Echo & The Bunnymen have resurrected their seminal 1984 album Ocean Rain with three concerts featuring a string section. Ocean Rain wasn’t nearly as popular as other albums released around that time by The Cure, U2, Depeche Mode, or The Psychedelic Furs, but twenty-four years later, to this listener who had never heard the album in its entirety, it stands out as a landmark work of eighties new wave. The album is lush with dark arrangements and rhythms which build trance-like intensity and mesmerization. Yet the songs are short enough with ample quirkiness to keep it grounded in novelty and flowing smoothly. McCulluch’s rich tenor moves from powerful crescendos to staccato point and attack punctuation. “Thorn of Crowns” highlights the range of risks McCulluch took here. The track which follows, ”The Killing Moon,“ shows that the Bunnymen were capable of crafting the melodic pop tune as well if not better than most of their peers. This is a wonderful album replete with plenty of ”la-la-la-las,“ ”da-do-do-dos,” and “ti-ti-ti-ti-tips“ to sing along with.
Having performed this show in London two weeks earlier, the band opened their Radio City Music Hall concert with a set of hits including “Lips Like Sugar,” “Back of Love,” and “Rescue.” Two covers followed, “People Are Strange,” with most of the lyrics omitted except for the chorus, and “Walk on the Wild Side,” which meandered into a peculiar mess. But the group finished up the first set with a rousing version of “The Cutter” that quickly re-energized the audience.
The second half was dedicated solely to the Ocean Rain album with a ten-piece string ensemble and percussionist to support the six Bunnymen, incuding two original members Ian McCulloch on vocals and Will Sergeant on lead guitar. The sound people got it right, mixing the band and mini-orchestra with good balance.
Radio City Music Hall doesn’t match the sonic quality of other music spaces, such as the line of Bowery Presents venues, but the place itself is probably the most beautiful and comfortable performance venue of its size and kind.
Photographing the stage was pointless from our seats, so here are just a few images from the evening shot with the compact Fuji F30.
Concert-goers clamor in the lobby of Radio City where drink prices hit the $9 mark.
Bike pedalers offer rides after the show at Radio City Music Hall.
This image of Mary Beth, Greg and Lisa was made from three separate shots.
