The Psychedelic Furs played at the St James in Auckland last night and I toddled along. They were very tight, except for a bad off-key moment in the middle, and very loud and played all their classics finishing on a attacking encore of India.

I've never thought of them as a new romantic band but there is a big splash of that in the mix particularly in the way a lot of their songs seem to reach for an epic quality. Oh, and then there was the smoke machines.

The crowd was almost universally of a certain age, more or less my age. It was quite striking how there were very few young or old people there. There were a lot of familiar faces from the band scene circa 1979-85.

I hadn't been in the St James in years and it really is a star in its own right, though looking a bit worse for wear right now. Apparently plans are afoot. Anyway, a very good night all up.