Radio City Music Hall - October 1st 2008

[JackT]

Jesus...maybe you girls oughtta rent Steel Magnolias and have yourselves a good cry.

Well maybe I will.

[In The Margins]

I agree but I've been kind of down since the show. Why would I want to see them again after that? To hear a bunch of tracks from The Fountain? I'm not feeling excited about that right now.

I'm having the opposite reaction. Before last week's show, I was ready to think about calling it a day when they came around on tour for The Fountain. It's tiring getting mentally prepared to schleppe into the city and get to the club and then stand there for hours waiting for them to come on stage. I'm getting tired and I'm sick of warmup acts and the crowds and the talking and disrespect. Also, on the last tour, they were so late coming on stage, they weren't able to do Ocean Rain. I wasn't pleased.

But after this show, I feel a renewed energy. It's like we (the band and fans alike) all shared something really special and (not to rub it in for anyone) not everyone got to do this. The voice hasn't sounded this well for over a decade (1991/2?) and the guitar work is wonderful. I figure I stuck with them during the "lean" years and I guess I'm not ready to abandon them now.

[Kounelaki]

i don't think they were tense

[at RAH]

Me neither.

[withahip]

http://soundbites.typepad.com/soundbite ... ocity.html

"C-c-c-cucumber! C-c-c-cabage!" I never though I'd hear Echo & the Bunnymen do "Thorn of Crowns" again after seeing them on thier 1987 tour with New Order and Gene Loves Jezebel. Certainly not like this. Yet here I was, at the awe-inspiring Radio City Music Hall no less, seeing them perform it with a 16-piece orchestra. Holy crap. Lots of rock records employ orchestration, but few are as integral, as essential to their sound as 1984's Ocean Rain. Sure, every song is great, Ian McCulloch's vocals soar, Will Sergeant's guitarwork is intricate and beautiful, not to mention the killer rhythm section of Les Pattinson and Pete DeFreitas... but the strings kind of are the album.

This was a swoon-worthy night. The Bunnymen are 30 this year, hence this celebration of what they consider their crowning achievement with three shows: London, New York, and their hometown of Liverpool."The Killing Moon" is what a lot of people were there to hear, and many unbelievably left after that, but for me it was the album's more obscure gems that made my knees a bit weak. The sweeping drama of "Nocturnal Me." The genuinely weird "Thorn of Crowns." But mainly the utterly gorgeous songs like "My Kingdom" and the album's title track where the strings swept over us like gentle waves.

That said, it wasn't just violins and oboes. Ian McCulloch, decked out in standard sunglasses and sporting a weird, bulky sweater-coat thing, obviously trained for this, and his voice hasn't sounded this good since the Bunnymen's original run. Though it's only him and Sergeant left of the original lineup (drummer Defreitas died in 1989; bassist Pattinson bowed out in 1999, though part of me hoped he might come back for these gigs), the band assembled were obviously skilled but also seemed to dig the gig. The opening set of non-Ocean Rain classics was good too, though selections from earliest in their career would've benefited from a few less instruments. But when he hit all the notes singing "screaming from beneath the waves" on "Ocean Rain," it was worth the price of admission just for that.

Radio City, as a venue, can be vast but with the right band it is a magical place, and on a night like tonight I am truly glad to live in New York City.

[Red]

By the way - ever wonder what Ronald McDonald would look like if he were a hot chick?

no, i can't say that i ever have........

[snowbunny]

Hey, is it too late to resurrect memories of RCMH?! I stayed in NYC until Sunday (wheeee) and have been too busy catching up this week to get back online. I just wanted to say how wonderful this whole experience was for me - I loved meeting so many from the forum at the Pig & Whistle, and the show (my first live EATB) exceeded my wildest expectations (except, as Mr. Brian said, the first set was too short). I think my faves were The Cutter, All My Colours, Silver... oh, and pretty much all the others. It was pretty clear that Mac prepared for this one, I'm thrilled to hear that he may have actually quit smoking - the difference from recent live recordings was dramatic.

LOL, Zabird, was the interpretive dance guy you're referring to up in the front, right in front of Mac? I don't like to criticize people's self-expression, but he was seriously strange. I told Mr. Snowbunny to let me know if I looked like that when I danced so I could stop immediately.

I had great seats so you'd think I would have great pictures, but the lighting was so bad! I kept putting the camera away in frustration, then the lights would come up a bit and I'd bring it out again, but the lights would go back down before I could get a shot in. If I can salvage anything, will post this weekend.

Again, thanks to all of you (esp. Mr. Brian) for helping make this a wonderful Bunnyexperience. I hope to see you at another show soon.

[snowbunny]

Oh - and did anyone else think Mac's raincoat/sweater really looked most like a bathrobe?

[black francis]

one great Bunnymen show and I'm still blushing like a 12 year old school girl with a crush.

[Frank The Bunny]

one great Bunnymen show and I'm still blushing like a 12 year old school girl with a crush.

Did somebody say "12 year old school girl"?

Hey there, little lady...
Got a daddy complex?

[black francis]

You don't drive one of these do you?

[Frank The Bunny]

Nope. One of these:

[zabird]

LOL, Zabird, was the interpretive dance guy you're referring to up in the front, right in front of Mac? I don't like to criticize people's self-expression, but he was seriously strange. I told Mr. Snowbunny to let me know if I looked like that when I danced so I could stop immediately.

No, the one I saw was midway back. I was in Row C, and he was a couple rows in front of me. Was the one you saw an old geezer making a spectacle of himself?

I couldn't get over the fans in business suits and carrying briefcases and messenger bags. I guess some folks came directly from work. Also wonder how many people trooped out after the first set, thinking that was it?

[snowbunny]

Yes, an older white-haired guy - not sure I'd even call what he was doing "dancing," it was more like stepping from side to side while holding his arms out wide. The rhythm of the music played no part. It was just weird! There was a guy in a suit near me who I thought might be with a record company or something - he stood stock-still and watched but didn't react to the music at all, and he left just before "Ocean Rain" (the song, not the set) - WTF?! Why in the world would you leave THEN?!

[zabird]

Yes, an older white-haired guy - not sure I'd even call what he was doing "dancing," it was more like stepping from side to side while holding his arms out wide. The rhythm of the music played no part. It was just weird! There was a guy in a suit near me who I thought might be with a record company or something - he stood stock-still and watched but didn't react to the music at all, and he left just before "Ocean Rain" (the song, not the set) - WTF?! Why in the world would you leave THEN?!

I don't know how anybody couldn't be moved to move by that music. I know I was. Hell, even Mac was up there dancing a bit

[black francis]

Yes, an older white-haired guy - not sure I'd even call what he was doing "dancing," it was more like stepping from side to side while holding his arms out wide. The rhythm of the music played no part. It was just weird!

You get those type at any post-punk/goth type show. There was a circle of about 20 at the last Sisters of Mercy show I went to and a few of the dudes were wearing tight leather boo-tay shorts.