The Jesus and Mary Chain & The Psychedelic Furs still got it: Brooklyn Paramount review, pics, setlist, video

What a super fun night of ’80s and ’90s alternative classics. The Psychedelic Furs and The Jesus and Mary Chain‘s co-headline tour hit NYC this weekend for shows at Beacon Theatre on Friday and Brooklyn Paramount on Saturday. Both bands, which feature brothers at at their center, got about a little more than an hour on stage with no encore, played a few songs from their new/recent album but mostly stuck to their respective deep benches of hits.

Following a short opening set from Frankie Rose, who is on the whole tour, The Jesus and Mary Chain hit the smoke-filled stage at around 7:40 PM. I have seen JAMC a handful of times over the last 30+ years and to say they are an inconsistent live act would be an understatement, but I thought they were genuinely great at Brooklyn Paramount, with William Reid standing in front of a stack of Orange amps and his brother Jim at the center of the stage, still with that detached sense of cool but not phoning it in. When he thanked the crowd for coming it the end of the show he seemed genuine and it was a guesture you’d never image from the days when the band played 15 minute sets with their backs to the crowd. The setlist was fantastic, opening with “JAMCOD” from this year’s Glasgow Eyes, but then giving us a fantastic, loud string of classics, including “April Skies,” “Happy When It Rains,” “Blues from a Gun,” “Head On,” “Sidwalking” (a very welcome surprise), “Far Gone and Out,” and more. Frankie Rose came out twice: first for “Sometimes Always,” singing the hell out of part originated by Hope Sandoval; and a few songs later for “Just Like Honey.” You might think that would be the closing song, but they went out with the bang that is “Reverence,” which sounded fantastic as the strobes blasted through the fog and Jim Reid wailed “I wanna die” over and over.

If I went for The Jesus and Mary Chain, I stayed for the iconic voice and stage presence of Richard Butler, and The Psychedelic Furs classic after classic. You forget just how many bangers they have. Two-thirds of the way through their set we’d already gotten “The Ghost in You,” “All That Money Wants,” “Love My Way,” “Only You And I,” the still-topical “President Gas,” and “Pretty in Pink” (which sounds more like “Born to Run” than I remembered in the ’80s). I looked at my watch and wondered what did they have left to even play, but then we got “Mr Jones,” “Pulse,” and “Heartbreak Beat,” with “Heaven” of course being the perfect closer to the night. Richard Butler’s voice is remarkably intact, and he galivants around the stage with that knowing showmanship that feels like must’ve been an influence on Jarvis Cocker. A couple points during the show he bend his mic stand into a 45 degree angle, resting his arms on top of it, thinker’s pose, and giving the audience a look that said “aren’t we ridiculous but also awesome,” and yes they were. Richard’s brother Tim laid down the grooves on bass, still looking very cool. The band, which includes Richard Fortus (also of Guns N’ Roses) on guitar and cello, were terrific and sounded impossibly, impressively pristine. My favorite moments: the opening two-chords of “President Gas,” debut album highlight “Pulse” which has it’s gnarly post-punk edges still sharp, and Butler’s “AHHOOOOOOOHs” in “Love My Way.”

Check out JAMC and P-Furs’ setlists from Brooklyn Paramount, a few iPhone pics and fan-shot video from the Brooklyn Paramount show below.

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SETLIST: The Jesus and Mary Chain @ Brooklyn Paramount 10/5/2024
JAMCOD
April Skies
Head On
Happy When It Rains
All Things Must Pass
Chemical Animal
Some Candy Talking
Far Gone and Out
Venal Joy
Blues From a Gun
Sidewalking
In a Hole
Sometimes Always (with Frankie Rose)
Nine Million Rainy Days
Taste of Cindy
Just Like Honey (with Frankie Rose)
Reverence

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SETLIST: The Psychedelic Furs @ Brooklyn Paramount 10/5/2024
The Boy That Invented Rock & Roll
So Run Down
The Ghost in You
All That Money Wants
Only You and I
Wrong Train
Love My Way
All of the Law
President Gas
Pretty in Pink
Mr. Jones
Pulse
Heartbreak Beat
Heaven

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