Concert Review: Ezra Furman Is The Adam Sandler of Music
Ezra Furman is loud, crazy, and even obnoxious, but that is exactly he wants to be and what you grow to appreciate about him. From the very beginning, he literally says he is crazy and asks the audience who wants to be crazy with him. He is a rock persona that is based completely in shock and awe, and whether you like it or not, does not matter, because Ezra Furman wants to be a dignified outcast.
No other word sums Ezra better than “individual”. He has his own sound that is similar to the B-52’s in its peppiness and weirdness. As for his stage presence, it is a cross between Adam Sandler’s Billy Madison and Dr. Frank N’ Furter from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. He yells and claims irrationalities while tussling his skirt and pearls with a deranged sense of drama. It is a sound and image that many will love and many will hate, yet that is what makes Ezra great: he is strictly doing what he wants. If he wants to roll in the drapes or throw himself on the stage floor in a fit of musical passion: HE WILL! To some, the surge of dynamic energy that is Ezra Furman will not be their particular “cup of tea”, but to others, whom enjoy an artist that is a crazy character, he will come off brilliant.
In a musical world where people are eager to be “mainstream” or have everyone be their fan, what makes Ezra Furman so admirable is that he does not care. He takes pride in being “different” or what I deem original. Moreover, he is solely about his music. The stage is HIS world, and it is up to you whether you join him or not. That kind of boldness to not worry about your image but rather focus on your “being” is refreshing. So many musicians exhaust themselves trying to give off a false reality, while Ezra is happily creating a fantasy. For those that admire the strangeness yet artistry of rock legends like David Bowie or Kurt Cobain, Ezra will certainly ring in their aura during performance. He even did an excellent cover of Nirvana’s In Bloom that was totally unique to him, which is not easy to do considering that Kurt Cobain is often approached as an untouchable treasure. Yet, it is clear from his lyrics that Ezra, like Kurt, is aiming for those that feel vulnerable and ostracized from society.
Ezra is reaching out to his fellow eccentrics through lyrics that gripe between rage, bliss, sadness, and delirium. The excellent musicianship of his band, The Boy-Friends, helps to elevate the range of his emotional words. As you dance to the twisted, 1980’s “promesque” style of music, if you actually listen, his lyrics ring true to the everyday feelings of boredom, confusion, and alienation people feel. Body Was Made and Haunted Head, from his latest album Perpetual Motion People, are prime examples of Ezra’s poignant ability to bring 80’s pop beats/ 90’s indie rock and combine them with lyrics that are simple and soulful in their depth. He may seem atypical and bombastic in nature, but, at his core, he is oddly grounded in humaneness.
Like SIA or 90’ s rock band Garbage, Ezra has a real knack for attracting you with a vibe of surrealism instead of leaving you with a true caption of humanity. As you feed into his “punkish” ways, you catch some real moments of human truth: life isn’t always fun living, especially when you feel like you are not normal or apart of society’s standards. Yet, if you feel like and decide to join Ezra, you will see it is not so crazy to embrace your “crazy”. It is better to be a personal original that is truly loved rather than a mainstream copy that is only consumed.
