Ian McCulloch

On Thursday 22nd Ian McCulloch played at the The Rescue Rooms, probably my favourite venue in Nottingham. I bought a ticket on a bit of a whim a week or so ago. I haven’t listened to Echo & the Bunnymen for ages and although I liked a lot of their songs I went without expectation. I probably have a romanticised memory of the mid eighties when we wore long second hand coats and ex-army trousers and listen to Bauhaus, the Bunnymen, the Smiths, and Danse Society.

As a mouthy Liverpool lad, McCulloch always got press for his attitude but mainly the band made some iconic records. From Crocodiles to Ocean Rain and Evergreen they had drum machines, choppy guitars, swagger and Morrisonesque poetry.

McCulloch was assisted by Ian Brodie on guitar and bits and pieces. Ian had laryngitis and growled out a great selection of Bunnymen songs and covers including…… Rescue, Bring On The Dancing Horses, Seven Seas, All My Colours, Killing Moon, Villiers Terrace, Walk on the Wildside, Sorrow, and plenty more I can’t recall.

Here is a video of McCulloch & Brodie at the Union Chaple performing Rescue which was the sound they open with on Thursday.

There was a support act for the evening, a young singer going by the name of Gallery 47. All I could pick up was that he was from Nottingham and had listened to a lot of Dylan. The latter had done him a lot of good as he was a pretty accomplished finger picker and his original songs had an original use of language. He started with ‘Girl from the North Country‘ which is a good place to begin. He also gave away a box full of Cd’s and vinyl albums which is an interesting strategy.

I’ve since found the clip below which explains a little more. He is definitely a talented guy and I hope he gets more exposure. He obviously works hard at his craft.

Quite pleased with the photo above. It’s a little low res as its cropped a lot but quite characterful. Gallery 47 has a MySpace page which is here.