I
was joined tonight by new facebook friend but old Level 3 face Rich
May, and we set off early doors, parking up after a short wait in what
is now the World’s Busiest Car Park (official) behind
Cowley Road Tesco, meeting up with Oxford-domiciled Rich Craven and his
mates before hitting the venue about 7.15. Support Black Submarine were
already onstage, plying some overpowering shoegazy noise. Maudlin,
morbid and morose, and featuring ethereal vocals
from their female singer, they seemed intent on creating mood at the
expense of tunes. Apparently featuring a couple of members of The Verve,
a band I also didn’t like very much, they did little for me – sorry,
for me this Black Submarine has sunk under the
weight of its’ pretensions…
I
took a wander forward, stage left, for the main event, The Bunnymen
coming on fairly swiftly after the lights had dimmed at 8.25 (10 minutes
after their due time – which for them is early!) and
the usual Gregorian chanting backing track had kicked in. Easing in
with an elegiac new number, an unkempt Mac’s voice initially seemed
strained, a gravelly rasp embellishing his higher octave work, which he
ascribed to, “a frog in my throat, bear with me…”
prior to an unexpected, shimmeringly eerie “Nocturnal Me”. “Rescue”
finally kicked the gig into life, Mac asking for the crowd to sing
along, and getting his wish; however subsequent newie “Holy Moses”
(“it’s a potential classic... tell us in 3 ½ minutes,
but I already know,” announced Mac with his usual bluster) sailed
uncomfortably close to Simple Minds’ stadium bland-out “(Don’t You)
Forget About Me”.
Given
Mac’s admission of suffering with his throat tonight, we were inclined
to cut him some slack; that said, The Voice settled down, only sounding
slightly strained at higher levels, nailing the
lower octave lines as perfectly and hauntingly as usual. A loose-limbed
“Bedbugs And Ballyhoo”, with an extended, Doors-like piano mid-section,
was an early highlight, then the “Porcupine”-like wall of noise of
“Constantinople” proved the best of the new numbers
on display tonight. We also got some Diva-like behaviour from Mac; he
took 2 goes to get new number “New Horizons” started, asking a couple of
punters to, “shut the fuck up while this is playing!”, then abandoned
it altogether, claiming he wasn’t, “feeling
it”. The subsequent “All That Jazz” also required 2 starts, but was
full of bilious ire and seething drama, Mac’s frustrations channelled
perfectly, and easily the best number to that point. A stately “Bring on
the Dancing Horses” was also superb, for me even
eclipsing the subsequent, slightly understated “Killing Moon”, then Mac
introduced “the last song – it’s 3 hours long… minus 2 hours 57…”, a
magnificent “Cutter”, the huge crescendo and Mac’s soaring vocals
dovetailing perfectly to end the set on a real high.
The
band returned after the audience sang “You’ll Never Walk Alone”, Mac
quipping, “we only came back because you sang that,” then “Nothing Lasts
Forever”, which Mac segued in with clips from “Walk
on The Wild Side”, “In The Midnight Hour”, and a Brendan Rodgers
namecheck (!), drew the performance to a close, Mac by now just about
done. A few odd moments, but a million times better than last time out
here, for sure…
An
early one too! This finished just after 9.45, so we repaired to a local
bar for an hour of entertaining music and comic chat, also being
invaded by a couple of 20 year old girls who proceeded
to lead us in rowdy versions of Squeeze’s “Up The Junction” and Joe
Jackson’s “Is She Really Going Out With Him”! A surreal end to a fine
evening of good music and good company, and a band thankfully doing
justice to their legacy tonight, and that’s all I
can ask of them.
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