Music Editor Hannah Gadd attends Echo & The Bunnymen’s Birmingham show, praising the band’s electric performance
Echo & The Bunnymen are back on the road with their ‘Songs to Learn and Sing’ tour which sees them celebrating some of their biggest hits throughout the years. The tour seems to be a tribute to the band’s legacy, named after their 1985 compilation album which features the band’s singles. I had the pleasure of attending their O2 Academy show which marks the halfway point of this UK tour.
‘Flowers’ followed, a gorgeous bouquet of neon lights, jangly guitars and ominous synths.
The Wonder Stuff’s Erica Nockalls opened the evening; her performance exquisitely showcased her musical capability and strong vocals, successfully introducing the audience to her solo work. After a short while The Bunnymen took to the stage, bathed in dark blue lights and hazy fog as they kicked off their set with the electric track ‘Going Up’. Noticeably thrilling fans, the band transitioned into a second song from their debut album, ‘All That Jazz’. ‘Flowers’ followed, a gorgeous bouquet of neon lights, jangly guitars and ominous synths.
Ian McCulloch’s distinctive voice soars through the set as he stands in the shadows of bright lights, his imposing silhouette still captivating the crowd. The band blast out the iconic melody of ‘Bring on the Dancing Horses’, eliciting a monstrous cheer from the crowd before the full-throttle performance of the track.
‘Show of Strength’ brought us back into the grungey world of The Bunnymen
McCulloch encourages the audience to head to the bar before the band surprisingly leaves the stage for a brief interval at ten o’clock. Fifteen minutes later they returned and ‘Show of Strength’ brought us back into the grungey world of The Bunnymen. Submerged in a deep blue light, The Bunnymen took us out to sea, with a sprightly performance of ‘Seven Seas’ which proved to be a fan favourite of the night.
‘Nothing Lasts Forever’ beautifully morphed into a cover of Lou Reed’s track, ‘Walk On the Wild Side’, fans audibly enjoying this mashup. ‘Bedbugs and Ballyhoo’ brought the pace back up, building up to the band’s biggest track, ‘The Killing Moon’.
The Bunnymen took us with them to the song’s lofty heights, hands raised into the air as the tracks’s intoxicating charm filled the venue
As soon as the opening riff of ‘The Killing Moon’ was heard, the energy in the Academy was palpable. The Bunnymen took us with them to the song’s lofty heights, hands raised into the air as the tracks’s intoxicating charm filled the venue. They kicked straight into another big hitter with ‘The Cutter’, the audience being one of frenzied excitement at this point in the night. The band frequently paused to allow fans to sing along loudly and fill the venue with their voices during this theatrical segment of the set.
The band left the stage once again, returning for an immense performance of ‘Lips Like Sugar’. They ended their set with the much mellower track, ‘Ocean Rain’. A noticeably gentler track than the ones prior but still a well-rounded finish to a fantastic show. Echo & The Bunnymen have proved with this tour that they still have it, putting on a stellar performance almost fifty years after the band formed.
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