Music > Live Reviews

Ian McCulloch @ NAC

26/03/16

An acoustic evening over two nights with the legendary Ian McCulloch at my favourite music venue.

Having one of rock music’s cult front men on St Benedict’s was always going to be a very special event for us muso's of a certain age, and it’s fair to say that this has been on the wish list for quite some time now.

As instantly charismatic as ever in the traditional sunglasses, it’s just Macca onstage, an acoustic guitar and two mugs of alleged tea, that as the evening progresses actually turn out to be filled with brandy and milk. Oh and a box of tissues to help with dealing with the departing strains of the lurgy.

 He kicks off the sixteen song set with Rescue and then takes us back through his stunning back catalogue of mainly Echo and The Bunnymen material, going right back to the start in 1978 with such classics such as Villiers Terrace, Dancing Horses, The Game, Seven Seas, Nothing Ever Lasts Forever, Killing Moon and Lips Like Sugar. He also does an impressive version of The Velvet Underground’s I’m Waiting For The Man. In the Bunnymen Will Sergeant was the guitar hero, but McCulloch is also one very fine guitarist based on this evenings close up performance.

The humorous craic is instantly great and remains as important as the music throughout the evening as he continually engages with the “attentive Norwich audience” that hang on his every lyrical spoken word. In the front row, sits an eight year old with his dad. After playing Rescue, McCulloch asks him what he is doing here and promises not to swear. A promise that lasts just minutes or was it seconds? He then proceeds to apologise every single time that he swears.

He doesn’t stop talking in between songs and he asks the audience to ask questions throughout. He also quotes some quite terrible home-written limericks and then does some very impressive impressions of both Robert Mugabe and Claudio Raneri that bring the house down.

He is undoubtedly one of this country’s finest ever frontmen and a lyrical genius at that too. It seems that just like the song, some things do appear to last forever. Class is timeless.