One person introduced another who introduced another. Eventually, around 10 minutes in, Robyn finally makes an appearance. Almost immediately there was a medical emergency somewhere in the vaguely middle of the crowd. I was in the middle of the fourth row & all I can say is that the problem was roughly 10-15 rows above me in the middlish of the crowd. I heard the word "seizure" and then, in just a few seconds, it was over. I have no idea what happened, but assume it was a false alarm, as nobody was ever removed from the audience.

In any case, Robyn acted graciously and properly. He didn't start up again until he'd been given the all clear by the staff (a few times). Once the excitement was over, Robyn read a chapter from his book, 1967. About 24 minutes into the performance, a host began asking questions & Robyn answered them. At 49 minutes the audience began asking questions.

Scott F
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Online review and pictures by wheartm.com
Robyn Hitchcock- interview and performance at Lawrence Arts Center- Lawrence, KS (2026-06-26)

When being ‘The Confuser’ is a good thing-

UK-raised, Nashville-based singer, songwriter, and musical troubadour Robyn Hitchcock is still known as a lyrical surrealist and whose folk-based sound has moved from post-punk, to psychedelic, to alt-rock, to jangle pop and more, making him still hard to clearly define, as he seems to enjoy.

As part of the Free State Festival, the prolific Hitchcock made a stop downtown at the Lawrence Arts Center, in support of his upcoming album, The Confuser (out July 24 via Tiny Ghost Records) and also has a new book, Stranded in the Future, a second semi-fictionalized memoir that covers 1968 to 1978 and including the formation of The Soft Boys.

The evening got underway with a conversational interview with Hitchcock, but just after he took his seat, a call of “Is there a doctor in the house!?” came from near the top seats as an older man seemed to be slightly convulsing. A few tense moments later, all seemed ok and Hitchcock resumed by beginning with reading a passage from his first book, 1967: How I Got There and Why I Never Left, which described attending one of Brian Eno’s nearby art school “happenings” of the day and its effect on him.

Enough time was spent on the first memoir and related, along with several audience questions, that the newest book wasn’t discussed, so would just be left to the audience to discover it on their own.

In the Q+A, Hitchcock described the sometimes chaotic manner of composing a song (and conversely, the discovery of when something inexplicably falls into your lap), why he re-located to Nashville (it is ‘music city’ he said, but not necessarily just for Country), and when asked about newer artists to recommend, offered a few obscure bands like Scottish duo Boards of Canada (who have a new album, Inferno, but haven’t performed live in 25 years). When he asked the young questioner the same thing, New Zealand singer Lorde was offered back, though Hitchcock was unfamiliar with her work.