Opening act: Emma Swift

Full band show

Rick Lollar - Guitar
Rik Hornby - Bass
Josh McCartney - Drums
Emma Swift - Harmonies (where noted)

Setlist and live photo provided by Hank H

Online review by God Is In The TV (Reading and Twyford shows combined)
Following from Swift’s opening set, comes Robyn Hitchcock, who has never been entirely constrained by the usual rules of rock performance. Even after almost five decades of songs, albums and increasingly elaborate variations on the word “eccentric”, he remains capable of making a concert feel like a private English party where someone might have sprinkled fairy dust into the scones. The 2026 version sees Hitchcock with a full band behind him, though the familiar surreal intimacy expands into something brighter, stranger and considerably louder, which might have been a shock for the Twyford church, which normally hosts more acoustic performances.

Both evenings begin in relatively modest fashion, Hitchcock alone with his guitar and that instantly recognisable voice: nasal, weathered, oddly soothing as he offers songs whose lyrics reflect the local area to the delight of local fans. His band members quickly join Hitchcock to tear through remarkably similar, for Hitchcock, sets which both draw heavily on his 80s output interspersed with smatterings from his most recent album The Confuser. But, rather than sounding like a late-career obligation, these songs underline the continuity in Hitchcock’s work: the same fascination with themes of mortality shining through tracks like ‘My Dead Astronaut’ and the amusing ‘I Am This Thing’. His between-song surrealism is never merely decorative; it has become an inherent part of a Hitchcock show and shows his quick wit to bounce off his surroundings. It’s like someone invited Dali to the family party.

There is also a welcome looseness to the performance. This is not a band attempting to recreate records under laboratory conditions. It listens, reacts and occasionally is let loose to run away with the material. Hitchcock, meanwhile, remains the gravitational centre: an elegant eccentric in command of a catalogue that can move from barbed jangle-pop to haunted balladry without ever seeming to leave its own peculiar universe. For both shows, Hitchcock is joined by Emma Swift for a trio of shared-vocal tracks, including ‘So You Think You’re In Love’ and a warming version of Roxy Music’s ‘More Than This’. A trio of Soft Boys tracks delight the old-faithful who have followed Hitchcock since the late 70’s and his “no names mentioned” dedication of Í Wanna Destroy You’ to the US President highlights that underneath the surrealist lyrics there is all too often a powerful message. The show blends straight into the encore, saving the audience the need to clap/cheer and wait impatiently for further songs, and consist of covers of the likes of Pink Floyd’s ‘See Emily Play’ and Hendrix tracks before Hitchcock ditches the band and electric guitar for his grand finale.

Accompanying himself on acoustic guitar, he leaves the stage to wander through his crowd performing impassioned versions of ‘Day in the Life. Whilst the Reading, standing, crowd wander around for the communal singalong, Twyford’s church-seated audience show far more restraint, remaining in their pews with just a few lone voices joining in.

By the end, the distinction between cult hero and working musician feels irrelevant. Hitchcock is simply a superb songwriter fronting a band that knows how to make his songs breathe. The result is funny, melodic, unpredictable and unexpectedly moving: a reminder that surrealism, in the right hands, is not an escape from reality but one of the best ways of describing it.

Why either of these artists are playing such intimate venues is yet another mystery in the long list of popular music. But (!) had either of them found the commercial success their voices and songs deserved, gigs like these would be the stuff of dreams and for those lucky enough to attend this wasn’t a dream, but a beautiful reality.