ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN + MUTANT VINYL – WINTER GARDEN, EASTBOURNE 10.11.26
I’m rather hoping that in 2028 the Liverpool formed Echo & The Bunnymen will be playing a tour for their 50th anniversary comprising of a majority of their singles down the years, as I will get the chance to witness my favourite songs of theirs, these including 1981’s ‘A Promise’ and 1982’s ‘The Back Of Love’ which never get played these days.
In the meantime, the band who are famously fronted by Ian McCulloch, are out on tour in celebration of their 13th album, ‘Apples For Isaac’, which is their first album of new music in twelve years, and it features the drumming legend that was Clem Burke (1954-2025) of Blondie on ten of its eleven tracks. The record dipped its toe into the Top 20 of the Official UK Albums Chart back in September, reaching No.19, their highest place since 1997’s ‘Evergreen’ which reached No.8. The heyday, chart wise, for the outfit being the period between 1981 and 1987 when 4 albums in a row hit the Top 10, namely ‘Heaven Up Here’ (No.10 in 1981), ‘Porcupine’ (No.2 in 1983), ‘Ocean Rain’ (No.4 in 1984) and the self-titled ‘Echo & The Bunnymen’ (No.4 in 1987).
Echo & The Bunnymen have been labelled everything from new wave and post-punk to psychedelia and goth, and have produced a body of top quality songs that generations since have learned and sung down the years. The lyrics of many offloaded by Ian McCulloch feature his unmistakable, inimitable British wit and soul.
Clearly they are never ever going to wear the crown for best band out of Liverpool and Merseyside, but they’re certainly right up there! Across the whole planet there surely can’t be many places that have produced the best acts over the past three-quarters of a century? The Beatles, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, A Flock Of Seagulls, China Crisis, The Teardrop Explodes, Cast, Dead Or Alive, Gerry & The Pacemakers, Lightning Seeds, The Real Thing, Wah! and the list goes on. There must be something in the air or water up there, or just the fabric of the place.
By the sounds of it, McCulloch’s upbringing at Parthenon Drive in the Norris Green area of Liverpool was challenging with an outside toilet and a father who was a compulsive liar, probably as a result of his gambling addiction. Ian was also diagnosed with obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) as a child and suffers from severe myopia and wears prescription sunglasses. This would explain his trademark darkened glasses image. He’s known for also sporting long coats on stage, this evening at the council-owned Grade II listed Winter Garden in Eastbourne is no different.
By my reckoning, this is the first ever Eastbourne Bunnymen concert! I’d suggest that it’s the perfect venue for them, as I’ve previously caught sold out shows here by The Damned, OMD, Suede and Blur. The Who, The Kinks and The Jam also played here back in the day! Let’s have our fingers crossed that they book many exciting acts here in the future, as I love the building which was erected in 1875-6 consisting of the Floral Hall, Gold Room and Devonshire Halls, which are used for functions, music, shows, conferences, exhibitions and comedy clubs. It sits next door to the grand looking Congress Theatre, but the entrance of the Winter Garden does not prepare you for the airship hanger-esque room where this evening’s gig is taking place. Surprisingly it’s only half full tonight, but at least we aren’t hemmed in like sardines!
Tonight is day two of the current leg of the tour, with The Bunnymen having played last night in Cardiff. After tonight the band – who comprise of founder members Ian McCulloch (vocals) and Will Sergeant (guitars, zither), along with Stephen Brannan (bass, backing vocals), Simon Finley (drums), Pete Reilly (electric & acoustic guitars, backing vocals) and Mike Smith (keyboards, backing vocals) – head on off to Southampton, Wolverhampton, Middlesbrough. Holmfirst and Coventry.
As the punters arrived at the Winter Garden they were put in the right frame of mind via a playlist that was filling the air with the sounds of Siouxsie & The Banshees, Joy Division, The Cure, The Smiths and the like. The playlist was repeated between bands just in case as well.
The Echo & The Bunnymen sextet graced the stage at 9:15pm and we are in their company for the next 85 minutes until 10:40pm. During this time we are rewarded with two or possibly three cuts from 2026’s ‘Apples For Isaacs’ album, as well as other material spanning the years from 1980 to 2001. Their intro tape is a corker, this being ‘Officium Tenebrarum: Resp.: Sicut Ovis’ Gregorian Chants By Pierre de la Rue, Johannes Gardano, Bernardus Ycart; the crisp sounding male voices bouncing around the domed ceiling effortlessly.
There is a photographer’s pit (crowd barrier) this evening, but sadly the band restricts us to taking shots from behind the sound desk at the rear of the room, which is a shame! But I think that we may have the only approved photographer in tonight, so can’t complain too much.
‘Mac’ opens up with the lines “Ain’t thou watching my film; Analyzing me; Rusty junker squawker; Shaking up it say; If he should pull the plugs out; On our history; And all of history, yeah”, which means it’s ‘Going Up’ from 1980’s ‘Crocodiles’ album. Another from the same LP follows in the form of ‘All That Jazz’. After which ‘Mac’ gives us the first of his somewhat random factoids, which no doubt make sense in his head, but are sometimes throughout the performance lost on a majority of those gathered. This time around he skits from his childhood background as mentioned above, to Easter Island and then onto the fact that Eastbourne already has some festive lights up!
Selection three arrives and it’s the first cut from the new ‘Apples For Isaacs’ album, this one is ‘Brussels Is Haunted’, the title of which is often repeated throughout the track. There are no images from early videos, album covers, psychedelic swirls on offer tonight as there isn’t a backdrop, and thankfully the smoke machine is only rarely used from time to time, instead of continually billowing it out and the band disappearing from view. Mac’s vocals have obviously matured over the years, perhaps losing touches of soaring grandeur and occasionally, felt strained, but overall he sang powerfully and with that poetic intensity we have come to expect. The songs, in fact, more often than not, sounded relatively glorious. I was on the crowd barrier in front of Will Sergeant on lead guitar, who was providing the Bunnymen’s ethereal melodic riffs in an understated way, and sounding as good as ever!
“Partly politic; Heads will roll; Mostly politic; God must call; ‘Til the winning hand does belong to me” signals the arrival of ‘Heads Will Roll’ from 1983’s ‘Porcupine’ album, and is followed by an extended version of ‘Rescue’ from ‘Crocodiles’ which proved to be a real crowd favourite. Simon Finley clicks his drumsticks and they are away with the excellent (and timeless) ‘The Cutter’ from 1983’s ‘Porcupine’ album, this being one of the best two tunes of the night for yours truly.
The title track from 2001’s ‘Flowers’ album is up next, and at the start of this Mac hurls a bunch of red roses into the crowd, which was a nice touch. I wasn’t close enough to gauge whether they were real or plastic, but the sentiment was there! However in the middle of the tune Mac offers up some more spoken words, the subjects of which I know not! The idle banter then carries on after ‘Flowers’ has finished, until the drum machine sound rings out and Will gives it some tremolo action for a great delivery of the popular ‘Over The Wall’ which surprisingly is the sole cut played from 1981’s ‘Heaven Up Here’ album. Simon’s drumming is especially excellent throughout this track.
The second cut from ‘Apples For Isaacs’ is next. This is ‘An Unstoppable Force’ which is a slow strumming affair and the quietest of the whole set. Momentum is restored with the arrival of their 1983 ‘Never Stop’ single, which eventually made its way onto 1985’s ‘Songs To Learn & Sing’ compilation album. After which we are played the crowd favourite ‘Seven Seas’ from 1984’s ‘Ocean Rain’ album, which sees Will switch to his Rickenbacker guitar, which surprisingly initially sounds a little off at the beginning, but a verse or so in and normality is restored. There’s more broad Liverpudlian brogue banter from Mac after this song and eventually the sextet offload ‘Nothing Lasts Forever’ which is found on 1997’s ‘Evergreen’ album and tonight sees Pete Reilly switch from electric to acoustic guitar. The live version of this these days incorporates lines from Lou Reed’s 1972 ‘Walk On The Wild Side’, before returning to ‘Nothing Lasts Forever’. This signals one of The Bunnymen’s influences. On previous encounters they have incorporated The Doors ‘Roadhouse Blues’ and David Bowie’s ‘The Jean Genie’ within their sets.
The acoustic guitar remained for ‘Lab Rats Ran’ from their ‘Apples For Isaacs’ album, if indeed they did play it, as I miserably failed to make any notes on it, which is most unusual. They did however get a tad funky with the arrival of The Blockheads-esque ‘Bedbugs And Ballyhoo’ from 1987’s self-titled ‘Echo & The Bunnymen’ album. Mike Smith’s jangly keys are particularly melodic for this track, unlike Mac’s vocals which seem a bit off. He requests a breakfast bar chair, as his back has had a twinge, and so no wonder his vocals were a bit off. I know what a back twinge can do and it’s all you can feel and think about. Mac has had two drinks on the go throughout the night, a pint of something and a half of something else, but these are not finished, as I suspect Mac is planning ahead for after the show in order to take some meds for his ailing back.
During ‘Bedbugs And Ballyhoo’ there’s more Mac banter and a bloke from the crowd loudly bellows “Get on with it!”. To which Mac replies “What don’t you f*ck off and get run over by a bus”. Was this one of Mac’s dry scouse quips or did he really mean it? After he had delivered it, he did smile to himself, whether as a joke or the fact that he was proud of his immediate retort. ‘The Killing Moon’ from ‘Ocean Rain’ comes next and sees Will utilizing what I think is a zither which is laying flat in front of him. He plucks its many strings with great aplomb. Mac however is still smarting about the heckler and enquired mid-tune whether the culprit had indeed yet vacated the building, although he didn’t quite put it like that! Mac clearly wanted rid of him, a raw nerve had been struck!
Moving on…their 1985 ‘Bring On The Dancing Horses’ single was next, which the punters enjoyed. This was directly followed by ‘Lips Like Sugar’ from 1987’s ‘Echo & The Bunnymen’ album, although it was intended to be an encore track, but Mac signalled the guys to remain on stage as his tweaked back didn’t need two additional fake encore journeys off stage. Tonight ‘Lips Like Sugar’ had a wonderful ‘Roadrunner’ (The Modern Lovers) feel to it, with Will letting loose with his tremolo, and Simon’s drumming was fantastic. This was the other set highlight for me.
At the song’s conclusion at 10:40pm Mac simply gets up and leaves the stage with the assistance of a roadie. The rest of the band follow. At 10:42pm Mac’s chair is taken away and at 10:44pm the house lights go up, followed by the band’s outro tape of ‘Johnny Remember Me’ by John Leyton. The title track from 1984’s ‘Ocean Rain’ album had been dropped. This had left a majority of the crowd appearing to be a little flat and on passing the merch stall on the way out there were only four people making purchases, which you could argue speaks volumes! It could have been worse though, as if Mac’s back had jolted earlier in the day, then tonight’s gig might have been put in jeopardy. I’ve witnessed The Bunnymen several times down the years and this wasn’t the best encounter. That accolade probably fell to their Brighton Dome gig on 27th January 1983. Maybe less clutter and more cutter is the way forward!
Echo & The Bunnymen:
Ian McCulloch – vocals
Will Sergeant – guitars, zither
Stephen Brannan – bass, backing vocals
Simon Finley – drums
Pete Reilly – electric & acoustic guitars, backing vocals
Mike Smith – keyboards, backing vocals
Echo & The Bunnymen setlist:
(Intro tape) ‘Officium Tenebrarum: Resp.: Sicut Ovis’ Gregorian Chants By Pierre de la Rue, Johannes Gardano, Bernardus Ycart
‘Going Up’ (from 1980 ‘Crocodiles’ album)
‘All That Jazz’ (from 1980 ‘Crocodiles’ album)
‘Brussels Is Haunted’ (from 2026 ‘Apples For Isaacs’ album)
‘Heads Will Roll’ (from 1983 ‘Porcupine’ album)
‘Rescue’ (from 1980 ‘Crocodiles’ album)
‘The Cutter’ (from 1983 ‘Porcupine’ album)
‘Flowers’ (from 2001 ‘Flowers’ album)
‘Over The Wall’ (from 1981 ‘Heaven Up Here’ album)
‘An Unstoppable Force’ (from 2026 ‘Apples For Isaacs’ album)
‘Never Stop’ (a 1983 single & from 1985 ‘Songs To Learn & Sing’ compilation album)
‘Seven Seas’ (from 1984 ‘Ocean Rain’ album)
‘Nothing Lasts Forever’ (from 1997 ‘Evergreen’ album) / ‘Walk On The Wild Side’ (Lou Reed cover)
‘Lab Rats Ran’ (from 2026 ‘Apples For Isaacs’ album)
‘Bedbugs And Ballyhoo’ (from 1987 ‘Echo & The Bunnymen’ album)
‘The Killing Moon’ (from 1984 ‘Ocean Rain’ album)
‘Bring On The Dancing Horses’ (a 1985 single)
‘Lips Like Sugar’ (from 1987 ‘Echo & The Bunnymen’ album)
(Eventual outro tape) ‘Johnny Remember Me’ by John Leyton
Support this evening came from Mutant Vinyl which is the work of British singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Edwin James Pope, whose debut album, ‘Daffodils In Angell Town’ dropped a few years back. He’s not alone on stage tonight for the 34 minute set, (which ran from 8:05pm to 8:39pm) as he is joined by four chums, who I think were called Harry, Kev, Tom and Jermaine, and together offload smooth, classy jazz, if that’s your bag. The musicianship was clearly evident as the band played a few jazz standards, which opened with Erroll Garner’s ‘Misty’. The tracks were all instrumentals.
Their tools of the trade were saxophone (Edwin), drums (Tom), bass (Jermaine), guitar (Kev), and keys (Harry). Their opening address being “Good evening, we love that pub next door!”. I must say that I’m a tad surprise of their choice on the bill tonight, but Edwin does in fact highlight this fact by thanking The Bunnymen for selecting them and giving the crowd the opportunity to listen to music that they normally wouldn’t go for. In fact Mutant Vinyl have been touring with The Bunnymen since March, so there’s now a whole host of Bunnymen fans that are aware of them!
These jazz cats are together a very accomplished band. With ‘Misty’ opening in a sedate way before they increased the intensity (and volume) and wigged on out. They segued into the next number and barely affording the punters any time to share their appreciation. A smattering, however, did show approval anyway. Offering three showed the lads in their funk mode with the sax emulating the work of Stanley Turrentine that my old college mate Stanley used to spin back in the day. I actually have a sneaking suspicion that this could very well have been a Herbie Hancock number, but don’t hold me to this. Any punters that love attending the Love Supreme festival each year, would have enjoyed this cut.
The next number was ideal if you ever needed the soundtrack for a film of a wasp tapped in a jar, and the five guys summoned their innermost Ronnie Scott’s and it was full-on jazz from hereon. None of the tunes were introduced, they simply let the music do all the talking, or maybe we were expected to know them all? Mutant Vinyl are clearly very talented at what they do, but maybe it would have been better if they had tried to build a rapport by telling the audience something about themselves. For me personally, however, their sound was way off the mark for me. I wonder if The Bunnymen will be booking a Northern Colliery Brass Band or some Tuvan throat warblers for their 50th anniversary shows?
