Starting off on familiar ground
Echo and the Bunnymen have this festival thing sussed. Turn up, play a select number of your best known classics thereby giving the fans what they want, collect the appearance fee and leave, job's a good'un!
When I saw them at V last year they were stuck away in the JJB Tent, below the likes of Girls Aloud and they looked a bit out of place. Here, although still relatively early, they were back outdoors and had a sizable crowd waiting to be entertained.
They opened their short set with 'Rescue', with the excellent 'Bring on the Dancing Horses' appearing soon after.
Then came a version of the excellent 'Nothing Ever Last Forever', which the band mixed in with bits of Lou Reed's 'Take A Walk on the Wild Side'.
The classics kept on coming with 'The Back of Love', followed by the highpoints of any Echo and the Bunnymen set, 'Killing Moon' and 'The Cutter', the latter sounds even better every time I see them play it.
There is a predictableness about this band when they do the festival circuit. You know exactly what you'll get, maybe not quite the same order which does give a touch of variety, but every festival needs its feel good familiarity band. Think of this like the reassuring feeling you get from putting that old pair of wellies on to make you're way around a muddy field.
Echo and the Bunnymen seem to be doing more festivals now than ever before which can only be a good thing. If they don't turn up near you soon it will only be a matter of time, you can do a lot worse then check them out if you've never done so before.