Peter Murphy
With LIVAN
Culture Room, Fort Lauderdale
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Better than: If Peter Murphy was really a Twilight vampire -- not even that would beat the man living in the flesh.
Besides a near-perfect performance, Peter Murphy was horny as shit last night at the Culture Room. No other reviews hinted at such pent-up sexual energy, so it appears that South Florida got something really special from the ex-Bauhaus frontman, the eternal Gothfather. All it takes is three songs and a venue with a shitty back to get Peter Murphy in the mood.
After finishing "Peace to Earth," he started the courtship. "I'm a bit
fat now," he said as he lifted up his deep V-necked black cardigan, which
he wore with no undershirt. He pinched his belly fat, unzipped that
cardigan, grabbed his self-called "fat tits," and readjusted his dick,
twice. While adjusting, he gave a "what do you expect me to do?" when he hinted
at having a chub to a male fan in front.
"I'm not wearing
underwear," Murphy said, "and I haven't had sex in God knows how
long..." This was excellent news because (a.) he said he needed this build-up to perform and (b.) throughout the whole
performance, he was showing his nipples. He met a lady fan who he
declared to be like Elizabeth Taylor after she asked him if he liked an A
cup, her bra size. Only now did the fourth song start, dedicating
"Indigo Eyes" to Lady A-cup because her eyes were worthy of
it.
The show was a beautiful mix of slow tunes, showcasing
Murphy's soothing screams and soul-crushing stares ("Marlene Dietrich's
Favorite Poem" and "Strange Kind of Love" mix with "Bela Legosi is Dead")
and uptempo ones, where his stamina was shown through him spinning with
his arms out. When he ran in place, it was lustful -- seducing -- sauntering. He flapped like a bat throughout.
Murphy was not vampryic nor morbid -- OK, not totally true -- but he was only dark for the tunes, when everyone was sucked into his
vortex. The rest of the time, his British, self-deprecating humor had the
crowd exploding in laughter -- Murphy was extremely
talkative. After he
ripped (more) open his cardigan, showed us his nipples (again), and
left the stage, it was time for his second encore (both encores kept the energy of the crowd high) : "Cuts You Up"
got every goth in the place to dance with his or her hands up, wrists out. The third encore -- Iggy
Pop's "Raw Power" -- caught the majority by surprise and so Murphy ended the night on a frenzy.
"Everyone hits on me. Stop
wanting me," he asked of us. Not a chance.
Critic's Notebook
The crowd: People who wear black. To their weddings.
Random detail: Murphy wore a giant, sparkly ring on his right hand and drank with his pinky out!
Personal Bias: I love goths, sexual beings, people with intense stares, everything vampyric including bat moves, and Bauhaus.
By the way: His ninth album called Ninth comes out in June.
Set List:
Low Room
Velocity Bird
Peace to Earth
Indigo Eyes
Disappearing
Silent Hedges
I'll Fall With Your Knife
Subway
Hurt
Mariene Dietrich's Favorite Poem
The Prince and Old Lady Shade
Uneven and Brittle
First Encore:
Cool Cool Breeze
Strange Kind of Love mix with Bela Lagosi is Dead
Second Encore:
Cuts You Up
All Night Long
She's in Parties with a line or two from Riders on the Storm
Third Encore:
Raw Power