Venue:
History, Toronto
Date: 13/06/2026
My first ever proper gig that I specifically bought tickets for was Echo and the Bunnymen at Mountford Hall, Liverpool University in 1980. It was great, but the Royal Court theatre show in the same city a year later probably ranks in my top 15 gigs ever. They were an incredible live band and it was an astonishingly good gig.
Fast forward 45 years and the remaining duo (with 4 additional musicans) are doing a fairly large North American tour following a string of recent UK dates. I bought tickets for the Toronto stop many months ago, and have been following some of the online reviews with some trepidation. Stories of a seated, drunken Mac on stage who can’t sing any more, cancelled concerts and him also leaving the stage before the encore had been completed.
The show was sold out, a fairly new 2,500 capacity venue that is literally a 2 minute walk from where I used to live in the Beaches area of Toronto. A recent Philadelphia show had been postponed after Mac was slightly injured in a road accident. Reports from previous show Boston veered between “an embarassment” and “best show ever”. So how was Toronto?
It was neither. The band took to the stage with the backing tapes playing chanting monks chanting and then launched into Going Up, so far an identical start to that legendary show at Royal Court Theatre, the voice sounded reasonable. A great version of All That Jazz swiftly followed and we were getting into the swing of things. They play the same setlist every night. A Crocodiles heavy one with 6 songs from that album, which is clearly a good thing. It is an interesting experience, watching Mac, not quite at Shane MacGowan levels but in the same ballpark. He was clearly somewhat inebriated with a table full of drinks and concoctions near him throughout. There were often longish gaps between songs where he launched into semi-coherent rants, and he encouraged the crowd to sing the choruses on the “hits” with him taking a break. This worked well on some “The Killing Moon”, but less so on others “Nothing Lasts Forever”. He did remain standing throughout until the second encore “Ocean Rain”, he explained he had to sit down because of his back and the show was completed. Apparently his leaving the stage in previous shows was in protest because of too much audience talking which matches some other reviews here recently. Clearly the Toronto audience was relatively well behaved, and the show was declared “best of the tour”.
I felt I was watching a broken man on stage, but he clearly somehow still believes in what he is doing and the lyrics he is singing seem to be still meaningful to him. The band were very tight, Will was magnificent, playing beautiful, fluid, melodic guitar throughout, and keeping a close eye on his erratic bandmate. I am glad I went, I was in a group of 4 with varying live Bunnynen experience, and all enjoyed the gig. Highlights for me included All that Jazz, Over the Wall, a stunning Villers Terrace and the Ocean Rain trilogy of Seven Seas, The Killing Moon and the closing title track.
The audience:
Dedicated, I heard of some travelling long distances from other parts of Canada to be there.
It made me think..
46 years! Sheesh!
Setlist:
1 Going Up
2 All That Jazz
3 Heads Will Roll
4 Crocodiles
5 The Cutter
6 Flowers
7 Over the Wall
8 Seven Seas
9 Rescue
10 All My Colours (Zimbo)
11 Nothing Lasts Forever
12 Bedbugs and Ballyhoo
13 Villiers Terrace
14 Bring On the Dancing Horses
15 The Killing Moon
Encore
16 Lips Like Sugar
17 Ocean Rain
I saw them last Summer in an outdoor festival in Nottingham for the first time. The weather got a bit bumpy after a few songs and they were asked to leave the stage for nearly an hour as lightning was in the area and we had to get off the front metal barrier also.
I must say that Mac took this all in his stride and I saw no excess of alcohol taken and he sang really well, engaged the audience and was bang up for it in my eyes.
I guess fast forward a year and something has got to him…hopefully he can sort his issues out.
It wasn’t anywhere near as bad as I feared. To be fair it has always been somewhat difficult to know what he’s going on about in between songs. I am glad I caught him on a (relatively) good night.
Mac is certainly a survivor. A few years ago (actually 8, I just checked) David Cavanagh did an interview with him in Mojo which, IIRC, was a pretty tough read and he came across as a lost and broken then middle-aged man. Basically a bit of an obituary before the fact. Ironically (if that’s the right word) Cavanagh was actually the first to go, sadly killing himself only a few years later.
Doesn’t sound like Mac has conquered his demons then, but neither have they conquered him yet.
Yes I re-read that last night, and yes, he is still with us. From that article I learnt he has 3 kids, 2 of whom are grown up, I have no idea what sort of relationship they have with him, but would be good if they feel like they could step in and help him.
Unfortunately the Bunnymen are a bit of a tired spectacle live these days…a real shame given that on their day they used to be a fabulous and electrifying live band. It’s not just the extremely average hired hands that constitute the “band” these days (no one ever seems able to replicate the drums of Pete DeFreitas or grasp the fact that Les Pattinson played bass so uniquely, mostly on the upstrike and in such a driving fashion) it’s the knowledge that Mac and Will no longer have any creative relationship to speak of. Why a singer like Mac would sideline one of the most innovative guitarists is just baffling. A shame, given that Will is still so great.
Mac and the management really would do much better to keep Will and employ the whole of the tribute band “Echoes Of The Bunnymen” who can replicate the sound and atmosphere of the 79-87 band with skill and ease. He should seek help with the evident booze issues too.
Yes, all the original members were exceptional musicians and that can never really be recreated. Thought the band were good though, perhaps helped by the fact that they have been on the road for a few months.
This is a very sad read. Dying due to rock n’ roll excess in one’s 20s might be thought romantic (though it isn’t). In one’s 60s, it REALLY isn’t. I was/ remain a fan of E&TB, and saw them a few times in the 80s as they brought psychedelia back, though he has always a bit too committed to rock n’ roll myths, as is now evident.
Thanks for the review Dai – excellent as always. But yes, as Vincent says, all rather sad.
I assume without streaming and the loss of royalties we wouldn’t have these later life spectacles.
It must be a bit of a quandry for singers like Mac and his ilk. You’d have thought he might have made enough cash in the eighties to be reasonably comfortable at least. But these constant yearly tours of the same old material suggest that might not be the case. The difficulty is that they really don’t have anything new to offer. They did try for quite a long time…the reformation album from 1997 is very good and all the subsequent ones up to 2005 have their moments, but there’s been almost nothing to suggest the creative spark still exists for over 20 years now. He clearly wants the world to continue to see him as a “rock star” so he’s stuck with having to look and act like he did about 40 years ago. God I’m glad I don’t have to do that…
Of course, every artist and band is different but anecdotally, lots of quite well known bands have unrecouped recording and promotion costs from decades ago so they never recieved royalties from those sales. I was surprised that even in the late 80s, some bands did quite well from merch and live shows, having thought that acts have only really had to rely on those incomes since streaming. I doubt many artists got good advice on how to handle money at the time so while pensions and Ltd companies are dull, they generally pay off better than a flashy car and a huge bar/drugs bill.
I was doing the math as they say here. Tickets were around $100 each, capacity 2,500 so that’s a gross of quarter of a million Canadian dollars. Say the band get half of that, and Will and Mac the majority of that then this North American segment of around 20 dates (most sold out) would seem to be reasonably lucrative even though expenses will be pretty high. There are always some UK 80s bands touring over here, Human League, Tears for Fears, Howard Jones etc etc
I saw them three or four times in the eighties and they were always amazing live. I think unless they’re on at a festival and I’m there for someone else I won’t be seeing them again. Absolutely agree that without Pete and Les they’re not the Bunnymen I knew and loved, though Evergreen (Les still on board) is a fine reformation album.
They were great the times I’ve seen them, back in the fabulous Eighties. It’s a shame that IM has lost the plot a little, but on the upside this thread sent me back to listen to them for the first time in ages. I’ve just listened to Heaven Up Here, and what a magnificent racket it is.
It’s absolutely brilliant isn’t it? What a fabulous album that is. Not just totally dark either, there’s definitely light and shade in there.
Yeah. The rhythm section just explodes out of the speakers.
My favourite of theirs, it’s close with the debut though. Only one track played off it and that song was doing the rounds well before it was released (Over the Wall)
Correction, 2 off that album (also Zimbo)
I was reading last night that there is a new album incoming in a couple of months. Mac (as he does) says it’s the best thing ever written, so there could be some new to go with the old they play and yet another pension uptick tour…I’m not blaming any bands that do this, I’m looking at retirement in three years and would be milking it to the max if I were in their position.
Didn’t they split the songwriting credits four ways? A quick check confirms they did. They weren’t selling a Tears For Fears-esque number of records, so there’s probably not that much cash from sales/publishing.
The Bunnymen will always have a place in my heart. At their best – Killing Moon, Bring on the Dancing Horses – they’re up there with the greatest, in my opinion.
Can’t believe I saw them 46 years ago when they were at their peak. The crowd turned up in army surplus gear but the band had switched to plain white T’s.
45! In 1980 still the dark Apocalypse Now stage set, then 1981 a brightly lit stage with camouflage gone (and a few more songs)
I saw the Bunnymen at the International Club, Manchester on 21 June 1985. This was about 300 metres from where I was living at the time.
It was a pretty special gig. The band played two sets. The first was a set of covers by bands like Television, Talking Heads and the Doors.
Then they went off, and came back after a while to play a full Bunnymen set. Absolutely magic. Peter de Freitas was one of the best drummers I ever saw.
https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/echo-and-the-bunnymen/1985/international-manchester-england-bd399d2.html
Fantastic! Yes, Pete was incredible
Sad, I hope that Mac doesn’t go the way of Shane McGowan and become the story rather than music.
I’ve seen them a few times in the 80s and 90s. Probably at their best on Crystal Day, a lot of which is documented on YouTube. I think I pop up on some of the Mersey Ferry footage…😳