ROUND TWO: ROLLING WITH THE BUNNYMEN'S PUNCHES

John and I woke up late Sunday morning. After breakfast we visited several bookstores and toured the arts and craft show in Union Square. By mid afternoon he had to call it quits and head back home to Poughkeepsie, leaving me to fend for myself the remainder of the day. I spent the remainder of the afternoon walking the streets, visiting oddball shop that are scattered here and there. I found Public Image Limited's "Live in Tokyo" in a cubby hole of a record store, music to listen to during a virtual concert outdoors some future Saturday nights.

Back to to the hotel where I changed and prepared for tonight's show. Was standing near the front of the line shortly after 7 PM. I saw Brian, who I met in Liverpool where he got Ian to sign the 1984 tour book, and asked him whether they would have an after show party and he confirmed that it would be at the Beauty Bar just around the corner from the theater. Doors opened at 8 PM and I took my place right before the stage, knowing it was going to be a long wait. I was told that unlike yesterdays sell out show, tonight they had only 600 people in attendance. All I cared about were the few people standing in front of me.

I no longer recall who the warm up band was. A spacey sounding rock band that was far too loud with lots of feedback. The first thing I noticed people do is put their fingers in their ears to protect themselves from the bombardment of sound of the variety you can feel reverberating deep in your gut. Thank goodness for the earplugs I bring along for these occasions. The band was not well received by the crowd. It was over in less than 40 minutes. Now another hour long wait for The Bunnymen. At least we were entertained by an odd video on the screen above the stage.

Echo & The Bunnymen took the stage sometime after 10:30 PM. I forgot my baseball cap and so was forced to clip the mics to the edge of my glasses, which I now realize is not a wise decision (but was my only one) because it put them closer to my mouth and what was coming out of it during the performance. I was feeling good that night and was in the mood just to have fun, singing along and dancing to their music. What that meant was a near perfect recording of the show was, in my opinion, ruined because of my out of tune singing intruding now and then. You win some and you lose some. That's life. I had a hell of a good time in the process!

Ian and the band put on a nearly flawless performance. Ian was sounding better than the night before, although he spoke very little between songs. On this last night of the North American tour, his mind was on the performance. They swapped out a couple songs, inserting the infrequently played songs Crocodiles and Heads Will Roll to the joy of the audience. Near the end of the evening Ian took the time to thank everyone who played a role in their tour here in the states.

Echo & The Bunnymen: Live At The Fillmore

Colm McAuliffe

Monday, May 3rd, 2010 1:59 pm

Apart from a six year hiatus in the early nineties, Echo and the Bunnymen have been around for a whopping 32 years incorporating a glorious heyday from 1979-1984 whereupon the band released five albums which still eclipse anything released by their ‘Big Music’ contemporaries U2, Simple Minds or, heaven forbid, The Alarm.

Despite the sweltering New York heat, Ian McCulloch is as ever resplendent in an enormous coat, hoodie and shades and the six-piece line up put on a storming show, essentially a greatest hits, padded with a few selections from last years The Fountain. And despite battling a cold, McCulloch’s sonorous vocal is in fine fettle – the opening triumvirate of “Going Up”, “Show Of Strength” and the mighty “Rescue” were remarkable, the tinny record sound transformed into a much more muscular proposition on stage with Will Seargants whale like guitar scything through the proceedings. For a long-term fan like myself, the performance was close to perfect. To hear Seargant recreate Ravi Shankar’s sitar riff on ‘The Cutter’ was spellbinding; similarly, the band increased in confidence as the night wore on particularly with ‘All That Jazz’ and ‘The Killing Moon’ bringing the initial set to an apocalyptic conclusion.

Deciding to return for the first encore with 1997 comeback single ‘Nothing Lasts Forever’ was perhaps the only blip in the set, I could never see the value of this sub-Verve dirge but finishing with ‘Do It Clean’ and ‘Lips Like Sugar’ redeemed matters entirely. The latter song’s position as most-shouted-for-song was a curious dichotomy in my eyes as by the time of it’s release, the band were on the way down for us Europeans yet their stock was merely rising here in the States.

McCulloch didn’t say much but he didn’t need to. This was a valedictory, majestic performance from a truly classic band.

http://www.deathandtaxesmagazine.com/?p=12370#more-12370

The theater cleared out quickly after they finished playing their final song Do It Clean. I was able to snag Gordy's set list from off the stage. What I noticed was that they taped down one list with the same songs played the previous night, but then someone came through and taped a new set list on top of it that included Crocodiles and Heads Will Roll, as though a last minute change had been made just before the were scheduled to come on stage.

Waited outside for Will to exit the side door of the theater, thanked him for another great performance and watched him drive away. He graciously signed the set list before departing. I then immediately walked the couple blocks to the Beauty Bar where the after party was scheduled to happen. Will was already set up with his laptop spinning his sound. Gordy was there, as were Stephen and Jez. They too willingly signed the set list. I never have much to say to them since I feel as though I'm in the presence of gods. I simple watch and enjoy the music, taking in the whole experience.

I wander the streets afterwards, enjoying the fact I can safely drink all the liquids I want now that the show is over. A slice of pizza and a couple of cherry Italian ices eaten while seated on the curb of a building opposite the hotel, watching the traffic pass by at a time when the city was as close as it would ever be to falling asleep. Up to the room and I drop into a deep sleep.

Monday marked the end of the long weekend. Checked out at 11 AM. Wandered the streets of the city, making my way down to the financial district where I attempted to meet up with a college buddy of mine, Mike, from 30 years ago. I missed him by an hour, not having called and made plans to meet him in advance. I walked over to the Brooklyn Bridge and had an hour long cigar smoke midway across the East River, watching the steady stream of people and taking in the unique skyline. I returned to Mike's office and missed him a second time. Oh well, perhaps I'll do better when I return this coming summer. The E train takes me to Jamaica station where I catch the AirTrain to JFK. 4:30 PM and I'm at the airport. The flight back home is delayed, a bogus excuse given, but is probably due to the fact that they apprehended the suspected Times Square bomber at the airport about the time I was there. In Denver by 11:30 PM and home an hour later. It was all over, the events now just a memory.

Download it here:

Crocodiles:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=QPRDQ5K6

Heads Will Roll:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=F6M0SQ0N

Nothing Lasts Forever/The Fountain/Wild Side:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=HJM2BK2B

THE BUNNYMEN BOUNCE THROUGH NEW YORK

Another date with the Bunnymen had arrived! I boarded a plane at DIA at 1AM and was at JFK airport in NYC at 6:30 AM, catching a pair of trains to the Ronkonkoma train station. Sister Lucy and husband Andy were waiting for me. After a short stop at their house we drove straight to Smith Point Beach where I stripped in the parking lot and put on the wetsuit. Into the Atlantic to swim in the frigid water and ride meager waves lapping onto the shore. Still plenty fun to be playing in the ocean. Stopped to visit Pam and then returned home to have dinner that evening with two others, sister Lilly and husband Joe. Fun time, but I was exhausted by the time we went to bed at 11 PM, not having really slept the night before.


D-Day Saturday. Took the train into NYC. First thing was to stop by the East Village Radio Station to see if Mike got my message that I'd be stopping by, hoping he burned a CD with Ian's December 4th short acoustic performance at Webster Hall. No Mike, no CD and the DJ playing in a studio off the street knew nothing about this. How disappointing.

Checked in at the hotel and then toured around a bit before heading toward the Fillmore to check out the location. When we arrived the Bunnymen tour bus was parked near the side entrance and they were unloading gear from the trailer. There's Ian fan sitting on the sidewalk! Guitar cases lined up. I spoke to a roadie who jumped in during the fight in CT, claiming he was body slammed by bouncers mistaking him for one of the belligerents.

We found our way to the park at Union Square where we hung out waiting for John to arrive from Poughkeepsie. We (John, Lucy, Andy) then had dinner at a nearby brewpub. The time arrived to get in line at the Fillmore, hoping for a spot up front at this sold out show. Made it inside with everything I needed for the evening.

Kelly Stoltz and his band warmed up the audience with a great set of songs, between which he told stories about his love of the Bunnymen while growing up and how honored he was to join them on this tour as a result of the Icelandic volcano's ash cloud preventing another band from leaving Europe. Gordy joined Kelly on stage for several songs, playing both guitar and keyboards. The place as rocking by the time he exited the stage for the long wait for the main act.

The Bunnymen followed, performing 20 of their most popular songs for over an hour and a half to a very rowdy crowd that were loving the music. Ian sounded good this evening, although he told the crowd that he had "a little frog in me throat." The rest of the band sounded great, putting on a perfect performance. I had the pleasure of meeting two contributors to the Villiers Terrace website, "Wabbit" who flew all the way in from the UK (I met her in Liverpool too!) and "sergiuk2usa" up from South Carolina. "blinkilite" was somewhere behind us. It's always fun to met others who have come for the love of the band.

Echo & the Bunnymen hide in shadows while illuminating an impressive 30-year career in New YorkMay 1, 2010, at the Fillmore
By Alison BaitzPublished: May 4th, 2010 2:50pm

A mysterious stage presence and huge, amped-up sound were the defining characteristics of Echo & the Bunnymen’s recent two-night stint in New York City. Under-lit by dark blues and purples—and without much of any spotlights—sunglasses-clad Ian McCulloch and the rest of the Bunnymen looked most comfortable lurking in the on-stage shadows. Unfortunately, amid the dark and moody fog-ridden stage, the band was hardly visible, save for during random camera flashes from the audience—but it was a sensible atmosphere to focus solely on the music.

The band kicked off the show with the opening track from their debut album—“Going Up,” from 1980’s Crocodiles (Sire)—and continued to play songs that spanned their thirty-year career, such as “Bring On The Dancing Horses,” “Rust,” and “Seven Seas.” McCulloch’s voice sounded downright fragile at times, but whenever he wanted to relinquish singing duties—which luckily wasn’t often—helpful audience members would pick it right up. Overall, the night felt more like a perfectly edited concert film rather than a rough live show, thanks to masterful performances of each and every song and a magnified sound that made the Fillmore sound like an arena.

Beyond sounding great, Echo & the Bunnymen were downright amusing. Songs were often bookended by McCulloch’s fun tangents, which touched upon everything from overseas concert invitations to smoking, the latter an activity the band was doing much of the night. Mega hit “The Killing Moon,” was saved for the second-to-last song and introduced by McCulloch as “the greatest song in the world.” The last song, “The Cutter” (from 1983’s Porcupine) was duly noted as “the second greatest song in the world,” both performances pulling off an effective retrospective feel.

The two encores were arguably the highlights of the evening. Taking great liberties, the band blended their song “Nothing Lasts Forever” with Lou Reed’s “Walk On The Wild Side,” while “Do It Clean” contained a hint of both James Brown’s “Sex Machine” and Linda Ronstadt’s “Different Drum.” The second encore contained a spirited rendition of “Lips Like Sugar,” the perfect cap for an oldies-heavy set that waivered between moody and rocking, but nary a boring moment.

The show came to a close sometime around midnight. We hung out at the side stage door waiting for the band to exit. First to come out was Nick. Will came out later, shaking his hand and thanking him for the wonderful performance. He said he recognized me. Sharon (sergiuk2usa) instinctively headed off to the theaters front entrance where we met Ian coming out and getting into a waiting vehicle. I was able to shake his hand and thank him for the great performance.

There was an after party at the Brooklyn Bowl, located only three stops away on the subway's L line right here at Union Square. But John, having received chemo therapy a few days earlier, was not up to it, considering it was already 1 AM. Instead we walked around and found a hole in the wall restaurant were we had some food and liquid refreshment. It was around 3 AM before he and I made it back to the hotel, Lucy and Andy having left for home on the Island after the show. Another wonderful experience I will always cherish.

Enjoy the experience, made even better with a little tequila!

Download it here:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=4KZSFD8A