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What smoking music are you listening to? (2024)

'It is mid April of 1991 and I hadn't visited my relatives in Wilkes-Barre Pa in 2 years due to an 18 month tour overseas and moving into a new position. It became noticeable in February that there was a lull in my schedule in April so I asked the wife if she could get the time off to go visit with me. Her work said no as she had only been there 3 months but I was free to go provided we see her side on Christmas. So off I went.

Normally it is a 14 hour drive but a case of leadfoot cutit to just shy of 13 hours which got me there just after 6pm Friday night. We had dinner shot the breeze and went to bed. The next day we were supposed to go to the lake (Harvey's Lake for @kann) but it looked like rain and my Uncle wasn't feeling well so mid-afternoon I was told I would be on my own that night. Wilkes-Barre - Scranton is not exactly a hotbed of civilization but I thought I could find something. I open the paper and see there is some local band I never heard of playing in Kingston, the next town over. More local stuff further afield and some places that just said live music. But there near the bottom of the page glowing like a sigh from heaven was: The Psychedelic Furs, Wilkes College 8PM Tickets still availabe.

By 1991 the Furs had been around for 14 years, had gold records and top 10 singles on both sides of the Atlantic so seeing them in Wilkes=Barre was more than a bit surreal. I call the number to see if there were any tickets left - there were but you had to pick them up at the venue. So I change, jump in the car, drive down to the college and buy my ticket with 3 hours to spare. I've got a free space to park in a good location so I decide to walk to find some place to eat and maybe have a few and by the time I got back the doors should be ready to open. Welllllll, even on a Saturday evening there isn't much going on in "downtown" so findind someplace took a good chunk of time but the doors opened 15 minutes after I got back.

The show was sit on the floor or stand, no seats at all and the stage was only about 5' tall with no security barrier. I could actually hook my arms over the stage and just sort oh hang there if I wanted. The show seemed pretty full so if it wasn't a sell out it was close. The band started only 15 minutes late and played 16 songs including the encore. I can hear you saying just how the hell did I know they played 16 song and how could I remember that?

I had their setlist.
And now the rest of the story.

Remember how I said I could hook my arms over the stage? One of the things in reach was the setlist used by Richard Butler during the show. After it was apparent we weren't going to cet a second encore I walked up to the stage and untaped it. Just as I was turning around this guy onstage says,
'Eh, we need that"
"But I want it"
"We need that to go over the show and talk about fixing any mistakes."
"What will you trade me for it?"
" Suppose I could get one og the guys come out and take a picture."
"I don't have a canera and I don't want a picture."
"So whaddayawant"
"I want to meet the band and ask a few questions."
"No,no,no that isn't going to happen. I'll see if one guy wants come out for a minute but you have to give me the paper first."
"Alright deal."

After what felt like 5 minuts I knew I had been screwed but figured I'd give it another minute or two. I'm just about ready to go when Richard
Butler comes out and says,"You're the one giving our manager a hard time. come on then we'll give you a few minutes."

I only asked 2 questions,
The first was to Richard on why he thought, with his unique vocals, he should be the singer
(A) He didn't the rest of the band did, Something along the lines of They're your words who better knows how they should be.
Are American, English or European audiances more receptive to new material?
(A) This was about a 10 minute conversation amongst the band while I just stood there. European. English and America pulling uo the rear.

In July 1992 the Furs went on hiatis - for 29 years.

 
Last edited:
AVB said:
'It is mid April of 1991 and I hadn't visited my relatives in Wilkes-Barre Pa in 2 years due to an 18 month tour overseas and moving into a new position. It became noticeable in February that there was a lull in my schedule in April so I asked the wife if she could get the time off to go visit with me. Her work said no as she had only been there 3 months but I was free to go provided we see her side on Christmas. So off I went.

Normally it is a 14 hour drive but a case of leadfoot cutit to just shy of 13 hours which got me there just after 6pm Friday night. We had dinner shot the breeze and went to bed. The next day we were supposed to go to the lake (Harvey's Lake for @kann) but it looked like rain and my Uncle wasn't feeling well so mid-afternoon I was told I would be on my own that night. Wilkes-Barre - Scranton is not exactly a hotbed of civilization but I thought I could find something. I open the paper and see there is some local band I never heard of playing in Kingston, the next town over. More local stuff further afield and some places that just said live music. But there near the bottom of the page glowing like a sigh from heaven was: The Psychedelic Furs, Wilkes College 8PM Tickets still availabe.

By 1991 the Furs had been around for 14 years, had gold records and top 10 singles on both sides of the Atlantic so seeing them in Wilkes=Barre was more than a bit surreal. I call the number to see if there were any tickets left - there were but you had to pick them up at the venue. So I change, jump in the car, drive down to the college and buy my ticket with 3 hours to spare. I've got a free space to park in a good location so I decide to walk to find some place to eat and maybe have a few and by the time I got back the doors should be ready to open. Welllllll, even on a Saturday evening there isn't much going on in "downtown" so findind someplace took a good chunk of time but the doors opened 15 minutes after I got back.

The show was sit on the floor or stand, no seats at all and the stage was only about 5' tall with no security barrier. I could actually hook my arms over the stage and just sort oh hang there if I wanted. The show seemed pretty full so if it wasn't a sell out it was close. The band started only 15 minutes late and played 16 songs including the encore. I can hear you saying just how the hell did I know they played 16 song and how could I remember that?

I had their setlist.
And now the rest of the story.

Remember how I said I could hook my arms over the stage? One of the things in reach was the setlist used by Richard Butler during the show. After it was apparent we weren't going to cet a second encore I walked up to the stage and untaped it. Just as I was turning around this guy onstage says,
'Eh, we need that"
"But I want it"
"We need that to go over the show and talk about fixing any mistakes."
"What will you trade me for it?"
" Suppose I could get one og the guys come out and take a picture."
"I don't have a canera and I don't want a picture."
"So whaddayawant"
"I want to meet the band and ask a few questions."
"No,no,no that isn't going to happen. I'll see if one guy wants come out for a minute but you have to give me the paper first."
"Alright deal."

After what felt like 5 minuts I knew I had been screwed but figured I'd give it another minute or two. I'm just about ready to go when Richard
Butler comes out and says,"You're the one giving our manager a hard time. come on then we'll give you a few minutes."

I only asked 2 questions,
The first was to Richard on why he though, with his unique vocals, he should be the singer
(A) He didn't the rest of the band did, Something along the lines of They're your words who better knows how they should be.
Are American, English or European audiances more receptive to new material?
(A) This was about a 10 minute conversation amongst the band while I just stood there. European. English and America pulling uo the rear.

In July 1992 the Furs went on hiatis - for 29 years.

Click to expand...
I love the Furs, thank you for sharing...
 

Such a great song. A little backstory about this for people not familiar with SRV: Stevie wrote this song as a tribute to his great friend Charley Wirz after his death in 1985. The white Strat with the Danelectro Lipstick pickups that Stevie is playing in the video was built for him by Charley Wirz.
 
Eshaw99 said:

Such a great song. A little backstory about this for people not familiar with SRV: Stevie wrote this song as a tribute to his great friend Charley Wirz after his death in 1985. The white Strat with the Danelectro Lipstick pickups that Stevie is playing in the video was built for him by Charley Wirz.
Click to expand...
Never seen that config on a strat - what a cool backstory and performance. He's no Steven Seagal but I guess SRV is an "ok" player too if you gotta be named Steve. This must have been from when he was too poor to have them pre-relic a tobacco burst, any good guitar dentist knows the tone is stored in the stripped finish.
 
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