Friday, January 09, 2015

Memories #11

Future Islands - Singles

The very first concert that I ever attended was Echo & the Bunnymen at Open Air Theatre, SDSU. This was back in 1987 when I was sixteen years old. That year they released their eponymous album with the classic song Lips Like Sugar on it and I was super excited to see them live. Not just them, of course, but just the idea of real live rock music was so mystical for me at that point. By the time you're a teenager, you've heard about all the power of a live show. There's the grand tales of legendary shows throughout history, the likes of Woodstock and whatnot, that affect you but even the thought of catching a great contemporary act that's of the moment is exciting. Back in the late eighties, I was obsessed with alternative college music, as it was called back then, and Echo & the Bunnymen was one of my favorite. The concert truly lived up to the hype. Ian McCulloch performed with such incredible energy that the entire audience was pulled into his trajectory. He was the operator and we all went along for one of the best rides of our lives. It will always be one of those music memories that I will cherish. You're probably wondering how this relates to this Future Islands album? Well, Samuel T. Herring, the singer in the band, has quite a reputation for his live performances. We've all seen the David Letterman show, which is the closest I've come to seeing them live up to this point. The last time they came to San Diego the concert was sold out and though we considered buying overpriced tickets online, we weren't in the theatre that night. It's one of the few shows of late where I truly felt regret at missing out. Not like passing up a free ticket to Nirvana at Iguana's twenty years ago but you get the idea.

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3 Comments:

Anonymous Scott Cooper said...

That was a great show... I can close my eyes and remember what it felt like to be there, down in the crowd. What was the seaweed-like stuff they had hanging down from above the stage, obscuring most of the band? And am I remembering that McCollouch played like the drunk he was infamous for, or was it super clean and tight and I'm now remembering stuff I only read about them later?

7:40 AM  
Blogger mishupishu said...

Yeah, he was a little out there but he wasn't sloppy in any way. It was a pretty tight performance. I remember that he turned down an offer of a joint from someone in the front row, commenting that it was illegal.

9:38 PM  
Anonymous Scott Cooper said...

I wouldn't have remembered that detail in a million years, but now that you mentioned it, I think I might. That one was buried deep in the back corner of the mental cupboard.

7:26 AM  

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