performance left audience members smiling, some full of nostalgia, and others thinking “it really is ‘cool to be a cat.'”
To see the schedule of upcoming concerts at The Egg visit www.theegg.org.