Echo & The Bunnymen – Dancing Horses (MVD Visual/Secret Films/DVD-Video Concert)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: C+     Concert: C+

 

 

Echo & The Bunnymen are one of the lost great British New Wave band of the 1980s, whose thoughtful, smart, great music never got the success in the U.S. it deserved, but the original cut of Donnie Darko used their impressive The Killing Moon in its opening sequence and a new interest was born.  Echo & The Bunnymen – Dancing Horses (taped 11/1/05) is a recent concert that has lead singer Ian McCulloch, guitarist William Sergeant and new “bunnymen” for a concert that runs about 90 minutes.

 

Hits include:

 

1)     Going Up

2)     With A Hip

3)     Stormy Weather

4)     Show Of Strength

5)     Bring On The Dancing Horses

6)     The Disease

7)     Scissors In The Sand

8)     All That Jazz

9)     The Back Of Love

10)  The Killing Moon

11)  In The Margins

12)  Never Stop

13)  Villiers Terrace

14)  Of A Life

15)  Rescue

16)  The Cutter

17)  Nothing Lasts Forever

18)  Lips Like Sugar

19)  Ocean Rain

 

 

The material holds up very well and the musicians’ takes are good, but McCulloch’s voice though familiar, has become a bit rough and it somewhat interferes with the impact of his distinct vocal.  However, the new configuration of the group is ambitious enough and fans of the band and the music of that time will enjoy at least some of the concert if not the whole thing.  It is better than many such revivals and the audience is not bad, a factor more important in these DVDs than many consider.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image can be colorful, but detail is an issue and depth can be too.  The stage is dark most of the time, but that is a neutral issue.  The Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 Stereo mixes are flatter and more compressed than expected.  There is only one extra, but that is an extended interview with McCulloch that is as interesting as the concert and fans will especially enjoy.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo