Last week, I acquiesced to my friend Eric’s desire to see Peter Murphy live at El Corazon in Seattle.

It’s not to often that I go to a first (or arguably second) tier concert without having decent knowledge of the music catalog. After all, it’s a lot of money to spend on something to take a chance.

And when I have done it, I can only think of two shows that made me run out and purchase the entire catalog of albums from the artist – the Eurythmics (back in 1986) and Bryan Ferry (hey, you can’t argue with the necessity of the Roxy Music inventory).

I’m only vaguely familiar with Peter Murphy. Certainly, I understand his place in the annals of alt-rock history – front-man to Bauhaus and one of the premier goth-men of our time. I’d heard some of the more noteworthy Bauhaus songs, and certainly “Cuts You Up” from Deep.

Sounds like this, by the way…

But his live show is something entirely worth seeing – even in the twilight of his career.

The El Corazon is a strange layout in that instead of being long and deep, it was wide and shallow. In other words, there are probably about 15 to 20 rows, maximum, but it extends to the sides about 20 yards past the stage in each direction.

And in that place, Peter Murphy absolutely owned the crowd. I was not aware of his noted mastery of the live space, but every word is true. He is extremely charismatic, flamboyant and animated. Some would not bother trying to explain it and simply leave it at “stage presence.” You simply can’t take your eyes off of him.

And the array of songs was fantastic. The premise of the tour is “Covers” from Bauhaus and other artists. You may have seen the car ad that features his “Instant Karma” cover. He didn’t play that, but he did play “Hurt” from Nine Inch Nails and “Space Oddity” from David Bowie – both flawless executions with a nice twist.

Here’s video of “Hurt.” The camera work is not that great, but the sound is good.

And here’s a clip of his performance of one of his new songs (I don’t know the title). Watching this clip, I can see how it doesn’t completely catch the vibe and might just reveal a man too old to be doing what he’s doing. But when you’re immersed in the energy of the show, all is forgiven.

The Seattle show was the first of the tour, so look on his site. If he’s coming to your town, definitely give him the chance – although you risk a huge outlay of cash to catch up with his catalog of music.

It’s also worth mentioning Legion Within – the opening band.

If I had not seen them perform, I might have really liked their music. It’s somewhat of a mash-up of all alt-alt 80’s music – Oingo Boingo, The Damned and, unfortunately, Peter Murphy/Bauhaus.

It’s a 5-piece band, and the band is content to let the lead singer do all the work. Unfortunately, the lead singer is, too. He has his own version of the trademark Danny Elfman sardonic grin. And he works the stage like he’s playing an arena show. But in the small venue, it ended up being more laughable than anything.

I can’t find a picture that really shows the lead singer, which is a shame, because he seamlessly transitioned from one of two states – small mouth or massive sardonic grin. All in all, an excellent night of music.