Live music review: UK indie rock heroes Echo and the Bunnymen played ACL Live on Saturday

Echo and The Bunnymen took the ACL Live at the Moody Stage in Austin this past Saturday night, executing a show that could easily be titled, “A Tale of Two Types.”  Essentially the Bunnymen pulled off what any experienced act should be able to execute… a set that pleases everyone. 

Formed in Liverpool the band, who found varying degrees of success over the past 40+ years, peaking in the ‘80s according to most, brought their 40 year anniversary tour to the capital city for an evening of nostalgia tripping through their early catalog of work. Pushing full capacity at the downtown venue, the crowd appeared to be a gentle mix of fans.

On one hand you have fans revisiting days of youth punctuated with the singles by Echo and The Bunnymen that made their way into popular culture via the soundtracks to classic films dating back to director, John Hughes’s domination of ‘80s pop-culture and his classic film, “Pretty In Pink” with its decidedly 80s soundtrack.

Being constants in that decade, lead to a lengthy string of soundtrack features up to current ‘80s flashback Netflix TV show sensation “Stranger Things”, then toss other references, “Donnie Darko”, “Euphoria”, “Hot Tub Time Machine”, “True Blood”, and the “Vampire Diaries” just to name a few, and chances are…you’ve been exposed to the sounds of Echo and The Bunnymen before… perhaps unwillingly.

Then you have the fans that will lay claim that  the more obscure recording, Ocean Rain is the band’s best work, and have reluctantly attended any of the band’s more recent tours in fear of tarnishing their treasured memories of the poetic, angular, edgy band that they connected to in their own, clandestine, counter-cultural, secret way. You know, the music nerds. Bandos, Freaks.

Echo’s U.S. leg of their 40th Anniversary Tour experienced a bit of rough start with founding member and most recognizable front-man Ian McCulloch suffering a bout of ill, early in the tour, forcing him to leave the stage on several occasions for short periods of time during a recent show in Atlanta.

Both Dallas and Houston shows, scheduled before the Austin date, were postponed as well. The band, taking stage 45 min later than originally scheduled, quickly went to work exploring a healthy chunk of their back catalog, mostly from albums released in the ‘80s and sliding into the set with a lesser known track “Going Up” from the Crocodiles release. 

Despite concerns regarding McCulloch’s condition, minds were set at ease when he took to the microphone and belted out the familiar odic lines that put him in the limelight of being one of rock’s great lyricists. Joined on stage by the only other founding member still active with the band Will Sergeant and the current touring members, McCulloch shrouded in black trench coat, the expected dark sunglasses, and sporting a clipped version of his iconic tousled black hair, drifted between the classic vocal deliveries expected by diehard fans and some newer “updated” versions of the hits. Accenting the set fairly early on with one of the more commercially recognized tracks “Bring On the Dancing Horses” the band made short time of building the energy and intensity of the evening’s music which experienced a few instances of pause with McCulloch exiting the stage for several minutes after requesting permission to do so from the audience.

Moments during the performance found between-song banter by McCulloch almost intelligible as he attempted to entertain the audience with stories and what seemed to be jokes. A heavy accent, illness, or other influences could be named for reasons but all concern was laid to rest as the singer found his voice clearly when applying his vocal skills. He sounded sharp and confident in both the traditional delivery and some of the newly massaged sounds of older tracks.

While most of the newer versions landed just within acceptable levels for the conditioned fan, the reworked attempt at what is arguably their best single, “The Killing Moon” found itself straying too far, losing some of its appeal along the way. A buoyant “Bedbugs and Ballyhoo” found the band pushing its danceability appeal to the max as the band seemed headed full-steam ahead.

Applying the brakes in mid-song a bit later, McCulloch claimed a change in the song “Over The Wall” was lazy, he then proceeded to launch the band into a rocking, guitar heavy, version of “Never Stop”. A nine plus minute version of “Lips Like Sugar” felt like the culmination of 40 years of creating artistic, crafty, poetic, dance-worthy rock songs for generations. Mid-song found McCulloch ending his onstage feud, with help from a stagehand, with a smoke machine with which he had requested on several occasions to have silenced. 

A few moments off stage, and as expected the band returned for a two track encore, the aforementioned, overly worked “The Killing Moon” followed by what felt like the perfect exit track for the evening “The Cutter”. 

Despite any grievance or resistance to the band straying from what purists might prefer in the remedy of exact replications of Bunnymen classics, the overall consensus teetered on pure satisfaction with the band when in performance mode. Illness, fatigue, slight arrogance, or other influences, McCulloch’s actions on stage failed to distract the audience from what they came to experience, and that is the beauty of music that Echo and The Bunnymen have created for us over the 40 plus years. 

All photos by Michael Maly

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