Yes, it was good. Amazing. Wonderful. Pure joy, plus, plus. The combination of the magic of Melbourne, my first gig at the Corner Hotel and the energy of Dan and Alexei meant last Thursday night will stay locked in my memory for a long, long time. Oh, and I met Dan Boeckner after the gig too. Just to complete the night of joy.

Well, firstly, the night was heavily 'Face Control'. Which is nothing to complain about as those songs are great and perfectly suited to the live arena. But I do love "Plague Park" and was hoping for more from that superb album. But there will be no complaining here, as the night was a huge success. In many ways. The crowd was great and Dan and Alexei certainly fed off that, often thanking the crowd for the great response they were continually getting. I think they were genuinely surprised by the reception they were receiving on their first ever show in Australia. By why wouldn't the response be so great. Handsome Furs are simply a dynamic live show from start to finish. Dan Boeckner is hot wired to his guitar, playing with an amazing level of passion and energy, whilst Alexei Perry is perpetual motion. She was thoroughly devoted to every song, shaking and moving to the rhythms she was creating and playing her instruments mostly standing on one leg. The two players have an amazing bond on stage, you can truly feel their love as as feed off of each other to fuel each and every song. Each song was great, but I especially loved "All We Want, Baby, Is Everything" and "Nyet Spasiba", both astounding. But the closing two songs raised the roof. "Handsome Furs Hate This City" was a symphony in organic joy, whilst "Radio Kaliningrad" thundered its way into everyone's hearts. Two new songs were also impressive. "White City" from "Face Control" was morphed into an extended version that bodes well if it makes its way onto a future album, whilst the encore song in the shape of "Agony" was a stunning display of the duo's talents. Talented they are and also extremely charismatic, conversing regularly, displaying sparkling wit and genuine warmth. Yes, this debut voyage down under has been a tremendous success. Sean thought the same of the Sydney show.

Set List
Legal Tender
Talking Hotel Arbat Blues
All We Want, Baby, Is Everything
Evangeline
I'm Confused
White City (extended)
Nyet Spasiba
Handsome Furs Hate This City
Radio Kaliningrad

Agony


As an added bonus, I met Dan after the show. Hanging around at the merch table, I was excited and shocked to see Dan arrive to talk to fans. What a gracious, warm and generous human being he is. He looked me directly in the eye and was genuinely thrilled to discover how much I enjoyed the show. He informed me of the new songs and then let me know that HF are going to return to Australia in early 2010. After I gasped at this news, he then let me know that there was also a good chance that WP would also be touring at some point in 2010. Yes, I literally floated out of the venue. A perfect night...