He played for the Psychedelic Furs, hung out with an overdosing Phil Lynott, fingered Andy Warhol’s bullet wounds and once tipped a pint of beer over singer Richard Butler. Duncan Kilburn remembers his years of living dangerously

Duncan Kilburn, former Psychedelic Furs member, plays sax onstage for the Sisters of Mercy .

Around 9pm on 18 November 2023, The Sisters of Mercy’s encore at Newcastle NX began in outlandish and thrilling fashion. 

A lone saxophone player – a rangy man of pensionable age in shades and a flat cap worn backwards – took to the stage. Picked out by a purple spotlight and accompanied by a drone-like backing track, he played something that was part skronk and part Middle Eastern melody. It occupied a rarely explored space between The Last Post, Tara by Roxy Music and free jazz improv.