Peter Murphy solo: Search & Destroy

Last few days I've found myself near-obsessively relistening to Should the World Fail to Fall Apart. It's a much better album than even I realized (and I already liked it quite a lot).

Anyway, he's on tour again and I'm looking forward to catching him in June.

Really must get it. I heard, of all things, "Dragnets Drag" running through my head on the plane to Seattle last week.

Interesting. Not the song that would have leapt out at me!

That quasi-U2 rhythm guitar and the choirtron synth in the background, with Murphy mumbling "Whirlpools whirl..."

You're onto something there.

The a capella start to "Blue Heart" is what got me on the Should kick again.

"Was it a liiiiiie?
Was it the TRUTH?"

Should is such a treat. Gotta dig up my vinyl of that again. Wasn't it co-produced with Ivo from 4AD?

Sure was! And compared to the albums that immediately followed it sounds it in more than one sense, because Should is more of a free floating experiment where the next three records were Peter-plus-a-band.

Anyone heard who's opening for PM this tour?

(I'm diggin Marlene Dietrich's Favourite Poem lately..)

Murphy's coming to Austin, can't decide whether to go. Live show any good?

Any good! It's fantastic. He is a remarkable performer.

well i mean, i've seen him with Bauhaus and he's obviously great there. just wondering if the solo show was on the same level. you know, without the other guys. i like p.murphy solo just... okay, not incredible.

I prefer Peter separate from Love & Rockets and Bauhaus should not perform ever again. They're both better off without each other.

u crazy

okay so.... Burning from the Inside, Endless Summer of the Damned, Black Stone Heart, She's in Parties, Bela Lugosi's Dead (acoustic/solo)..... Crystal Wrists, I'll Fall with Your Knife, The Sweetest Drop, Idle Flow, Final Solution, Cuts You Up (heavy metal version/guest vocals from stagehand/birthday cake??)....... plus covers of Be My Wife and an impromptu version of Wild Is the Wind (acapella/vocals only).......... GREAT SHOW IN AUSTIN.

Ha! I knew this would be a Stephen revive! :)

whatchu talkin bout bimble

hahaha *deep voice* "that's the second time you be talking at me like that, willis! hahaha

If you have already seen this video of him covering Grace Jones' "Nightclubbing" and you didn't tell me about it, well, I'm disappointed in you. I'm glad I've got a friend who likes goth rock and can tell me about this shit.

Iggy had the original, Bimble, not Grace Jones!

I always thought Murphy was a poor man's Iggy, and there goes your proof.

Yeah I just found that out, Timi, about Iggy being the writer of it. Oh well.

Iggy and Bowie!

You would tolly dig The Idiot if you're into Murphy.

Here's a better version w/ Trent and Geordie:

This guy is fucking goth:

I am still more goth than everyone on this board, sorry.

As posted via his official Twitter account:

Peter's Secret Cover Tour '09 will coincide with the release of 4 single covers, the 1st will be "Instant Karma"- release date TBD by iTunes

Secret Cover Tour '09???

He's announced dates -- playing here in OC on June 8.

`Member this?

wtf? Hell no I do not remember that.

Ned, plz to post tour dates? Me thanky in advance.

i don't know the rest of the dates but he is also playing at the House Of Blues on Sunset in Hollywood on June 10.

Here's what's on the official page:

To coincide with the staggered release of 4 single covers, the first of which will be "Instant Karma" -- release date TBD by iTunes. The Secret Cover Tour will include a preview of new material from Peter's forthcoming release (to be announced in the near future). More touring is planned to follow US & Europe.

5.31.09 Wave Gotik Tref festival in Leipzig, Germany
6.02.09 Seattle, WA - El Corazon
6.03.09 Portland, OR - Aladdin Theatre
6.04.09 San Francisco, CA - Bimbo’s
6.05.09 Sacramento, CA - Harlow’s
6.06.09 Reno, NV - Grand Sierra Resort
6.08.09 Anaheim, CA - House of Blues
6.10.09 Los Angeles, CA - House of Blues
6.11.09 Agoura Hills, CA - Canyon Club
6.12.09 Las Vegas, NV - House of Blues
6.13.09 San Diego, CA - Cannes Ballroom
6.14.09 Phoenix, AZ - Marquee
6.16.09 Tucson, AZ - Rialto
6.18.09 Austin, TX - Emos
6.19.09 Dallas, TX - Lakewood Theatre
6.22.09 New Orleans, LA - Howlin Wolf
6.23.09 Atlanta, GA - Masquerade
6.24.09 St.Petersburg, FL - Jannus Landing
6.25.09 W. Palm, FL - Respectable
6.26.09 Orlando, FL - House of Blues
6.27.09 Myrtle Beach, SC - House of Blues
6.30.09 Greensboro, NC - Club N
7.01.09 Greenville, SC - Handlebars
7.03.09 Falls Church, VA - State Theatre
7.06.09 New York, New York - Highline Ballroom
7.07.09 New York, New York - Highline Ballroom
7.09.09 Foxboro, MA - Showcase Live
7.11.09 Toronto, CA - Opera House
7.12.09 Lancaster, PA - Chameleon Club
7.16.09 Chicago, IL - House of Blues
7.16.09 Grand Rapids, MI - Orbit Room
7.17.09 Pontiac, MI - Clutch Cargos
7.19.09 Milwaukee, WI – The Rave

Additional Dates TBA

Going to be very interesting to see what covers he does play!

Austin show, here I come!

Thanks!!

He's dropping by West Palm Beach? Hm.

I've bought tickets to his show here, but more because my friend's crazier about him than I am. I haven't seen him live (solo) since...oh god, the late 80's, so this will be interesting.

Gotta say, dude's a very thoughtful and friendly interviewee.

Indeed, very nice guy. Met him at SXSW a few months back.

Nice. He had great things to say about that show.

Greensboro? Weird. We'll see. He was awesome the one time I saw him solo circa '87.

Okay, so I went to the show. But my friend couldn't go, so I was broken hearted, but I had to go down there at least to try to sell the ticket. When I got there some dudes outside told me it was too late, it was almost over and there wasn't anyone else around. But one of them complimented me on my Can Ege Bamyasi T-shirt, which meant a lot to me because no one had ever complimented me on it before. He also complimented me again later in the bathroom, AND another entirely different dude did later as well. But I digress.

When I got there Peter was performing a song I didn't know. Then he did "Final Solution" and I was like "oh come on, I never liked his cover of this, I don't even care about the original, to be honest". Then he did "A Strange Kind of Love" and played guitar this time and I was like "yeah now we are talking!". He had this gorgeous silk scarf on, some mixture of hot pink with either blue or green, I couldn't tell in the light. Might have been some purple in there, too, it really played tricks on your eyes. So then in the middle of that song he started singing Bela Lugosi's Dead. Also somewhere in here he did a "new song" that was really rock and roll guitar. I liked it well enough. Then he came out for an encore and the next thing I remember is he (they) were playing "The Passion of Lovers" and I had a complete and total trip out at that moment. Then "She's In Parties". Then I think it was some Bauhaus song I couldn't even identify, even if I'd heard it before. I could only conclude it must have come from Burning From the Inside, because otherwise it seemed to me I would recognize it. I'm gonna look up the lyrics here in a minute when I finally quit typing. And then...the next thing I knew it was his last encore where he came out in his trademark black feather boa and a black porkpie hat of sorts and also he sortof had this black gymsuit thing on. And the song he ended with was Bowie's "Major Tom". That was nice enough and one of the few Bowie songs I really like. But then it was over.

Oh well.

At least I saw the girl who does tarot cards at the goth club there. And another extremely good looking dude who wears a lot of punk gear.

But the band who played after them were SO bad. Oh my god, so bad. It was like if you wanted to have one more drink before leaving, you had to suffer through it. I kept wanting them to be punk rock but they kept leaning for grunge or something. I bet the singer jacks off to the thought of Eddie Vedder. Disgusting.

Yes indeed, the song I couldn't identify was not just from Burning From The Inside, but was indeed the title track.

My interview with him is up. (I had nothing to do with the headline.)

Right now I'm going to:

early Love Hysteria show on the 8th
Deep show on the 11th (also maybe one on the 9th or 10th)
Should the World makeup show on the 13th
Stripped on the 18th
Dust on the 19th
Bauhaus set on the 23rd
Bowie set on the 27th

Would also be going to the Cascade show on the 15th but there's a conflict that evening.

LOL its funny to read me upthread being dubious PM was really doing a new Dalis Car album. Not only did it turn out he really did, but I have a copy signed by Steve Jansen, so shut my own mouth.

What time has PM been going on at the Chapel shows? Trying to sort out my thursday. I know it says show at 9; looks like there's an opener....10? 10:30?

Generally he's been going on stage on time -- last night they adjusted the schedule to doors 8, opener 8:30, PM 9:30 per a mailout and that's exactly how it shook out. I might call the Chapel on the day of just to see if there are any changes.

Never claiming I'm a great photographer but I've lucked in a few good shots over the first shows I've been to:

https://scontent-lax3-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/53690278_10156868404696136_5371704765199679488_n.jpg?_nc_cat=106&_nc_ht=scontent-lax3-2.xx&oh=d7d3d3abebe2cd2d75459f3347a05e77&oe=5D17F3CE

https://scontent-lax3-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/54257519_10156868404846136_5707746803189809152_n.jpg?_nc_cat=108&_nc_ht=scontent-lax3-2.xx&oh=e4c8f6f2b02be5d1584bfe083b8cc94c&oe=5D064B7B

ticketfly was offering free tickets for tonights Should the World Fail show (must be undersold); didn't take them as I can't do two nights out in a row anymore.

Not undersold entirely -- everyone who had tickets last week got refunded and then got free tickets; that was the show that he missed because of the plane. The extra free tickets packed the place out...and it was an incredible show! Really brought the album to life vividly, he sounded great, band was on fire, etc. That and a two song Holy Smoke. Friend said it was the best show of the run and I'd have to agree it's up there.

Also, among my round of photos, took this one which turned out really well:

https://scontent-lax3-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/53800042_10156871348761136_3855590191704047616_n.jpg?_nc_cat=111&_nc_ht=scontent-lax3-2.xx&oh=abf0280bd359465dc254d339b99e44de&oe=5D1FF19C

Would suggest people consider next Monday's show -- that's going to be a Stripped night, based on the tour from a couple of years ago with a more acoustic/quieter take on things, but it's apparently going to be combined with a set of full-band choices from across all the albums, so it might be the best one-stop-shopping night of the tour specifically focused on his own work.

last night was great! great trio band. kind of wish they'd had a fourth person so they could have relied less on some backing tracks (the biggest thing being the violin in cuts you up; you'e got a bassist who is also a great violinist who did an amazing bit on Strange Kind of Love, but he couldn't play that on Cuts because he was busy playing bass) but otherwise I had zero issues. Murphy's voice top notch. His #meetoo joke didn't go over very well though but whenever he started talking too much the band just kicked off a song to shut him up.

Hahah that sounds about right. Had to miss Thursday/Friday shows due to my surgery but last night I started up again -- this turned out to be an amusing slumgullion of a set, less a greatest hits set and more of a 'we have a general setlist but let's see what happens' night. Definitely in raconteur mode at times and they ended up dropping a few songs, but I got "Subway Song" -- which since I had to miss Cascade was welcome, though I did wish they had snuck in "Gliding Like a Whale" and "Wild Birds" as well -- and, very happily, "The Prince and Old Lady Shade," which is my standout from Ninth, and since I'm not seeing that set, that worked. In terms of stories there was definitely some waspishness at points -- he was especially dismissive of an unnamed singer/group who charged hundreds of dollars for tickets but ended up miming everything -- but then he had a great one about Chris Martin and Coldplay when they and Bauhaus did Coachella and Bauhaus by all accounts absolutely owned that evening. Murphy had plenty of praise for Martin, said he was a great guy and that his band did NOT mime, but also mentioned that apparently Martin was surprised to discover that Bauhaus were not, in fact, German.

Anyway, the band right now, however relatively jury-rigged -- Thwaite just came back on board three weeks ago, the bassist/violinist returned just for this set of shows since Murphy's otherwise been working with David J -- has ended up working well together, and whenever Peter leaves first at the end of the set/encore, their instrumental song closeouts show that they really do click together.

Really looking forward to the Dust show tonight -- that album's still very special for me, and I'll be extremely interested to see how this band translates it, though with the violinist on stage that'll take care of part of it right there. I heard from a close friend that Peter's been in such a generally more relaxed and good mood these past few shows because his kids are in town visiting him, and he hadn't seen them for some months due to the tour, so I think just being in one place for a while in combination with that makes things more of a treat for him. Tonight's also the last night he'll be doing straight up solo stuff, since it's just the Bauhaus and Bowie nights that are left, and I suspect this whole run of concentrating on his own work for the past two weeks (cue piano part) probably has been very satisfying in that regard.

in case anyone is going on Saturday and would prefer to go tonight, I have 2 tickets I would love to swap.

well, went last night. His voice is really getting ragged but he deserves commendation for pushing through these; he's sounding pretty great while singing but speaking his voice is really giving out. I hope he makes it through the next week! I could have done with a longer set but the amazing moments last night: the guy who I guess opened the night before (I heard he was a tuvan throat singer) coming out in full regalia to play guitar on All We Ever Wanted Was Everything; David J's thundering and amazing bass; and Peter's obvious affection for David and these shows and the crowd, really made this something special. Sure I wish Daniel Ash and Kevin Haskins were there too but in some ways this was more enjoyable than the full Bauhaus show I saw in 2005 or 2006.

Noted! Will be seeing them do that set tonight — yeah hope his voice lasts through next week, I really want that Dust show.

oh wow, did Soriah open for him?

Yup, opened at a couple of shows. If I had stuck around Tuesday night I would have seen the opening set but since he had to postpone the Dust set, striking as it sounded I just needed to go home and rest (given that I was, you know, just four days out from surgery and all).

Peter Murphy: Destroyed

http://i67.tinypic.com/10yoxf6.jpg

Last week he definitely was reaching the end of this cycle -- looking like that and the voice was often rougher. But both the Dust set and the Bowie tribute on the final night were often stellar. The whole run was good fun, of the seven shows I saw.

i just saw him a second time in a month this week. posted about it in the Bauhaus artist poll. anyways, he has run out of steam the first show was unforgettable thou.

Peter Murphy postpones NYC residency after suffering a heart attack

just heard about this, get well Mr. Murphy!

Under 'things I did not expect':

https://petermurphy.bandcamp.com/album/let-the-flowers-grow

It's a forthcoming duet with...Boy George. I'm not kidding!

produced by Youth!!

Quite a combo! Youth produced an earlier album by Murphy so that tracks.

Silver Shade out May 9, 2025 via Metropolis.

"Swoon" featuring Trent Reznor:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPOgRAQdbtQ

I like about half of this new one quite a bit. The Bowie-isms are fun and he sounds good.

Yeah it's a very strong one! I especially appreciate how much he's leaning into electronics in general on this -- it's a nice new twist for him.

I think it suits him for sure.

My review of it:

https://theshfl.com/album/Silver-Shade