Standard Gig, similar to the one we saw six months back. The only surprise (for me) was Rock N Roll Toilet. Didn't realize he was playing that now. And "your bird can sing" rather than "soul kitchen". Glad he played "raymond" over "higsons"! Bummed that he dropped Airscape. And very little banter. He bantered a bit with Emma when she joined him. But could have used a lot more! There were no "encores". He said (right before destroy) that they were at the end of the set and were going to jump to the covers. No need for the encore schtick.

There was no pause between Destroy and Waiting for the man. Just segued right into it.

Thomas N
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Online review and photos by Strange Carolinas
BY DREW DRAIN

Hitchcock took the stage and reminded everyone why there really isn't anyone else quite like him. Plenty of artists develop a recognizable style over the years. Hitchcock seems to have built an entire world of his own. His songs wander through folk, psychedelia, pop, and whatever strange corner of his imagination happens to be open that night. Almost as entertaining as the music was everything that happened between the songs. Hitchcock's stage banter doesn't exactly follow a straight line, but that's part of the appeal. He'll disappear down some wonderfully absurd tangent, have the audience laughing, and then suddenly deliver a song that hits with surprising emotional weight.

One of the most impressive things is how comfortably he moves through a catalog that stretches back nearly fifty years. The set pulled from every era of his career, touching on Soft Boys classics, Egyptians favorites, and solo material without ever feeling like a nostalgia act. Songs such as "Queen of Eyes," "So You Think You're in Love," and "I Wanna Destroy You" still sounded vibrant rather than preserved behind museum glass. Despite being written in the fall of 1979, the questions of is hatred contagious and can you fight fascism with love in "I Wanna Destroy You," are still relevant today. Robyn has written about it on his Substack far better than I ever could. Once you're finished reading this review, head on over there to check it out.

Musically, the show felt less like a greatest-hits set and more like a guided tour through Hitchcock's influences and obsessions. Alongside his own songs, he sprinkled in unexpected covers, drawing from his influences like The Velvet Underground, Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, and The Beatles. Rather than feeling like detours, those songs fit naturally into the peculiar musical universe he's been creating for decades.

The moment I'll remember most came at the tail end of the show. Hitchcock stepped off the stage and into the crowd carrying nothing but his acoustic guitar. No microphone. No spotlight. No production. Just him and the audience. Standing in the middle of the room, he started playing "A Day in the Life," which happens to be one of my favorite Beatles' songs. People started singing along immediately. It was just a room full of people singing one of the greatest songs ever written. The lack of amplification somehow made it even more powerful.

Emma Swift's songs and stories set the perfect tone, and Hitchcock delivered exactly what longtime fans hoped to get for the night, which was great music, oddball humor, and a few moments that could only happen in a live room.