Singing songs of identity, confusion, and resounding resolution, Ezra Furman’s music has long struck a chord with anyone who’s felt like an outsider. As he emerges out of a pink coffin with a single red rose in hand at a sold out Roundhouse, that deep seated adoration rises from the sidelines and hits an overdue fever pitch.
In the spirit of Halloween Charlotte Church’s “Not-So-Late Night Pop Dungeon” are as fittingly strange as they are sensational. Taking to the stage in full length robes and singing operatic refrains, the nine-piece outfit power through renditions of everything from Nine Inch Nails through Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory to En Vogue. Fusing the classical with the contemporary, and heavy music with pop hooks (a mash up of ‘Killing In The Name Of’ and ‘Bootylicious’ a particularly impressive highlight), the Pop Dungeon is an experience thrillingly unlike any other.
While Charlotte Church’s performance finds fun in festivity, Ezra Furman & The Boyfriends’ set is made all the more electric by its sense of liberation. Expressing notions of anxiety and wonder, turbulence and optimism, these are songs that have been lived – through all their pain and conviction, they remain at once catchy and, simply put, exceptional.
Presenting classic aesthetics with a characteristic flair, the rock and roll stylings of Ezra and his band are as freewheeling as they are cathartic. ‘Little Piece Of Trash’ and ‘Tell ‘Em All To Go To Hell’ ring out as anthems. ‘Ordinary Life’ is a life-affirming hymn at its most earnestly felt. ‘Teddy I’m Ready’ is a gateway into escapism. “I’m getting carried away,” the frontman proclaims mid-set. “But isn’t that the point?”
Shouting out anyone who’s ever been “feeling disposable,” inviting the room to “make something happen,” Ezra Furman is a voice for the disillusioned, and the night a celebration of whatever the hell you want it to be. The group might declare that they “don’t feel entitled to this kind of success,” but with a crowd cheering every song introduction and echoing every word back at the stage, large scale admiration like this has not only been a long time coming but seems certain to remain.
Photos: Sarah Louise Bennett