Echo & the Bunnymen at the House of Blues, October 15, 2016

My review of the October 15, 2016 show at the House of Blues in Dallas, TX. It's a little long but I included the set list.

It took about an hour to get downtown to the House of Blues. I had dinner reservations at five o'clock, allowing plenty of time thereafter to explore the venue, visit the Gear Shop, and prepare for the show. Dinner was great. You also get a "skip the line" pass for dining in or ordering a drink at the bar. This is good for those who have general admission (standing room) tickets. My box seats gave me an excellent view of the stage. The box seats are in the VIP area, too, so you can have drinks brought to you all night long. And the soundsystem was fantastic!!

Once the doors opened, I went straight to the merch table and bought a t-shirt. There were two shirts to choose from. One of an American flag complete with white bunnygods. The other shirt was black with an image taken from the band's self-titled album. The image is all white with the band name above it. I bought the black shirt. Its always a good idea to buy merch before the show. All the shirts at last night's concert sold and many people didn't get one after it ended.

After I found my seat, I got comfortable and waited for what was about to happen. After an hour and a half wait, the opening act, Ester Drang appeared on stage. I had never heard of them before but I likened them to indie group The Besnard Lakes. They played for about 30 minutes.

Another 45 minutes passes until Echo & the Bunnymen walk out. They walked out on stage at 9:15 p.m. and played until 11:00 p.m., nearly a 2-hour set! The fiery-red bunnygod in all of it's glory greeted the room and stayed for the entire show as well.

Set list:

"Going Up"

"Crocodiles"

"Do It Clean"

"All That Jazz"

"Seven Seas"

"Bedbugs and Ballyhoo"

"My Kingdom"

"Rescue"

"All My Colours (Zimbo)"

"Over the Wall"

"Never Stop"

"Villiers Terrace" (with snippets of "Roadhouse Blues" by The Doors)

"Bring On the Dancing Horses"

"The Killing Moon"

"The Cutter"

Encore:

"Nothing Lasts Forever" (with snippets of "Walk on the Wild Side" by Lou Reed, "She Belongs to Me" by Bob Dylan, "Don't Bring Me Down" (I forget the original artist on this one but it's not ELO, lol...), and "In the Midnight Hour" by Wilson Pickett)

"Lips Like Sugar" (with snippet of "Rock 'n' Roll With Me" by David Bowie)

Encore 2:

"Ocean Rain"

In a nutshell, all the songs I grew up listening to. I have been an Echo & the Bunnymen fan for 20 years, so I know their newer catalog of music as well as their old. I had hoped to hear "In the Margins," or at least one song, from their 2005 Siberia album but maybe next time! I'd also like to hear, "Rust," "Angels & Devils," "Thorn of Crowns," "Crystal Days," "Nocturnal Me," "With a Hip," "Show of Strength," "A Promise," "No Dark Things," "Altamont," "Flowers," "Buried Alive," just to name a few.

Mac (Ian Mcculloch, lead singer) was in good spirits. He liked that it was a sold out show. He engaged the audience, telling them to sing along and was very playful on stage. He sometimes sings a line from Lou Reed's "Coney Island Baby" at the end of "Nothing Lasts Forever," which he did last night. I had a feeling they'd play "Ocean Rain" since it was a sold out show and the crowd was roaring. Several people got up, thinking there was only one encore. But I was not about to leave because I had to hear "Ocean Rain." It topped off my night~!!

Echo & the Bunnymen are working on some new music. I think it will be on an EP or two, not a full length album. I am just now getting into Ian Mcculloch's solo work. Its nice having both the band and his solo albums and live performances to enjoy.





There you have it! My experience from last night's show. If you ever get the chance to see this band live, please do. You won't regret it.