However if this was to be the last gig there then it
certainly finished things on a high note. Gone is the camouflaged stage and
full combat gear, gone is the smoke and dry ice; instead the Bunnymen take the
stage dressed informally and throughout the lights are used only very
sparingly.

It’s a bold step to take as such a drastic change means that
they are now relying entirely on the music to hold attention for the hour long
set which they play. It means that the band are less remote than they were and
easier to relate to.

Instead of the traditional set-up the band formed a line
across the front of the stage, drummer as well. There are now five members as
on some songs a person who, I am reliably informed, was formerly a roadie for
the band plays guitar or keyboards. Far from swamping the songs, a third guitar
makes for a very full sound on those numbers for which it is used.

The set was composed on a fairly equal mixture of old and new
songs which will, presumably, surface on the soon to be released second album.
McCulloch is a natural front man with his boyish, impudent good looks and his
contained emotional renderings of the songs.

On several he left the guitar work to the new boy and
performed with as much passion as the late great Ian Curtis. His voice is one
of the most distinctive to have emerged from the plethora of new bands about
and comparisons are impossible to make.

However, on one or two of the slower numbers a slight Jim
Morrison influence can be detected. If any one member deserves special mention
then it must be Pete de Freitas the drummer. His sound is a very crisp and
clear one and the sparing use of the cymbals made that sound so much more
effective.

Apparently he was suffering from an injured hand but I for
one didn’t notice at all. It seems to be something about Coventry, as last time
they were here bassist Les Pattinson was unwell and only just made the encore,
and this time all of the band were slightly under the weather.

De Freitas’ stuttering rhythms are certainly the best thing
this side of PIL’s ‘Flowers of Romance’. However it is unfair to single out
only one number – the clipped guitar on ‘All that Jazz’ was immediately
danceable whereas at other times there were distinct memories of Tom Verlaine’s
playing on Television’s second album ‘Adventure’.

The new songs blended very well with the older stuff but
since McCulloch’s scouse accent prevented me from catching all of the titles,
you’ll just have to wait for the album to come out and find out for yourself.
They played all four songs from their current live EP in addition to several
tracks from ‘Crocodiles’ – ‘Rescue’ standing out as the classic which it will
surely become.

The audience, although not a capacity one, responded warmly
to the set and the band played two encores, finishing with the same haunting
melody which accompanied them as they took the stage. I wonder what Special’s
person Terry Hall, seen skulking at the back of the hall thought of it all. ‘Is
this the blues I’m singing?’ asks McCulloch. Whatever it is, it’ll do very
nicely thank-you, Ian and thank you Tiffany’s.