Review by Steve McGowan from Zub RecordsThere’s no secret that Robyn is a huge fan of Syd Barrett, the early leader of Pink Floyd and famous rock acid-casualty/ mental illness sufferer. This show was scheduled early on Friday afternoon in Nashville as to play for the British and European fans in the evening, and this was entirely a Robyn solo outing, Emma just running the technology.
This streaming show was built around Syd Barrett’s second LP, Barrett, and Robyn didn’t disappoint, playing the entire LP in order. Here’s where I must tell you of my uneasiness about the subject. When I was in high school, my friend Sven and I used to listen to Syd Barrett at marvel at the weirdness of his songs, kind of like a proper-British Beefheart. We always thought his music was otherworldly, but I never thought we clearly understood what a damaged person he was. Apparently the combination of LSD and schizophrenia really did poor Syd in, to the point where he would become catatonic for hours or days. Looking back now, I feel more than uneasy celebrating the music that was the product, the direct result of someone in this condition.
Despite this painful provenance, the music is, in it’s own way, remarkable, and it obviously had a great and long-reaching impact on one young Robyn Rowan Hitchcock. In describing the Barrett record, he referred to “the imploding Syd.” He started with his acoustic and played ‘Baby Lemonade,’ no Emma, and ended with the commentary “and it fades out…” Reg broke out his old Fender Telecaster to play electric on ‘Love Song,’ and on ‘Dominos,’ after which Robyn commented “you can hear him pacing as he unravels.” ‘It Is Obvious’ was a sad, melancholy song Reg played very well. He then did ‘Rats,’ talked to Emma a bit afterward, and played ‘Maisie,’ of which he said “I named my daughter after the song.”
Continuing to follow the album’s order, side two began with ‘Gigolo Aunt,’ an upbeat, poppy version of “a song we used to play in the Soft Boys.” After this one of their cats Ringo appeared and Robyn gave him a hug on camera. ‘Wined And Dined’ was sent out to Graham Coxon (of Blur), and again given a pretty, poppy delivery from Robyn. After ‘Wolfpack,’ side two ended with the song ‘Effervescent Elephant’ to which Reg said this “could be written by Robyn Hitchcock.”
There was still encore time remaining in the stream, so Reg did song songs from The Madcap Laughs, Syd Barrett’s first LP. ‘Octopus’ was pretty and wonderful, ‘Late Night’ dark and beautiful, and after ‘If It’s In You’ Robyn signed off, speaking of Syd and the Barrett record, saying “that record is in my DNA.” It certainly must be, as if you didn’t know Syd Barrett’s material, you could easily interpret any of these songs as regular Hitchcock tunes. Robyn seems fascinated with the mental dissolution of Syd, but his love and respect for the music shines through. He knew all the words, and there were a lot of words. This was a very different stream from the others, one that has made me think about musicians, their influences, and their legacies.
Next week - David Bowie!
---Steve McGowan