The 1980s were made bearable by the presence of three bands: The Smiths, The Cure and Echo and the Bunnymen (oops, four. How could I forget my beloved Comsat Angels?)
A preposterous statement but one I’ll stick by. I lived through the decade and believe me I know what a cultural desert looks like.
Echo and the Bunnymen, whilst not producing anything new for a long, long time, still have a devoted fanbase. That much is evident with most of their current tour sold out.
Tonight The Roundhouse is certainly heaving.
This is despite some ill-founded warnings on social media to avoid the shows on the grounds that vocalist Ian McCulloch has lost it. Well, he found it tonight.
With the help of the massed dishevelled Roundhouse choral society (us) we joyously helped him out with some of those difficult to get to notes
Amid a great lightshow and going straight into Going up and Heads Will Roll, any worries about Ian’s vocals are immediately dispelled.
Ian played a blinder and bang…we’re into The Cutter. We all find our voices for this. It’s glorious. At one point I thought I was having a heart attack, but it was merely the thought of a double whiskey at seventeen quid a pop.
Over the Wall saw guitarist Will Sergeant pull out all the stops amid the Scouse psychedelia.
By the time we get to All my Colours Ian’s notorious bad back is evidenced, as his rock n roll chair had to be brought on. The vocals still on point though.
Bring on the Dancing Horses was magnificent, with the backdrop playing that classic video of the lads pulling a horse across a screen in black and white. Who needs Pink Floyd and a budget of millions!
Known for slipping in tunes from a bygone era, I heard Bowie and Lou Reed.
Three encores, and of course they had to do Ocean Rain. It was epic and by this time I was welling up.
Sometimes a trip down memory lane is not such a bad thing. Echo and the Bunnymen are still tripping and long may it continue.
Words and pictures by John Haylock
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