BIG BIRTHDAY MUSIC MADNESS!

It’s my birthday and I’ll write if I want to!

As a few readers know, I am celebrating somewhat of a milestone birthday this year. I’m not what one might consider a big “birthday person” per se and generally eschew the pomp and ceremony and opt for a more subdued approach consisting of a quiet dinner with family and friends.

Throughout my life, I’ve always secretly admired those “birthday week” or “birthday month” types of people, who unashamedly celebrate for multiple days or weeks at a crack. So, on this particular occasion, I’ve not only decided to become a member of this festive tribe, but to up the ante to boot. Welcome, my friends, to my Birthday Year celebration!

Because any celebration worth its weight in confetti and party favors has a theme, my theme is music, particularly live music. My joyous jubilee is centered on catching some of my favorite bands of all time. It’s an epic, Homerian journey that takes me across four countries in six months relishing in sonic brilliance! It certainly has my calendar full and keeps my travel bags perennially packed.

AN ITINERARY OF MUSIC MADNESS

MAY: My birthday world tour started last week in California with the Psychedelic Furs in San Luis Obispo and then the majestic, long awaited Cruel World Festival in Los Angeles (highlights below). This musical month stays hot, catching post-punk/electronic innovators (and Pretty in Pink soundtrack heroes), Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark (OMD) in Seattle this weekend.

JUNE: Old-school punk rock, if done correctly, is always a loud, snotty and sweaty affair, so I figured it’d be most fitting to see exalted LA punks, Circle Jerks, in Phoenix. Reports say the boys can still bring it and I’m looking forward to sweating to the oldies and getting my beach body in shape doing the famous “Huntington Beach Shuffle.”

AUGUST: Taking a much needed breather in July, August really heats up and continues right into September starting with two more Psychedelic Furs shows in Vancouver, Canada and Seattle before jumping on a plane to Ireland to see Simple Minds, one of my bucket list bands, in Belfast and then a few days later at a hometown show in Edinburgh, Scotland. After a brief rest, it’s back down to California to catch my all-time favorites, Echo & the Bunnymen in San Diego & Los Angeles and also seeing London’s notorious sleaze-merchants, Soft Cell, while down there.

SEPTEMBER: This is another epic month as I become an ultra-modern version of the original Deadhead when I follow another all-time favorite, Placebo, for their entire US tour starting in Vancouver down to Los Angeles. I’m not sure what we Placebo fanatics are called? Nancy Boys? Stunt Girls? Who knows, but I can’t wait to hang with my boys who have not toured in over 11 years and hear the amazing tunes from their kick-ass new album live. Last, but not least, is catching Joy Division and New Order bassist, Peter Hook in Portland. His killer band is playing the entirety of Joy Division’s albums & the 1st New Order album!

How’s that for a birthday bash? I can’t wait as it’s been a very long time for many of us music lovers to see live music and it’s also nice, albeit calendar-challenging, that all these bands are out on the road at the same time. I’m sure we’ll get some more sweet tour announcements for later Fall, so I fully expect to catch more live acts in Q4 of 2022!

CRUEL WORLD & PSYCHEDELIC FURS HIGHLIGHTS

The primer for all of this music madness could not have been better with the Psychedelic Furs in San Luis Obispo. I’ve been a lifelong fan of this band and have seen them on every tour since 1987. Master performers, a Furs show is always spectacular with a great set list consisting of rare cuts and, of course, all the hits. Even better that they played nearly the entirety of their amazing new album, the first in 30 years.

What made this event even more singular and special was seeing them in a very small venue which amounted to basically a club show. A far cry to the over 30,000 they would play to on Saturday. There were about 250 people in the venue, so everyone was up close and it was probably the best Furs show I’ve ever attended. What a way to kick things off!

With friends both old and new, we made an early departure from SLO to LA for the long-awaited, twice delayed Cruel World festival – an epic event consisting of 26 post-punk/alternative 80s bands at the Rose Bowl park in Pasadena.

Impeccably curated, the event boasted some of the most reputable bands in history including Devo, Blondie, Bauhaus, The Damned, Psychedelic Furs, & PiL. In addition, other great older acts like Berlin and Missing Persons were mixed in with new blood such as Cold Cave, Black Marble & Drab Majesty. Promoter Goldenvoice also acknowledged their early years by including local deathrock legends 45 Grave and London After Midnight. All told it was a once-in-a-lifetime lineup.

Despite the weather the week prior to the event being quite mild, show-day was forecasted at 98 degrees, bringing new meaning to the word “cruel” in the event’s title. So, forewarned, we arrived forearmed with sunscreen, water bottles, lip balm, and band-aids.

I’m not a big fan of festivals, much preferring settings like the above described Furs show. I tend to find festivals far too crowded, poorly organized with horrific sound, no shade and exorbitantly priced. Let’s not even speak of the dreaded bathroom/outhouse situations at these things. That said, I was curious to see how Cruel World would go.

It turns out that it was the best organized festival I’ve ever attended. While I’m sure it was at the direction of the promoter’s legal counsel, it was nice that bottles of cold water were distributed for free at the entrance as well as in the hot, congested areas in front of the stages. In addition, free water filling stations were available in several areas. Moreover, the port-a-pottys were brand new and plentiful so I never had to wait and remained relatively clean up ’til the last note rang in the late night air.

As it was held on a golf course, shade was at a premium, but there was some to be had if one expended enough energy. It was also nice that it was all grass so sitting anywhere was easy.

Though there were three separate stages with bands simultaneously playing , thus having somewhat overlapping sets, it was extremely easy and quick to bounce between them, so one could catch the majority of music even if it meant missing a couple of songs here and there. I was initially skeptical about this, but it ended up working out fairly well, particularly with the quick 30-45 mins sets for the non-headlining bands.

I also give props to Goldenvoice for having good sound at the event, a scarcity in the world of festivals. In addition, the two main stages had enormous screens on either side that could be seen by anyone remotely in the vicinity. To boot, the real-time cameras and editing were absolutely superb and very much appreciated.

I did not like or respect the promoter’s capitulation to headliner, Morrisey’s, demand that no meat be served or sold at the event. One man’s ridiculous whimsy outweighed the animal-based protein needs of the over 92,000 attendees apparently.

To add insult to injury, the eating options available were all deplorable, outrageously priced vegan junk food items like pizza, churros, cheap ramen noodles and the like. Honestly, it would have been equally nutritious and slightly cheaper to have consumed beer all day instead. Said buffoonery is precisely why I’ve always despised Morrisey. Frankly, I would have preferred a nice pulled pork or tri-tip sammy and foregone entirely his presence at the show.

Needless to say, the day offered world-class people watching. Never before have I witnessed nearly 100,000 post-punk/dark alternative/80s, music-loving hipsters in one place. My kind of heaven, indeed. While some opted for more suitable clothing, most were rocking the look and it was awesome to see endless amounts of mohawks, fishnet, lace, boots, and full-on makeup. Our conservative estimate of the collective amount spent on tattoos alone was somewhere in the low billions with all the ink being sported. The absolute best, however, was the veritable walking exhibition of vintage band t-shirts – simply stellar. Every time I thought I’d seen the best, I saw another to beat it.

As an original LA deathrocker of a certain age, outside of a bit of tastefully applied guyliner, it’s been a long while since I could pull off any makeup, but even with the scorching, near triple-digit temperatures, I was still decked out in the compulsory black attire and overly-styled hair. Less a nod to my local roots and far more a bit of strategic peacocking to attract the bevy of batcave beauties running rampant. But, alas, my stylings were seemingly not quite enough to snag a smooch from my new crush, Automatic drummer, Lola Dompe. C’est la vie.

With the exception of the newer acts, I had previously seen or shared a stage with all of the bands at the festival which mitigated a lot of pressure of having to prioritize. However, as mentioned, I ended up seeing most of them. The most surprising thing of all was that, without question, every band I saw played the best show I had ever seen by them. It truly was a unique, unforgettable “best of the best” moment. However, of the 26 bands, it was Devo and Bauhaus who, unequivocally, stole the show. Hands down, the best, most captivating performances of the day and I was about 30 feet in front of the stage.

Devo is always amazing, but really brought it as the band ripped through their most popular songs, including mid-set changes into the respective uniforms of each album of a particular song. My MVP award of the event goes to Devo drummer and musical phenom, Josh Freese. Replacing original drummer, Alan Myers, known as the “human metronome” is no small feat, but Freese is the best they come and was the anchor for the band. Closing with a furious version of my favorite song “Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA” was just the icing on the cake.

As the sun set after Devo, a yet-again reunited Bauhaus made their appearance after a 16-year absence amid the atmospherics of stark white lights beaming through an otherwise darkened stage laden with oodles of fog. Peter Murphy again employed his classic singing “off the stage, but on the video screen” gimmick to full dramatic effect on the opener “Double Dare” before joining the rest of the band for a whirlwind tour of Bauhaus’ best tunes. Highlights were a positively riveting, chilling version of “Stigmata Martyr” and, of course, a 9-minute version of “Bela Lugosi’s Dead,” replete with blood-red flower petals wafting into the audience.

Mercifully ending his long-time follicle challenge, Murphy, now shaven-headed, was also sporting a menacing Van Dyke beard and seems to be gracefully settling into his dotage as “The Godfather of Goth.” Nevertheless, the man who would be Bowie will never die as evidenced when the already glorious set closed with the band’s famous cover of “Ziggy Stardust.” Bauhaus came and just fucking crushed it.

All told, it was a grand day out and set the bar exceedingly high for the rest of my year. Now that my sore and swollen feet have just recovered, I’m off to pack my bags for Seattle and OMD this weekend!

I’ll see you on the road!