{"id":54526,"date":"2024-05-28T10:29:15","date_gmt":"2024-05-28T15:29:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/?p=54526"},"modified":"2024-05-28T15:28:05","modified_gmt":"2024-05-28T20:28:05","slug":"post-punk-echo-the-bunnymen-return-to-chicago-for-a-show-at-the-riviera-theatre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/?p=54526","title":{"rendered":"Post Punk Echo & The Bunnymen Return To Chicago For A Show At The Riviera Theatre"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Kyle Decker and Photos by Fleurette Estes <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Post-punk progenitors Echo & The Bunnymen played a packed house at the Riviera Theatre (aka The Riv) in Chicago\u2019s Uptown neighborhood on the Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend. While they hit the UK charts a few times in their heyday, the Liverpool band is most well-known on this side of the pond for 1987\u2019s \u201cLips Like Sugar\u201d and 1984\u2019s \u201cThe Killing Moon.\u201d The former is new-wave pop that deviates from the band\u2019s usual sound. The latter is a neo-psychedelic masterpiece millennials likely discovered because of its inclusion on the Donnie Darko<\/em> soundtrack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At 8:40 pm smoke began to fill the stage. Backlit by gold and blue lights, the band members were silhouettes as they took their positions, effectively recreating the album cover for the 1985 complication Songs to Learn & Sing<\/em> as they opened with \u201cGoing Up.\u201d There had been a forty-minute wait between the opening act and Echo, so the audience was a little on edge at first. The band was tight throughout, but for the first three songs or so they largely seemed to be going through the motions. However, they found their energy for \u201cThe Rescue.\u201d As you can see from the accompanying photos by Fleurette Estes, the band remained silhouetted against the fog and lights, giving them a sense of mystery and cool aloofness. Which is the perfect aesthetic for their dark post-punk sound. Which seems to speak to a wide age range. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I looked around at the audience, I saw people my age (late 30s), people my parent\u2019s age (late 60s\/early 70s), and people my students’ age (teens). As well as everything in between all that. I saw retirees in button-down shirts standing next to goths in full regalia including elaborate make-up and leather corsets. And they all knew the words. Singer Ian McCulloch even invited the audience to sing along with \u201cBring on the Dancing Horses.\u201d A song that has somewhat of a Chicagoland connection due to its use in John Hughes\u2019s Pretty in Pink.<\/em> After that, the band took a fifteen-minute break which seemed to confuse the audience. Several people around me commented on it. But the band came back and quickly won everyone over again with \u201cShow of Strength\u201d and \u201cOver the Wall.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Naturally, they hung on to \u201cThe Killing Moon\u201d until near the end. McCulloch introduced by wryly quipping in his Scouser accent, \u201cThis next song is in no way goth.\u201d  Guitarist Will Sergeant\u2019s distinct opening riff followed and the crowd went nuts and joined in singing. Ian McCulloch may have only been 24 when he awoke from a dream with the lines \u201cFate up against your will\/Through the thick and thin\u201d in his head, but those words hit differently being sung by a man who just turned 65. Hell, they hit differently hearing them at 39. Anyone at any age can feel they\u2019ve got \u201cFate up against their will,\u201d but now McCulloch\u2019s got another 41 years of life experience behind those words. Speaking of which, I couldn\u2019t help but notice that singer Ian McCulloch\u2019s voice seemed ever so slightly raspier. Although, I didn\u2019t see that as a negative. Given the difference in age from when these songs were written, it adds to that juxtaposition. The words take on a new context. What was once said in youthful angst, now carries a world-weariness, and that difference can show in the delivery as well. It gave songs like \u201cZimbo\u201d an almost bluesy quality. Which, hey, Chicago is the right city for that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They closed out the second set with a blazingly high-energy version of \u201cThe Cutter,\u201d which had been their breakthrough song back in England. For me, that was the highlight of the show. It should come as no surprise that \u201cLips Like Sugar\u201d was the encore. What was a surprise, though, was the second encore. A hauntingly beautiful rendition of \u201cOcean\u2019s Rain,\u201d which the audience joined in for much of closed out the night. Overall, the show is what one would expect of a legacy act of Echo and the Bunnymen\u2019s caliber. Influential musicians playing a tight set that occasionally feels like they\u2019re going through the motions. And maybe they are, but it\u2019s not a problem when the motions are this good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s the setlist, if you\u2019re into that kind of thing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n