The darkened back room of the Hoxton Square Bar and Kitchen was occupied by a respectably sized and highly excited crowd when Handsome Furs took to the stage on Tuesday, September 13th for the first of a four U.K. gigs following the release of their third album, Sound Kapital (QRO review).
Opening with the first two tracks of the album, their anthem to travel "When I Get Back" and the dark, driving "Damage", the Canadian husband and wife duo had the audience’s lips and limbs moving from the start, showing that this was a crowd made up largely of those who already knew and loved their new material. This being said, it was probably the two tracks from second album Face Control (QRO review) which got the best reception, with the band’s hymn to their home town of Montreal "All We Want, Baby Is Everything" proving a sing-along hit, and "Radio Kaliningrad" getting the loudest whoops of approval.
Banter was certainly tried and tested, and attendees of previous London gigs might have found Alexei Perry’s husky assertion that they were "the best audience we’ve had in London" and "London is always nerve-wracking" a little over-familiar. But as always, what might have been lacking in the Furs’ onstage chat was more than made up for by the freshness and energy of their physical performance. Indeed, it was difficult not to be infected by the band’s enthusiasm when watching Dan Boeckner’s skinny, big-suited frame gleefully bouncing toward a grinning Perry, who spent almost the entire set glued to the keyboard with one leg lifted to the sky in a seemingly impossible Grace Jones pose.
Drawing to a close with a passionate encore performance of "Legal Tender" and "Agony", the gig was kept strictly to an hour, with a limited number of well-chosen songs all drawn out to their full potential. The majority of Handsome Furs songs reflect their travels, describing a long trail of countries and cities viewed though the same skeptical but celebratory lens. It’s perhaps unsurprising then that their set managed to range over different subjects and moods but remain coherent, with Alexei Perry’s driving keyboard riffs running like a railroad track through the whole thing. It certainly left the Hoxton Square Bar’s danced-out audience with the feeling that "When I get back home / I won’t feel the same".
