Echo and the Bunnymen, oh my!

Oh, yea. (circa 1983) [Look for the guy in the totally rad shorts!]

The Very Best of Echo & the Bunnymen: More Songs to Learn and Sing


I just bought a $50 ticket from some dude to see Echo and the Bunnymen on Saturday at the Filmore. I can in no way afford this, my rent check will bounce if they cash it on time. They usually don't, but I don't care if they do. Right now, this matters more. This is most important.

I've been wishing Morrissey would go on tour again, knowing I need some relief. I'm aching for a break. I need to feel good for a few hours. But, the Bunnymen! Finally! I've never seen them, despite my 20 year love affair with the band. I've tried seeing them a few times, to no avail. It's all about the passion and poetry of Mac's vocals, the richness and layers of sound, the seething melancholy, oozing sexuality, and their utter timelessness, delivered by a huge catalog of awesome songs. It completely rings my bell.

So, On Wednesday, I got an email from one of my online groups announcing the concert as an event. The subject line pained me a little with desire. I ignored the email anyway, I figured the show was sold out as always, you can't get tickets in NYC. I didn't delete it though. And, today, I opened it just in case. The dude had a ticket to spare and he was selling! But. But, I could not afford it. Of course not. I would only have $30 after my rent was paid. Alas.

A little later, I got the unhappy email calling me an "administrative annoyance" (how long did it take him to come up with that pithy insult?), telling me to take a hike from my job of 7 years. It would have been nice if they had said something to me before it got this far... Anyway. It made me sob with shame. Then, I had to go teach 3 classes, pretending it was all okay. When I got home afterwards, still feeling miserable, I curled up on the couch for another cry. That's when I decided I had to do it, for me, for my tired heart. For that little piece of joy. I texted the ticket guy, did he still have it? . . . It was all mine.

I guess this means we're seeing the show together. I don't think anyone else is going. We've never met, but, whatever, it's not like I haven't done that before. If he's annoying, I'll get lost in the crowd. Had he given me the ticket for free I'd feel obliged to keep him company all night. Maybe I can charm him into 'forgetting' to charge me. He could've checked out my profile with my pic before aagreeing to sell it to me. Who knows, maybe he'll be alright. It doesn't matter.

I need, more than anything, to forget my life and lose myself in beautiful, incredible, live music. Music to make me blissfully happy, for a few moments. Music to fill me up, scour my body with thrumbing rhythms, and wrap my head in lush melodies seething with melancholy. Music so loud, so good it replaces all that is bad inside me. Refreshing my embattled soul. Yeah. And, I can drink in the ideal Brit-boy hotness that is Ian McCulloch. (Not like he used to be, time has tolled on his pretty face, but I would totally hit that. Well, if I did hit things, then I'd hit that.) This concert will release ALL my frustrations, physical and otherwise. It is exactly what I need. Perfect. An absolute god-send. The Lord is good to me. Hallelujah!


"Nocturnal Me" from the album "Ocean Rain", 1984ish.
Check out the Album: Ocean Rain


More E&B songs on YouTube:
All my Colours (Zimbo) ; Gods will be Gods ; Porcupine ;  Do It Clean ;  Bring on the Dancing Horses  All I Want;
The Very Best of Echo & the Bunnymen: More Songs to Learn and Sing