Echo And The Bunnymen - Brixton Academy, London, 9/12/2010
by Anthony Strutt
published: 4 / 12 / 2010
intro
At the Brixton Academy in London, Anthony Strutt watches Echo and the Bunnymen in a nostalgic, but perfect set play back-to-back their first two albums, 'Crocodiles' and 'Heaven Up Here'
Billing the evening as “a master class in rock ‘n’ roll”, Echo and the Bunnymen shone brightly tonight. All of the band's original albums from 1980's ‘Crocodiles’ up until 1987’s self-titled fifth and last album with their original line-up (known amongst the hardcore as ‘The Grey Album’) were excellent in every way. Tonight they took us down memory lane by playing ‘Crocodiles’ and then their 1981 second album ‘Heaven Up Here’, before finishing by serving up a four song encore. It was like going back in time when the world was less full of bullshit, when unlike today your favourite band played and released albums that you rushed out to buy immediately and then played to death. Kelley Stoltz perfectly opened the show and told us that “the lights will go down, the fog will rise up, and then the beautiful music will wash all over you.” And it did. Deliciously dark, Echo and the Bunnymen were Liverpool's answer to the Velvet Underground, Television and the Doors all wrapped up with the big-lipped Ian McCulloch whom tonight is on cheeky form, but was the spokesman for his generation. Will Sergeant is an amazing guitarist and always will be, changing his guitars at regular periods to reflective each song’s dark powers. By the end of the first album, I was more than happy, but tonight ‘Heaven Up Here’ shone more brightly. The encore was McCulloch’s favourite bit where we got class names such as ‘Lips Like Sugar’ (with ad libs of songs I didn’t know), ‘Bring On the Dancing Horses’, ‘The Killing Moon’ and finally ‘The Cutter’ which rounded off one of my favourite shows of the year. Echo and the Bunnymen are the best band out of Liverpool since that other famous four piece.
Band Links:-
http://www.bunnymen.com/https://www.facebook.com/thebunnymen/
https://twitter.com/Bunnymen
Picture Gallery:-
interviews |
Interview with Ian McCulloch (2014) |
Nick Dent-Robinson speaks to Ian McCulloch from Echo and the Bunnymen about his band's new album, 'Meteorites' |
Interview (2011) |
live reviews |
Royal Centre, Nottingham, 12/9/2023 |
Dave Goodwin at the Royal Centre in Nottingham watches Echo and The Bunnymen with the help of the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra play in a stunning set their 1984 fourth album 'Ocean Rain' in its entirety. |
Usher Hall, Edinburgh, 23/5/2018 |
Shepherd's Bush Empire, London, 30/11/2003 |
London Riverside Studios, 8/3/2003 |
Guildford, Surrey, 21/7/2002 |
London Royal Festival Hall, 3/2/2002 |
features |
Ten Songs That Made Me Love... (2020) |
In our series, in which our writers celebrate ten songs that made them love a favourite band or artist, Cila Warncke raises a glass to Liverpudlian post-punks Echo And The Bunnymen |
reviews |
The Fountain (2009) |
Maligned latest album from Echo and the Bunnymen, which despite unimpressing much of the group's hardcore fan base, is very much a grower |
Rescue (2006) |
Me, I'm All Smiles (2006) |
Scissors In The Sand (2006) |
In The Margins (2005) |
Stormy Weather (2005) |
Siberia (2005) |
Flowers (2001) |
most viewed articles
current edition
In Dreams Begin Responsibilities - #15- On Being Dignified and Old aka Ten Tips From Jah Wobble On How To Be Happy.Dennis Tufano - Copernicus Center, Chicago, 19/7/2024
Elliott Murphy - Interview
Wreckless Eric - Interview
Adrian Gurvitz - Interview
In Dreams Begin Responsibilities - #16: Living in the Minds of Strangers
In Dreams Begin Responsibilities - #17: Tom Robinson
Norman Rodger - Interview
Chris Spedding - Interview
Penumbra - Interview
previous editions
Heavenly - P.U.N.K. Girl EPIn Dreams Begin Responsibilities - #5 - ‘We all have good intentions/ But all with strings attached’: Music and Mental Health Part 2
Trudie Myerscough-Harris - Interview
Allan Clarke - Interview
Dwina Gibb - Interview
Joy Division - The Image That Made Me Weep
Beautiful South - Ten Songs That Made Me Love...
Jimmy Nail - Interview
Sound - Interview with Bi Marshall Part 1
Nerve - Interview
most viewed reviews
current edition
Groovy Uncle - Making ExcusesBill Wyman - Drive My Car
Hawkestrel - Chaos Rocks
Philip Parfitt - The Dark Light
Ross Couper Band - The Homeroad
Deep Purple - =1
Jules Winchester - The Journey
Popstar - Obscene
Splashgirl and Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe - More Human
John Murry and Michael Timmins - A Little Bit of Grace and Decay
Pennyblackmusic Regular Contributors
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart