Echo & the Bunnymen, plus punk festival weekend: Have a Good Laugh

I was never a big new wave, goth, or industrial guy. I have a few albums here and there. I guess Shriekback counts as a new wave band? I do like them, in any case. But New Order? Hell, I barely do Joy Division! 

So I never really followed Echo and the Bunnymen, aside from what I heard on MuchMusic and such when I was a kid. But regardless of my lack of attentiveness, I acknowledge that "The Killing Moon" is a magnificent piece of songcraft. Nowadays it benefits, of course, from being one of the very best, maybe the best, uses of pop music in a movie soundtrack of all time (near the beginning of the theatrical cut of Donnie Darko, of course; a perfect fusion of image, theme, and sound). But it's still really the only song of theirs I *love* (I'm kind of fond of "The Puppet," too, find the chorus really compelling, but that one isn't on their setlists of late). 

However, I had decided that, loving only one song by Echo and the Bunnymen -- and simply not knowing most of their catalogue -- I wasn't going to pay to go see them last night, despite twitching FOMO and a swath of curiosity. But then a friend and a friend of a friend did something very friendly, assisted by a (friendly) Ian McCulloch himself, and hey, do I want to be a plus one on a guestlist? 

Yes, please!!! 

It was fun to scratch my itch. There were some people really getting into it last night, dancing with their eyes closed, singing along, and the band did a fine job of delivering their songs, which some of the gathered, packed crowd knew and loved well, beginning with material from their first album, Crocodiles. There were also some people on the left and right of me chatting pretty consistently through the songs, which is puzzling, since it wasn't a cheap show to chat through, but I was basically just there as a voyeur, so I didn't feel it my place to ask them to stop talking. There were some pleasant surprises --  I didn't expect "Villiers Terrace" to segue into "Roadhouse Blues" and "The Jean Genie," for instance. And I enjoyed hearing people singing along with the lyrics, which really picked up in the first set with the other song of theirs I know, "Bring on the Dancing Horses." And though I have nothing of interest or importance to say (besides "thanks, Ian!" for guestlisting my friend and giving them a plus one, and thanks, friend, for making me that plus one!), I did take a few photos, which are, in fact, not bad!!! (Thanks again to Noelle Chaos for pointing out the black and white actually works better in so-so light; I've become a fan of the form). 

Oh, and I enjoyed the unexpected jazz set by the Nick Leffler Quartet. Mike Smith -- the keyboardist, sax player, and "musical director" of Echo & the Bunnymen joined Nick onstage (he's in the Hawaiian shirt, below); the two seemed to know each other, which was presumably why we were listening to jazz at the Commodore. I don't think I've heard jazz at the Commodore before, in fact. It was interesting! (Their guitarist was really great, in particular, if you're into that kinda trad jazz guitar thing). I somehow have become somewhat immune to jazz as I slide towards my 60s, the odd Darren Williams show notwithstanding. But it was an unexpected pleasure no less. 

In other news, and a bit more where my enthusiasms lie, musically, the Have a Good Laugh Festival is at the Waldorf (and the Cambie, for Saturday afternoon) this weekend, starting on Thursday evening. It boasts a rather spectacular array of punk bands, from crust to street punk to genres I cannot name, coming from across Canada, but also including many American bands and one German and one Japanese band each. (Actually, the German band plays tomorrow night -- Ego; I rather like this horrifying video they've done, complete with English subtitles). 

(Ego press photo, not mine!)

The main page on the website has links to all of the bands' music (at the top) and the schedule (at the bottom) -- you hafta scroll up and down between them (it may be more user-friendly on a desktop?). Dead Cells kicks things off at 7:30 at the Waldorf tomorrow. I bet they have the Cure's Faith in their album collection. There's also crust, street punk, probably a couple of bands on the grindcore/ metal end of things, but it's a real range of music across the spectrum. Guess I'm finally going to see Bootlicker!