[First posted on my Tumblr August 21, 2017.]
Tomorrow will be a month since I saw The Psychedelic Furs live for the third time. I can’t believe it flew by so fast, but I will always remember that special night. That night was one of the best nights of my life. But on this post I want to talk about the guitarist, Rich Good, whom I had the pleasure of meeting two times. And also I want to talk about that special moment last month. I know I talked about it two times on my previous posts but that moment was one of the most wonderful moments I’ve ever had. But if this is your first time reading this and hadn’t read my previous blogs then I’m happy to talk about those memories again.
On my first blog, A Psychedelic Furs Story, I wrote about how I saw The Furs for the first time, at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland, Oregon, almost two years ago. But I didn’t write about something that happened during the first concert. While they were performing Rich Good was playing in front of me and my brother, and while he was playing, he looked at me and smiled, and I smiled back at him. And then when the band members walked off the stage Rich looked at me and waved, and I waved back at him. It was really cool that he noticed me.
But when me and my brother left the Crystal Ballroom I never knew that in the next two years, I would meet Rich two times.
A year ago me and my brother went to Portland to go see The Furs again and we left early. When we were walking to Revolution Hall (the place where they performed) there were two guys walking towards us far away and the guy on the right was Rich. I immediately recognized him and as we walked by I told Rich, “Hi” and he said hi back. My brother looked at me and said, “Was that the guitarist?” I told him yeah and then he asked, “Why didn’t you get a photo with him?” I told him I was nervous and hadn’t thought about that. And also I didn’t mention this to him, but I didn’t want to be a bother.
We walked around the building trying to figure out how to get in and then we saw Rich and the other guy again, talking. My brother asked me, “Do you want a photo with him?” And I answered, “I’m really nervous but it would be so awesome!” So we went up to Rich and said hi. Rich asked me what my name was and introduced himself. We got the photos taken and he gave me a guitar pick. It was black and on the front it said THE PSYCHEDELIC FURS in white text and on the back was RG, Rich Good’s initials, in white text also. I was so happy, told Rich “Thank you so much!,” hugged him, said bye, and left.
Then later me and my brother went inside Revolution Hall and we saw Rich again! Rich saw us and said “Hi, how’s it going?” I said “Good!” and then he left to go rehearsing (He had his guitar with him).
When The Psychedelic Furs came on stage Rich recognized me in the crowd (Me and my brother were in the front row) and I waved at him, smiling excitedly and he smiled back. Then when the concert was over and as the band members were leaving the stage Rich came where I was to shake a few people’s hands. I lifted my arm up, Rich saw me, shook my hand, said “Hi again!” and I yelled hi back.
At that concert I had accomplished some things: I met Rich, and then during the concert, singer Richard Butler shook my hand four times and when he shook my hand the third time, he held it and was singing to me, looking at me in the eye.
Fast forward to April 2017 The Psychedelic Furs announced the dates for their Summer tour, and they added Revolution Hall again, in July. I was so excited, I hoped they would come back there again and so my mom bought the tickets for me and my brother to go. And there was another thing that I needed to accomplish, and that was giving them a letter.
I’m a huge fan of The Furs, and I wanted to tell them how much I appreciated their music and that their music meant so much to me. The day before the concert I wrote my letter, and prayed that I would be able to give it to one of them.
While waiting for the concert to come on June 17th, it was Rich Good’s birthday. On Instagram I posted to Rich the picture of us last Summer and I wrote: “Happy Birthday Rich!! Hope you have a great day!” Then later Rich liked my photo and replied: “I’ll be working on that Sarah! Have a great day up there!” I got so happy when I saw his reply, and kept looking at it many times. It was amazing that he remembered me after all those months.
On the third concert my plan was to be in the front row and hopefully would give my letter to Richard Butler or one of the band members during the concert. But that plan got backfired, because my brother had a blister under his foot and he didn’t want to stand for four to five hours. I was disappointed, and at first I was going to not bring my letter but I thought, “Well, I’ll bring it with me, just in case.”
So on July 22 me and my brother got to the Revolution Hall at 6 PM and sat in the balcony and then opener Robyn Hitchcock came and performed. While he sang there was a doorway in front of my eyes and I saw Furs keyboardist Amanda Kramer watching Robyn. She left and then Rich Good watched Robyn too. I looked at Rich and it made me think of how I met him last year. Looking at him made me want to meet him again.
While Robyn performed I thought of a plan B, and that is throwing my letter on the stage while waiting for The Furs to come. Then Robyn left, and when we waited for The Furs I got up from my seat and threw my letter, but I saw it floating gently down where the people were standing on the bottom floor. My brother asked me, “What was that?” and I said, “Oh, it was a letter for The Psychedelic Furs.” I was kind of bummed out, and I thought with a sinking feeling how people would see it, probably pick it up and read it. I really didn’t want them to, because the words that I wrote were only for The Furs, and are personal and private.
But I never knew that a surprise would be waiting for me after the concert.
After the show me and my brother left the building. We were trying to cross the street but there was too much traffic so we walked around the building. As we walked my brother looked over his shoulder and suddenly whispered to me, “Sarah, behind you!” I looked back and behold, Rich Good was coming out of the building. I shouted out hi to him and he turned, looked at me, and said happily, “Hey, how are you doing Sarah?!” I was shocked that he said my name, and remembered me! Even my brother was shocked too! Me and Rich hugged and then he said, “I got your letter!”
He pulled my letter out of his coat pocket. It was my letter. My letter. I was shocked, blown away. I thought it had fallen on the floor. Then Rich said, “I found it by my key pedals and it was really lovely and it made me tear up.”
I couldn’t believe it. I freaked out, and then I started crying happy tears, sobbing out loud. While I was crying Rich hugged and comforted me. I was so happy, so blessed, and I had accomplished it. After I cried we talked for a little bit, and what’s nice was Rich asked me and my brother how our day went and if we enjoyed the concert. Then I got more photos with him and Rich gave me another guitar pick! A different one. Also too he said that they will likely be back in Portland next year!
So me and Rich hugged a few more times (I got five hugs!), said bye, then he left to go visit with a couple friends of his, and that was it.
A day later I was looking at my concert photos and on the photos that I took of Rich I saw something by his key pedals and I realized it was my letter. It was on the stage that whole time after all, and I didn’t even know it!
That moment of meeting Rich again and him showing me how he got my letter will always be one of the most precious moments I’ve ever had, like I mentioned earlier. I’ll never forget how kind, gentle and sweet Rich was to me. If I see The Psychedelic Furs for the fourth time next year I hope I will meet Rich again. I hope I will. Bless him.
Tomorrow will be a month since I saw The Psychedelic Furs live for the third time. I can’t believe it flew by so fast, but I will always remember that special night. That night was one of the best nights of my life. But on this post I want to talk about the guitarist, Rich Good, whom I had the pleasure of meeting two times. And also I want to talk about that special moment last month. I know I talked about it two times on my previous posts but that moment was one of the most wonderful moments I’ve ever had. But if this is your first time reading this and hadn’t read my previous blogs then I’m happy to talk about those memories again.
On my first blog, A Psychedelic Furs Story, I wrote about how I saw The Furs for the first time, at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland, Oregon, almost two years ago. But I didn’t write about something that happened during the first concert. While they were performing Rich Good was playing in front of me and my brother, and while he was playing, he looked at me and smiled, and I smiled back at him. And then when the band members walked off the stage Rich looked at me and waved, and I waved back at him. It was really cool that he noticed me.
But when me and my brother left the Crystal Ballroom I never knew that in the next two years, I would meet Rich two times.
A year ago me and my brother went to Portland to go see The Furs again and we left early. When we were walking to Revolution Hall (the place where they performed) there were two guys walking towards us far away and the guy on the right was Rich. I immediately recognized him and as we walked by I told Rich, “Hi” and he said hi back. My brother looked at me and said, “Was that the guitarist?” I told him yeah and then he asked, “Why didn’t you get a photo with him?” I told him I was nervous and hadn’t thought about that. And also I didn’t mention this to him, but I didn’t want to be a bother.
We walked around the building trying to figure out how to get in and then we saw Rich and the other guy again, talking. My brother asked me, “Do you want a photo with him?” And I answered, “I’m really nervous but it would be so awesome!” So we went up to Rich and said hi. Rich asked me what my name was and introduced himself. We got the photos taken and he gave me a guitar pick. It was black and on the front it said THE PSYCHEDELIC FURS in white text and on the back was RG, Rich Good’s initials, in white text also. I was so happy, told Rich “Thank you so much!,” hugged him, said bye, and left.
Then later me and my brother went inside Revolution Hall and we saw Rich again! Rich saw us and said “Hi, how’s it going?” I said “Good!” and then he left to go rehearsing (He had his guitar with him).
When The Psychedelic Furs came on stage Rich recognized me in the crowd (Me and my brother were in the front row) and I waved at him, smiling excitedly and he smiled back. Then when the concert was over and as the band members were leaving the stage Rich came where I was to shake a few people’s hands. I lifted my arm up, Rich saw me, shook my hand, said “Hi again!” and I yelled hi back.
At that concert I had accomplished some things: I met Rich, and then during the concert, singer Richard Butler shook my hand four times and when he shook my hand the third time, he held it and was singing to me, looking at me in the eye.
Fast forward to April 2017 The Psychedelic Furs announced the dates for their Summer tour, and they added Revolution Hall again, in July. I was so excited, I hoped they would come back there again and so my mom bought the tickets for me and my brother to go. And there was another thing that I needed to accomplish, and that was giving them a letter.
I’m a huge fan of The Furs, and I wanted to tell them how much I appreciated their music and that their music meant so much to me. The day before the concert I wrote my letter, and prayed that I would be able to give it to one of them.
While waiting for the concert to come on June 17th, it was Rich Good’s birthday. On Instagram I posted to Rich the picture of us last Summer and I wrote: “Happy Birthday Rich!! Hope you have a great day!” Then later Rich liked my photo and replied: “I’ll be working on that Sarah! Have a great day up there!” I got so happy when I saw his reply, and kept looking at it many times. It was amazing that he remembered me after all those months.
On the third concert my plan was to be in the front row and hopefully would give my letter to Richard Butler or one of the band members during the concert. But that plan got backfired, because my brother had a blister under his foot and he didn’t want to stand for four to five hours. I was disappointed, and at first I was going to not bring my letter but I thought, “Well, I’ll bring it with me, just in case.”
So on July 22 me and my brother got to the Revolution Hall at 6 PM and sat in the balcony and then opener Robyn Hitchcock came and performed. While he sang there was a doorway in front of my eyes and I saw Furs keyboardist Amanda Kramer watching Robyn. She left and then Rich Good watched Robyn too. I looked at Rich and it made me think of how I met him last year. Looking at him made me want to meet him again.
While Robyn performed I thought of a plan B, and that is throwing my letter on the stage while waiting for The Furs to come. Then Robyn left, and when we waited for The Furs I got up from my seat and threw my letter, but I saw it floating gently down where the people were standing on the bottom floor. My brother asked me, “What was that?” and I said, “Oh, it was a letter for The Psychedelic Furs.” I was kind of bummed out, and I thought with a sinking feeling how people would see it, probably pick it up and read it. I really didn’t want them to, because the words that I wrote were only for The Furs, and are personal and private.
But I never knew that a surprise would be waiting for me after the concert.
After the show me and my brother left the building. We were trying to cross the street but there was too much traffic so we walked around the building. As we walked my brother looked over his shoulder and suddenly whispered to me, “Sarah, behind you!” I looked back and behold, Rich Good was coming out of the building. I shouted out hi to him and he turned, looked at me, and said happily, “Hey, how are you doing Sarah?!” I was shocked that he said my name, and remembered me! Even my brother was shocked too! Me and Rich hugged and then he said, “I got your letter!”
He pulled my letter out of his coat pocket. It was my letter. My letter. I was shocked, blown away. I thought it had fallen on the floor. Then Rich said, “I found it by my key pedals and it was really lovely and it made me tear up.”
I couldn’t believe it. I freaked out, and then I started crying happy tears, sobbing out loud. While I was crying Rich hugged and comforted me. I was so happy, so blessed, and I had accomplished it. After I cried we talked for a little bit, and what’s nice was Rich asked me and my brother how our day went and if we enjoyed the concert. Then I got more photos with him and Rich gave me another guitar pick! A different one. Also too he said that they will likely be back in Portland next year!
So me and Rich hugged a few more times (I got five hugs!), said bye, then he left to go visit with a couple friends of his, and that was it.
A day later I was looking at my concert photos and on the photos that I took of Rich I saw something by his key pedals and I realized it was my letter. It was on the stage that whole time after all, and I didn’t even know it!
That moment of meeting Rich again and him showing me how he got my letter will always be one of the most precious moments I’ve ever had, like I mentioned earlier. I’ll never forget how kind, gentle and sweet Rich was to me. If I see The Psychedelic Furs for the fourth time next year I hope I will meet Rich again. I hope I will. Bless him.
