Online review & photos by BrightestYoungThings
Hanging out after the show, I was discussing with a friend why we have so many Robyn Hitchcock albums in our collection, though many don’t get the turn they deserve. The answer came to me a few hours earlier than the question asked, while listening to the encore: Robyn wears his influences on his sleeve. Besides his admiration for Syd Barrett, he loves songcraft and especially the strength of a good writer / poet / wordsmith / abstract thinker. The encore was all covers – The Beatles “She Said She Said”, Bob Dylan’s “Too Much of Nothing”, The Byrds’ “Eight Miles High” and The Velvet Underground’s “I’m Waiting For My Man”. Pathos, Love and Death, geographic references and hyperbole that are rarely bedfellows together in a single artist’s performance were trotted out tonight under an assault of jangle-y 12-string electric guitar sounds from none other than REM’s Peter Buck and presented in the distinctive whine of Hitchcock’s unwavering voice, soothed by at least four cups of tea. His influences one soon realizes have indeed matched his ambition and artistry as a songwriter and poet, although consigned to the ‘quiet end’ of my record collection. It’s time for me to dig those records out again.

Highlights: “Kingdom of Love”, “Goodnight Oslo”, “Underground Sun”, “Madonna of the Wasps”, “Adventure Rocket Ship” and “N.Y. Doll”