Echo & The Bunnymen
Liverpool Philharmonic Hall
30th September, 2011

Post-punk pioneers Echo & The Bunnymen returned to their hometown to play their 1984 album, Ocean Rain, in its entirety, complete with orchestra. The first set was a best-of package that included the lush, autumnal opener, Rust, the infectious Lay Down Thy Raincoat And Groove and the majestic power-pop of Never Stop. After the interval came Ocean Rain, with singer Ian McCulloch in cheery mood, wrapping his husky croon around the songs and joking with the audience. With both him and guitarist Will Sergeant, whose atmospheric playing complemented McCulloch perfectly, bathed in darkness, or various shades of blue throughout, the biggest cheer of the evening was reserved for The Killing Moon, which McCulloch introduced as the best song ever written! Three tracks later, the concert reached its climax with the stunning title track, the string section helping to make the song soar, while McCulloch poured his soul into the great crescendo of “screaming from beneath the waves”. The celebratory mood was completed with an encore of Nothing Lasts Forever, Lips Like Sugar and a pulsating The Cutter, before the band bowed out to a thoroughly deserved standing ovation. Magical stuff.