Ezra Furman

I headed to the Arts Club tonight in a state of high excitement about seeing Ezra Furman! His live shows are widely regarded as some of the most thrilling performances on the current music scene and his new album ‘Transangelic Exodus’ (due out on Friday) has been garnering some excellent reviews.

To say he didn’t disappoint would be an understatement. He and his band, The Visions (formerly The Boy-Friends), absolutely tore the place up over a couple of hours!!

Ezra’s music has, over the course of his previous 6 albums, tended to blend the rawness of the Velvet Underground and Jonathan Richman with the emotion of the Ronettes, although he himself notes that the new songs are ‘more arty’. His lyrics have always been influenced by songwriters of the calibre of Bob Dylan and Lucinda Williams and he says his new album feels to him like a collection of related short stories. From what I heard tonight, I’d say that’s absolutely correct.

He wraps it all up with a gloriously queer sensibility, a great taste in vintage dresses and a fearless attitude to performance (“Desperate times call for desperate measures, Liverpudlians!”). What’s not to love?

For an idea of what I was lucky enough to experience tonight, here’s an official live recording of ‘Driving Down to L.A.’ from the upcoming album. One of the highlights of tonight’s show. Enjoy!

https://youtube.com/watch?v=V4onnCBcuJ0

Afterwards, I got to say hello to Ezra and he signed my t-shirt for me (see Extra). We also discussed his recent appearance on Marc Maron’s podcast, which you can hear at www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episode-886-ezra-furman-david-wain (Ezra’s interview starts about 30 mins into the podcast if you just want to skip to that part!)

It was a genuine thrill to meet him!

PS Here’s another of my favourite songs from tonight, ‘Love You So Bad’ ... https://youtube.com/watch?v=QX8CiG4aRLo

PPS He’s also currently playing a great cover of Kate Bush’s ‘Hounds of Love’, which someone was good enough to film just last night in Leeds... https://youtube.com/watch?v=FIQ_Tr-jxJw