Bunnymen at Personal Fest.

Perhaps very few British bands have been as influential and distinctive in the last two three decades as Echo and the Bunnymen, yet they were last Saturday (08.11)supporting the Hives and the Arctic Monkeys as part of Personal Fest in Buenos Aires with a 50-minute slot.

Headliners Sheffield band "Arctic Monkeys", who the majority of the crowd were there for, were allotted almost 1.40 minutes. But again the Bunnymen are a band that have remained influential over the last 3 decades and it would have been great to see them once again for their own headline show in Buenos Aires.

The Merseyside group took to the stage at the scheduled time 8.05 pm McCulloch sporting his obligatory shades (Ive just seen Mac the Mouth without his shades probably once or twice and that was probably back in the 80s). Before the show, I thought they would be playing some songs from Meteorites but the band played their most memorable tunes and decided not to include any songs from their 12th ... yes their 12th studio album "Meteorites". There are some really good tunes on the album so it was a shame not to perform any of their new stuff as they did in other Latin American countries. It is true, though that during their shows in Peru and Uruguay they were not playing at a Festival.

Echo and the Bunnymen's first single to chart "Rescue" set the scene of the night followed by "Villiers Terrace", a tight and enjoyable opening to their set with these two stunning early Bunnymen tracks. In the latter, McCulloch shifted into a partial version of the Doors' classic "Roadhouse Blues" as he had done before at previous shows.

Then the crowd were treated to a few mid-1980s gems “Seven Seas” and “Bring on the Dancing Horses” the latter featured in the 1987 American teen horror film The Lost Boys and "Nothing Lasts Forever," from the band's 1997 amazing comeback album Evergreen segued into snippets of "Walk on the Wild Side", a tribute to Lou Reed's song.

Then one the highlights of the night, the centerpiece track of 1984's Ocean Rain, their epic anthem"Killing Moon" ("The greatest song ever written," as McCulloch said many times) and “The Cutter” second single released from their 1983 Porcupine album.

Sometimes when you get to see bands like the Bunnymen you start wondering how come they are not headlining Festivals. They have influenced so many bands, they have such an extensive back catalogue and they are alloted to play just a 45 - 50 minute set. It would have been great to hear some tracks from their new album or even from that brilliant album released in 1999 "What are you gonna do with your life?". Maybe sometime, maybe next time ...

Driven by Will Sergeant’s guitar(Sergeant and McCulloch are the only original members left from the band that formed in 1978), the Bunnymen closed their 50 minute set with one of their biggest hits “Lips Like Sugar” taken from their self-titled 1987 album.

Echo and the Bunnymen are for me a must see act. Musically, I think there was no cause for complaint. Great selection of classic songs and McCulloch and his Bunnymen sounded as vast, powerful and iconic as ever. 

ECHO AND THE BUNNYMEN PLAYED:

Rescue 

Villiers terrace 

Never Stop 

Seven Seas

Bedbugs

Nothing (Wild Side) tributo a lou reed

Bring on the Dancing Horses

Zimbo (All my colours)

The Cutter

Killing Moon

Lips Like Sugar 

TXT: Daniel Rodriguez

PH: Pablo Astudillo