Echo and The Bunnymen headed to Southampton's EngineRooms on Thursday night in support of their latest album ’Apples for Isaac‘.
Opening up the night was Mutant Vinyl, a sort of jazz ensemble that provided a level of background music as people walked in. To me, with the crowd chatting amongst one another, it gave me the vibe I’d walked into an overcrowded coffee shop. While I did feel that the band was an interesting choice for the bill, it was hard not to appreciate their talent.
Shortly after 9:15, Echo & The Bunnymen took to the stage opening with ‘Going Up’ & ‘All That Jazz’ both from their first album Crocodiles. As expected now from an Echo and The Bunnymen gig the band were backlit only in hues of red or dark blues. Yet you could still make out the silhouetted figure of Ian McCulloch with his long coat and shades.
The dark and gloomy setting was fitting, even drawing an approving “I like this place” from McCulloch. Sound wise it was an improvement from their Anfield slot supporting My Chemical Romance, possibly aided by being positioned near the sound booth, even if pockets of the crowd came back from the front making comments about the audio being poor.
This is my third time seeing Echo and The Bunnymen live and I was pleasantly surprised that there wasn't much in the way of interludes this time between songs. Of course the odd occasion where the band had to tune for the next song and perhaps for Ian to take a drink. But compared to having seen them have to take a 15 minute interlude before this wasn't as jarring. Even if there were shouts from the crowd to ‘just get on with it’ and ‘we can't hear you’ when Ian delivered his often incoherent mumbled stories.
The band provided a varied Setlist with a little something for everyone with their newest material trickled in between the classics. ‘Flowers’ (2001) saw Ian tossing flowers about into the crowd drawing echoes of Morrissey.
Through it all, Will Sergeant delivered his technical prowess through his soaring guitar work and instrumentals that did some serious heavy lifting, anchoring the songs and carrying the momentum during the big crowd singalong moments. Nowhere was that clearer than when "The Cutter" hit, sparking a massive room-wide singalong and earning a proud declaration from the band themselves: "That's the best we've ever played that.”
Even with an abrupt audio hiccup on "The Killing Moon" I felt the opening came through far too loud over the PA before being sharply pulled back,which was surprising given you’d expect the sound team to have their most iconic track nailed also the classic still landed hard and with a warm reception from the crowd.
3.5 stars
Deep into their career, the show wasn’t without its technical drawbacks, yet seeing newer material from Apples for Isaac hold its own alongside the classics made for a solid, enjoyable night.
Review: Echo and The Bunnymen @ Engine Rooms Southampton