Echo and the Bunnymen Please Fans at the Black Cat

June 26, 2006

Recommended Beverage to go with this show:

A Bass Ale (it just works)

Torrential downpours would not keep fans away from the Black Cat last night to hear Echo & the Bunnymen. The lads from Liverpool transported fans back in time to the days of 80s synthpop, an era when they were a driving force on the post-punk scene. Singer Ian McCulloch was in his element. He still seems comfy in his rock star role, looking suave in his leather jacket, sunglasses, and spiky haircut. And he still sounds great, with that smooth, unmistakable voice.

The group today consists of six blokes; McCulloch and guitarist Will Sergeant are the only two original members. They don’t jam, rock out, or perform solos in concert. Instead, they play studio versions of their tracks that sound polished and predictable.

Echo & the Bunnymen played a nearly identical set to the one they performed at the Black Cat back in November, but why change what obviously seemed to work. They clearly recognized the crowd wanted to hear the old stuff when designing the setlist, one that’s been fairly standard on this tour. In fact, at this show, they played only three tracks from their 2005 album, Siberia.

The setlist included the Bunnymen’s best-loved 80s classics, “The Killing Moon,” “Bring on the Dancing Horses,” [introduced to an American audience via the Pretty in Pink soundtrack], and “The Cutter.” They saved the classic “Lips Like Sugar,” for the encore and fans just savored the time-honored song.

Opening the show was a new UK synthpop band called Boy Kill Boy, the perfect complement to the impending Bunnymen performance. Drawing their influences from the likes of Prince, the Smiths, Blur, and Supergrass, the four band mates put on a rocking show. Their major-label debut album, Civilian, is climbing the UK charts. Watch for these blokes…