WHAT A TEMPER!: ECHOS IN THE MOUNTAINS

I decided to take a little time off from both work and the house, heading up to Aspen Wednesday night with the plan to hike the 28 mile long four pass loop in the nearby mountains. It traverses over four high passes (each above 12,400 feet), crosses many streams, travels through several stunning basins, much of it above timberline, and yields awesome views of the highest peaks in the Elk Range. Four days set aside to complete this solo backpack trip, with the added goal of climbing 14,092 foot tall Snowmass Mountain. The weather started off threatening with light rain that turned to scattered snow showers, but that cleared up by the first evening, yielding beautiful blue skies, warm days and mild evenings.

Upon my arrival in Aspen on Wednesday, I chose to set up for the evening in the parking lot of the recreation center, cranking up the tunes and lighting up a cigar, far enough away from nearby homes so as not attract the attention of the police.

Considering the the time of night, there was only one performance, Echo & The Bunnymen's show on November 27, 2008 at the Echo Arena in Liverpool. Excellent recording from their "Ocean Rain" tour, playing their fourth album in it's entirety, along with many of their favorite classics. This show was about a month after having seen them in Los Angles, my first failed effort at bootlegging a live show.

This is what the local paper had to say about the show:

It's good to know that love can last the distance. And last night, at the ECHO arena, Liverpool showed its affair with Echo And the Bunnymen is as passionate as ever.

Thirty years since the band began, the Bunnymen’s live performance of Ocean Rain had been mooted as one of the must-see events of Liverpool’s year in the sun.
And quite rightly so.

The seminal 1984 album has been hailed as one of the finest pieces of work ever to grace two sides of vinyl.
And to hear it played in its entirety, with an orchestra, was always going to be something special.

But there was more. Following a support slot by Glaswegian bright young things Glasvegas the first half of the show was the band’s greatest hits, showcasing the great Bring on the Dancing Horses, Lips Like Sugar and Nothing Lasts Forever.

Peering through the omnipresent dry ice, Ian McCulloch was on form – one part Lou Reed, one part Oliver Reed, with a bit of Jim Morrison thrown in for good measure.

Thirty years since he and Will Sergeant met at Eric’s his voice is slightly more gravelly, his chuckle a tone lower. But he is unfeasibly cool, the inspiration for a whole generation of new artists.

With a back catalogue like that, it’s not hard to see why.

They defined the sound and atmosphere of the early 1980s with their hard-edged post-punk and dreamy melodic Doors-esque psychedelia.

Then, after an interval, came the sublime Ocean Rain.
The packed arena crowd lapped up every line.

As the haunting strains of Silver, Ocean Rain and The Killing Moon rang out, you could see every face in the crowd mouthing the words.

“It may not be the best album ever made,” proclaimed McCulloch between songs.

“But it’s a pretty good one.”

I couldn’t agree more.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/capital-of-culture/capital-of-culture-liverpool-news/2008/11/28/review-echo-the-bunnymen-echo-arena-100252-22361216/