Echo & The Bunnymen return to Royal & Derngate next week

Influential Liverpudlian duo Echo & The Bunnymen are set to return to Royal & Derngate for a rescheduled gig next week.

The band were originally due to headline the Northampton theatre last May but this was postponed due to the impact of the coronavius. They will now play on Wednesday, February, 23.

Talking about the rescheduled shows, frontman Ian McCulloch said:“I can’t wait to be out there with the band on all those stages in all those towns and cities, doing what I love most, playing our songs to our brilliant fans and, hopefully, making all our lives a little bit happier along the way.”

Echo and the Bunnymen formed in 1978 and comprise of singer McCulloch and guitarist Will Sergeant.

The band’s 20-date tour coincides with the vinyl reissue of their first Best Of album, Songs To Learn & Sing, which was originally released in 1985 and features highlights from their first four albums.

The album will be released on February 18 on heavyweight black vinyl and a special edition splatter vinyl which includes an exclusive 7” of their debut single, Pictures On My Wall / Read It In Books.

When the compilation was originally released, the band were already a force to be reckoned with, pioneering the new wave scene with four highly acclaimed studio albums.

Their debut Crocodiles cemented the band’s reputation as one of the best around with the NME describing it as “probably the best album this year by a British band”.

They followed the album with the release of the Shine So Hard EP in 1981, recorded live at the Pavilion Gardens in Buxton, before releasing their second studio album Heaven Up Here the same year.

It became Echo & The Bunnyment’s first UK Top 10 album, winning the 1981 NME Best Album award in the process.

Considered to be a darker album, Heaven Up Here was produced by Hugh Jones, and was well received by critics and fans alike, featuring tracks such as A Promise, Over the Wall and Show of Strength.

The band’s cult status was transformed into mainstream success in 1983 with the release of their third album Porcupine, produced by Ian Broudie, providing their best chart performances, with The Cutter reaching number eight in the singles charts and Porcupine finishing number two in the album charts and being certified Gold.

There later albums such as Evergreen, What Are You Going To Do With Your Life and Siberia demonstrated the breadth and depth of work the band have.

Their most recent album, The Stars, The Oceans & The Moon was released in 2018 and saw the band delve into their back catalogue to reinterpret 13 of their most beloved songs with ‘strings and things’.

Original tickets remain valid and are also available via royalandderngate.co.ukStanding and seated tickets are available for this show.

Seated tickets cost from £34.50 to £47.

Standing tickets cost £37. Booking fees apply. Full details are available online.