Old Rock meets new rock in Santa Monica’s third week of their Twilight Pier Concerts. It seems like there is no stopping the musical movement this summer event is creating. On Thursday, July 21, the pier’s third installment featured the genre of rock music to be the backdrop of the anticipated night. Indie rock newcomer Day Wave and ’80s rock veterans Psychedelic Furs were the acts of the night.
Making Day Waves at the Beach
Day Wave, a.ka. Jackson Phillips from Oakland, California. Phillips is the sole “band member” of Day Wave but accompanies his vocals and lead guitar with other musicians for live performances. Day Wave started his music career just last year but made a great entrance at the pier opening for the Psychedelic Furs. Songs off his new EP Day Wave Hard to Read boast indie rock like that of Two Door Cinema Club. Day Wave has a beautiful voice for this type of music and I can see his music going far and being used for the soundtracks for future coming of age movies. The crowd was engaged but you could tell that, the closer and closer he got to the end of his set, the only thing people could focus on was how close the Psychedelic Furs were to the stage.
Psychedelic Furs Still Give us Technicolor
A free concert to the Psychedlic Furs. This would have been a dream to anyone 30 years ago. The cult classic movie and what people call the best teenage movie of the 80s was Pretty in Pink. And guess who sang the song “Pretty in Pink” — The Furs did. Yes, the youth of the ’80s brought their dancing shoes to the pier and the youth of today time warped back to the anthem of teenage love three decades ago.
The Psychedelic Furs entered the stage with energy and a “can-do-anything” attitude. They are still here and not going anywhere. The bands current members are bassist Tim Butler, vocalist Richard Butler, guitarist Rich Good, Mars Williams (on Saxaphone), Amanda Kramer (on keyboards) and Paul Aristo (on drums). Rock music has changed since the Furs first hit the stage but even newcomers to this genre have heard there classic tunes like “Heartbreak Beat” and “Love My Way.”
When the Furs played their classic ballads the entire pier was lit up in technicolor ’80s love. Cheesy ’80s dance moves….CHECK. I loved seeing the high energy this band can still give to their fans. The band broke up in the ’90s but, after their short hiatus, The Psychedelic Furs found their neon light again and have managed to continue to give great performances. It was great to see classic rock like this is still alive.
As I walk the pier concerts I always come across different age groups all enjoying the music. The classic rock lovers found a new sound in Day Wave and jammed out to a free concert of a band they thought they could never see live. And the new music lovers added Day Wave to their playlist and were introduced to the fun high energy of ’80s rock.
If you feel like being introduced to something new and can’t make the Santa Monica Pier Twilight Concert Series you can stream them live every Thursday.
