Les Pattinson (Echo & the Bunnymen) collection up for auction Nov. 15

Former Echo & The Bunnymen bassist, Les Pattinson, is auctioning off a bevy of things, and bidding begins November 15. Items include ephemera, photographs, clothing and plenty of musical gear. See the list here, and watch the video below.

Movie of the Week: Echo and the Bunnymen Play At Home (1984)

By Phil Nicholls

Here's the Play At Home contribution by Echo & the Bunnymen...
Enjoy that distinctive Liverpudlian accent!

Daze of Future Past, Leeds (1981)

Poltergeist: a new project by some Bunnymen

Poltergeist is a new instrumental project between Will Sergeant (guitar), Les Pattinson (bass), and Nick Kilroe (drums). God, its good to hear Will and Les play together again. The only let down is Ian's vocals never come in. Anyway, below is "Cathedral," a taster of their upcoming album which can be ordered via Pledge Music here.

March UK tour dates

13th Glasgow – Oran Mor – www.gigsinscotland.com

14th London – Hoxton Bar & Grill - www.gigsandtours.com

16th Liverpool – The Kazimier - www.seetickets.com/

22nd Manchester – Sound Control - www.soundcontrolmanchester.co.uk/events/p…ergeist/

23rd York - Fibbers - www.seetickets.com

Website - here

Facebook - here

Movie of the Week: You'll Never Walk Alone (1992)

Hat tip to Mojo for pointing this one out. You'll Never Walk Alone, from 1992, is a French documentary about the Liverpool scene, and includes the likes of Echo and the Bunnymen's Ian McCulloch, Pale Fountains' and Shack Michael Head, Edgar Jones (The Stairs), Pete Wylie, Jayne Casey.

Friday Ephemera: Crocodiles

Echo & the Bunnymen ad, Crocodiles, circa 1980/1981, via

Gang of Four video now, Bunnymen US tour in May

I'm loving this new Gang of Four track, "You'll Never Pay For The Farm," although I must admit to really wishing the original line up had managed to overcome their differences. Nothing against the new guys. Check out the song/video below, and pre-order their new album, Content, here.

Also, following up their successful Ocean Rain shows of a couple of years back, Echo & the Bunnymen have announced they will be bringing their Crocodiles/Heaven Up Here show to the US this Spring. No specifics yet so stay tuned. I will definitely be there. Thanks to Slicing Up Eyeballs and the Bunnymen facebook page for the news.

Limited edition Will Sergeant postcards available

Since I featured Will Sergeant's artwork this past summer in the occasional series, Pictures On My Wall, I thought I'd point this out.

Will is currently offering a nice group of his work in a set of signed & numbered limited edition set of 10 postcards (only 250 sets made) in a sturdy de-bossed box for only £20.00 plus p+p (£3 UK / £5 Worldwide). For more information, and to order please visit his website.

Pictures On My Wall - Will Sergeant

As Ian McCulloch sang, "The pictures on my wall are about to swing and fall. Love it all. Love it all."

In the tradition of Friday Ephemera, Just Because, and Before and After, I've decided to start a new series here called, appropriately enough, Pictures On My Wall. In it we'll take a look at, and link to, the other artistic efforts of musicians...namely, painting, or photography, or something else. If you want to suggest any musicians to be highlighted, please leave a comment & let me know. And since it's named after a Bunnymen tune, we'll start things off by featuring McCulloch's longstanding partner in song, guitarist Will Sergeant. Meet Will, the artist:



Now, I'm definitely no art critic, or in the words of Lux Interior, I don't know about art but I know what I like...so, I'll basically be presenting a chosen piece by said artist, and a link to their website. I encourage you to visit the site, and perhaps even purchase a piece. Most of the featured works will be pretty inexpensive as far as art goes, and they're MUCH more limited than an album or single.

View Will Sergeant's artwork at willsergeant.com.

Ephemera Friday - UK post punk gigs

Courtesy of our buddy Dave over at Fruitier Than Thou comes this wonderful collection of gig posters & ads for some special shows, circa early 80's. Above - AZTEC CAMERA, THE FARMERS BOYS, THE DAINTEES The Lyceum, London 15th March 1983.

Incredible triple bill - FELT, THE GO-BETWEENS, THE SMITHS The Venue, London 15th September 1983:



SWELL MAPS, PINK MILITARY The University Of London Union, 1st February 1980:



Inappropriate booking of the decade - AZTEC CAMERA supporting KILLING JOKE & UK DECAY Hammersmith Palais 23rd February 1982:



As Dave says - 5th August 1981...When £2 could buy you a whole new world:



U2 supporting the Bunnymen. Imagine that?:



Another amazing bill - THE TEARDROP EXPLODES w/Delta 5, Josef K, Fire Engines, and erm, the Thompson Twins - The Lyceum 16th November 1980

Peppermint Lounge July '82

Ephemeral New York posted the above bit of lovely today. It's an ad for the Peppermint Lounge, appeared in the Village Voice, and dates back to July 1982. It's just the sort of thing that really got my 16 year old mind racing.

An Echo From Another Era, Full of Romantic Nostalgia

In case any Bunnymen fans missed it, here's a good (if slightly patronising & factually incorrect) review of the Radio City Hall show from the New York Times.

"In the early ’80s Ian McCullough and Bono were both working on a new kind of strident romanticism in pop, a confident version of the moody-poet archetype. But Mr. McCullough’s group, Echo & the Bunnymen, from Liverpool, England, didn’t make it to the end of the decade, and U2 became the eighth continent.

Claiming its achievements, Echo & the Bunnymen has returned this year to playing its 1984 album “Ocean Rain” in full, with an orchestra and in style: the Royal Albert Hall in London last month, Radio City Music Hall on Wednesday, a homecoming in Liverpool next month. (Like most reunited bands, this one is only partly so: it consists of Mr. McCullough; the band’s original lead guitarist, Will Sergeant; and four newer recruits.)" Continued here.

Daily travels - Echo & the Bunnymen at Radio City Hall edition

I caught the Bunnymen at Radio City last night...Buying my tickets last April(!) I was very skeptical about their prospects for ticket sales. After all, they probably haven't played a place this size in New York for 20 years. Anyway, I'm happy to say I was proved wrong. I don't think the show sold out, but it was close. The place was packed.

The show was two sets long - the first set was comprised of various hits & album cuts with some surprising choices. Here's the set list that I can remember - I may have missed one or two:

Lips Like Sugar
Rescue
Bring on the Dancing Horses
New Song off forthcoming LP The Fountain
The Disease
All That Jazz
The Back Of Love
All My Colours/Zimbo
People Are Strange (The Doors)
Nothing Lasts Forever/Walk On The Wild Side (Lou Reed)/Wait Till The Midnight Hour (Wilson Pickett)
The Cutter

The second set was the full performance of Ocean Rain from beginning to end with a 10 piece orchestra. It sounded brilliant. Ending on the title cut from the album, I had forgotten what a gorgeous song it is.

Ocean Rain (MP3):


Read a review of the show here.

Below are a few pix I snapped. As much as I love photography, I never take my camera out so I only have my crappy iPhone camera to work with. I ended up taking some shots of the beautiful ceiling at Radio City.









The room prior to the Bunnymen taking the stage:



More ceiling shots before & during the show:

Echo & the Bunnymen news

I certainly missed this a couple of days ago, and it will save me a trip to London. It's very surprising because I can't remember the last time they played a venue the size of Radio City. I saw them headline two years ago at SxSW in front of over 10,000, but that was a free outdoor show, hometown band Spoon was also on the bill, and it was during SxSW. I'm game...