La Via Luonge | A film by Bill Butt | featuring Echo & the Bunnymen | Nacho Restoration | 1981

Then-Bunnymen lighting engineer Bill Butt’s hectic little Bunnymen-on-tour road-movie, mostly shot from the back of Bunnymen graphic designer, Martyn Atkins motorbike, traveling from England to Florence, Italy via France and Switzerland, with a soundtrack by Bunnymen guitarist Will Sergeant. La Via Luonge was first screened in the U.K. 40 years ago, in August and September 1981 • Two silhouetted figures mount a BMW motorcycle in an English suburban street. Will Sargeant’s twitchy lo-fi drum machine, keyboard and guitar psychedelia starts up and we are off. Sargeant’s insistent beats are a perfect match for the juddering and increasingly sped-up back-of-a-motorcycle ride through Southern England, across the English channel by ferry (with a quick A Promise diversion) through France, Switzerland and Italy. The destination is Florence - Piazza delgi Uffizi, 29 June 1981 - the final date of the first leg of the Bunnymen’s Heaven Up Here tour that had begun three months prior in early April. As the film nears its finale, we see the preparations for the show in Uffizi Square, and scenes of the bands performance used to good effect with an excerpt from Heaven Up Here title track. Les Pattinson (2000): I think one of the best (shows) was in the early days playing the Uffizi Square in Florence, Italy. It was sponsored by the local Communist Party, but for some reason we got to play. It was mad - you would have these original Michelangelo statues about 20 feet away from you on stage; you couldn't build a better stage set. Back stage would be the river. Bill Butt (2021): I shot the Super 8 footage from the back of Martyn's BMW. Martyn and I rode from the "Palace", Bristol to Naples. I also shot some footage on the tour bus, and of the fantastic gig in the Uffizi Square in Florence, Italy. The idea was to film the gig in a football stadium in Naples but the organisers, who again were the local Communist Party forgot to provide any power to the stage, eventually a 50 meter long 13 amp extension cable was produced. Neither the organisers or the crowd understood that it was impossible to perform without proper power so we had to blow the gig. The crowd were pissed off and pelted the tourbus and the bike with stones which is the closing shot of the film, shot from the safety of the tour bus!!! We took turns in driving and to my shame I dropped the bike on a tight corner when crossing the Swiss Alps, Martyn and I slid down the road joined by our walkman headphone cables. Not too much damage, only cracked ribs, and bent handlebars, so we were able to continue on our mission. • La Via Luonge was originally screened at London's ICA and other venues around the U.K. in 1981, along with John Smith’s Bunnymen short film Shine So Hard. Later it was included on the 1982 home video release of Shine So Hard. It is from a superior transfer of the Shine So Hard video that this restoration originates. I fixed or edited out the worst of the spoiled and distracting frames, and put the result through various processes to try to improve the quality, but there is only so much one can do with a 40-year old domestic VHS cassette tape as a source. However, as stated on my recent upload of Bill Butt’s 1981 Simple Stuff promo - if like me, you are a big fan of the band during the era, this glimpse into the Heaven Up Here tour is special. The audio is a mix of sections from Will Sargeant’s belated 2003 CD release Weird As Fish/Le Via Luonge, the original audio from the video tape transfer, and two excerpts from the remastered Heaven Up Here CD. Sargeant’s La Via Luounge CD contains a different mix to the video tape. In some places it is very different, and so for authenticity, here and there I mixed back in a re-EQ’d and fake-stereo’d version of the original soundtrack. Thanks for watching, hope you dig it! • See also: nachosvideos.com/shine-so-hard • Credits Video: La Via Luonge • Directed by Bill Butt • 1981 • Shot in June 1981 during the Echo & the Bunnymen Heaven Up Here tour • From the Shine So Hard / La Vie Luonge VHS home video • 1982 Audio: Will Sargeant • La Via Luonge • Original soundtrack • 1981 • Weird As Fish/Le Via Luonge • Ochre • 2003 Echo & the Bunnymen • Excerpts of A Promise & Heaven Up Here • Heaven Up Here • Korova • 1981 Musicians: Vocals, Guitar • Ian McCulloch Lead Guitar • Will Sergeant Bass • Les Pattinson Drums • Pete de Freitas Production • Hugh Jones • Always more videos to follow, so please keep your electric eye on me babe! I don't own the rights, and I'm not making any money out of this etc. Just a fan making videos for other fans. Please Share, Like, Comment, Subscribe NachosVideos.com Facebook.com/TheNachoVideos    / nachovideo   ok.ru/nachovideo DailyMotion.com/NachosVideos Instagram.com/NachoVideo Twitter.com/NachosVideos Patreon.com/nachosvideos [email protected] I edit, therefore I am #Echo&theBunnymen #LaViaLuonge #BillButt #HeavenUpHere #PiazzadelgiUffizi #Firenze