Forty years ago, the show might’ve ended with young punks pushing, shoving and throwing anything that wasn’t bolted down.
But The Jesus and Mary Chain have come a long way from being the misanthropic, noisy Scottish band that sprang to life in the mid-1980s. Brothers Jim and William Reid, the sole remaining original members, now tour with a trio of backing musicians playing a catalog that no longer inspires demolition like the kind that got their early gigs shut down by police.
In fact, their repertoire now fits neatly along that of contemporaries like new-wave pop-rock group The Psychedelic Furs, with whom they’re touring this year. The ‘80s supertour rolled through Kodak Center on Oct. 8 for an evening of high-volume hits from melodic U.K. stars.
Opener Frankie Rose, a modern disciple of that era’s synthesizer aura, established the tone with a gossamer performance bathed in pure darkness, save for a screen projecting geometric visuals to match the vibey music. It makes sense that she previously covered the entirety of The Cure’s 1980 album “Seventeen Seconds.”
Once the JAMC took the stage — with “Jesus” scrawled across its amplifiers — the darkness remained. In fact, neither Reid brother’s face was visible during the band’s entire hour-long set. This was, in fact, very cool. Trading spotlights for strobe lights, the group easily disappeared into its loud and tight compositions, with favorites like “April Skies” and “Happy When It Rains” arriving right on time.
The group’s faceless assault of catchy music freed Reid from the burden of having to fill a frontman role. He was mostly found hunched over, singing to his shoes, both hands clasping the mic. It fit the experience; he let the band wield its power. On two tracks — including “Just Like Honey,” perhaps the band’s signature tune — he invited Frankie Rose back to the stage to sing a duet.
The Psychedelic Furs, another literal band of brothers, took a more conventional tack after the JAMC. The gleaming faces of vocalist Richard Butler, his brother Tim Butler on bass and the various vampiric entities who play guitar were bathed in bright, shining lights. Richard’s lace shirt and amber sunglasses perfectly accented his subtle peacocking around the stage. At 68 years old, his limberness is no small feat.
The band boasts the jams to pull off this amount of swagger. “Love My Way,” an enduring single introduced to a new generation via its inclusion in the 2017 film “Call Me By Your Name,” turned the theater into a dance club, as did fellow cinematic staple “Pretty in Pink.” 1986’s “Heartbreak Beat” likewise got the crowd to its feet.
An early standout came via “The Ghost in You,” the wonderfully airy lead track from 1984’s “Mirror Moves” album. People danced in the aisles. One enthusiastic patron even approached the stage to shake Butler’s hand; Butler, ever the professional, smiled and dapped him up.
As a pop band, The Furs offer plenty of influence on contemporary artists like The 1975 and perhaps even Jack Antonoff’s project Bleachers. What the group sadly lacks on this tour, though, is towering saxophone player Mars Williams, who died in late 2023. But the current six-piece lineup works wonders, with just enough guitar grit to cut through its ‘80s sonic sheen.
And of course, Butler remains a one-man spectacle, louche and loose, flapping his wings as he sings about heaven and bending a single leg like a crane.
For both acts, “stage presence” prioritized running through between 15 and 17 tunes and not wasting a precious moment on stage banter. It was both a welcome relief — the music’s good, so let ‘em play it — and a reminder that fine-tuned road shows can’t be overlooked when they come to town.
No violence, a good bit of dancing and more than a drop of honey. As Butler sang to close the show, “Heaven is the whole of our hearts.” Or a darkened hall at Eastman Business Park.
Patrick Hosken is an arts writer for CITY. He can be reached at patrick@rochester-citynews.com.
This article appears in Oct 1-31, 2024.
