Review by Steve McGowan from Zub RecordsRobyn started solo playing his small mahogany acoustic and harmonica on Simple Minds ‘Don’t You (Forget About Me). Then he did Roxy Music and ‘Take A Chance With Me’ from Avalon with his Telecaster. This was a very strong cover. Emma appeared and sang solo on The Cure and ‘Friday I’m In Love,’ a beautiful mope-fest. Next up was ‘Addicted To Love,’ this time Robyn using a cool shift delay on his electric and totally hamming it up on the vocals. Em sang backup on this Robert Palmer staple and I have to admit it was much better than on Wednesday. Emma left and Robyn switched to acoustic for a stunning version of Lennon’s ‘Watching The Wheels’ with Em appearing to sing with him.
There was a discussion of Robyn’s mullet and his hair. He said next week he’d look like Karl Lagerfeld. Robyn doffed a top hat for Tom Petty’s ‘Free Fallin’ It was well done with both Reg and Em singing, but I just don’t like this song (And Adrienne dislikes Petty so much that she mooned his videos when they played on MTV). I’ll leave it at that. Emma took the hat and left. Robyn then did R.E.M.’s ‘King Of Birds’ solo, beautifully picked and sung. Reg told a story about meeting Nick Lowe in 1977 and later living near him in London. He then did a bouncy version of ‘All Men Are Liars.’ Emma returned and they spoke about Rick Astley and ‘Rickrolling.’ They proceeded to have Emma sing lead on Crowded House and ‘Don’t Dream It’s Over.’ Her voice was sparkling and sad at the same time. They didn’t break down like on Wednesday and this was the absolute highlight of the show, They ended up with The Human League and ‘Don’t You Want Me Baby,’ with Reg toning down his vocals, and Emma adding a verse from Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Dreams’ which was quite brilliant. So after the second show, the 80’s covers are just alright with me.
Online review by Mark My WordsOn Friday, Robyn and Emma did their version of “Sweet Home Quarantine” for the European audience. I tuned into this show as well, because the video teaser was Robyn singing Nick Lowe’s “All Men Are Liars.” It was similar to Wednesday’s show. One difference was that Robyn played Telecaster on “Take a Chance With Me” on Friday, whereas he had played it on acoustic on Wednesday. Robyn’s vocals on “Addicted to Love” were even more animated than on Wednesday, which had Emma laughing and saying to Robyn “I love how much you love this!” New additions to the setlist on Friday were Emma singing the Cure’s “Friday I’m In Love,” which people were quick to point out was released in 1992. Still, it was a great version. Robyn wore his top hat for “Free Fallin’” in homage to Tom Petty. Robyn sang “All Men Are Liars” solo and told a story about how he met Nick for the first time in 1977 when the Soft Boys opened for Elvis Costello. I’d love to see a trans-Atlantic Robyn and Nick Stageit show. “Don’t You Want Me” was reworked with Emma singing part of “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac as her verse of the song, which worked nicely. Robyn also did a little Lou Reed impression at the beginning of “Don’t You Want Me” which was fun to hear.