Here’s the thing. Ian McCullough was the older brother that I never had. Lyrics on the influential early 1980s post-punk albums, ‘Crocodiles’ and ‘Heaven Up Here’, guided me through university, and introduced me to the ways of big city life. London in my case, rather than Liverpool or Manchester. I longed to meet people in ‘Villiers Terrace’, to see them “rolling round carpets, biting wool and pulling string” and I tried to better understand the complex spectrum of love resonating through ‘Rescue’, “I don’t know what I want anymore, first I want a kiss then I want it all”. But as ABC’s Martin Fry crooned at the time, “That was then, but this is now…”
at £29 a head, a lack of student attendance was understandable- still, the partisan crowd enjoyed their sing-a-long
Opening their Nottingham Rock City set with four early bangers was always going to be a masterstroke, a display of the genius talent they once had: Crocodiles / Rescue / Villiers Terrace / All That Jazz. Though the venue was not full by any means – and at £29 a head, a lack of student attendance was understandable- still, the partisan crowd enjoyed their sing-a-long.
The leap from July 1980 to winter 2014 seemed a step too far for many, and though the Meteorites title track is instantly recognisable as a Bunnymen tune, it lacks the fizz of the ‘Crocodiles’ openers
And then everything seemed to fall a bit flat. The latest tour is alongside ‘Meteorites’, the Bunnymen’s eleventh studio album, but there was little sparkle or bang in the middle of the generous 17-song, ninety minute set. The leap from July 1980 to winter 2014 seemed a step too far for many, and though the Meteorites title track is instantly recognisable as a Bunnymen tune, it lacks the fizz of the ‘Crocodiles’ openers. A series of tracks from the 1980s/1990s and Meteorites followed: ‘Seven Seas’, ‘Bedbugs’, ‘People are Strange’,, ‘Holy Moses’, ‘Over the Wall’, before the 1984 hit ‘Never Stop’ got feet tapping again.
Will Sergeant’s fretwork, evoking a mid-eastern vibe, perfectly complements where McCullough’s voice is nowadays
‘Constantinople’ from Meteorites is undoubtedly the strongest on that album, and Will Sergeant’s fretwork, evoking a mid-eastern vibe, perfectly complements where McCullough’s voice is nowadays. Constantinople gave way to ‘Dancing Horses’, and the mosh pit of 40/50-somethings carried the tune, word perfectly.
Lou Reed’s ‘A Walk on the Wild Side’, or as Mac had it, “A Walk on Merseyside”, which was met with both guffaws and cheers in equal measure
‘Killing Moon’, once described by McCullough as a song that no other band in the world could come near to, followed, before a rousing rendition of ‘The Cutter’, taken from ‘Porcupine’, the band’s 1983 third album. And the crowd again played its part, singing the chorus at full pelt with no backing. McCullough, Sergeant and the band departed briefly before coming back with a ten-minute version of ‘Nothing Lasts Forever’, morphing into Lou Reed’s ‘A Walk on the Wild Side’, or as Mac had it, “A Walk on Merseyside”, which was met with both guffaws and cheers in equal measure.
an extended version of ‘Lips Like Sugar’, was the sweetener that got people pumping again
The finale, an extended version of ‘Lips Like Sugar’, was the sweetener that got people pumping again. And there, in his big brother role, I find McCullough again, with his words of unrequited love, “Just when you think she’s yours, She’s flown to other shores”. How that resonated back then…
Ian McCullough has always had, and still has, ‘the look’, but he has a damn fine back catalogue too, and that’s his poisoned chalice
Noel Fielding’s alter ego, The Mighty Boosh’s Vince Noir, talks of the need for a frontman to have ‘the look’. Ian McCullough has always had, and still has, ‘the look’, but he has a damn fine back catalogue too, and that’s his poisoned chalice. In spite of wanting to make new music, and there are some decent tracks on Meteorites, Echo and the Bunnymen’s appeal seems to be to those who just want to remember/revisit the good old days.
Shaun Gordon
Word and Pictures
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