Mercury Lounge Set List Notes Reviews Media

Details

Date
November 20, 1998
Venue
Mercury Lounge New York, New York
Billed As
Robyn Hitchcock
Gig Type
Concert
Guests
Deni Bonet, Terry Edwards, Michael Stipe, Mike Mills

Notes

Deni Bonet joins on violin from 'Arms Of Love' to Let's Go Thundering' & on 'Listening To The Higsons', & Terry Edwards joined on saxophone from 'Rainy Day Women' to 'Listening To The Higsons'. In the encore, Mike Mills joined on 12 string guitar for 'Electrolite', while Michael helped out by holding up a sheet of lyrics for Robyn to sing.

Set List

  1. Cheese Alarm
  2. Fleshhead
  3. I Thought I Heard NASA Clapping
  4. Nietzche's Way
  5. Arms of Love with Deni Bonet
  6. De Chirico Street with Deni Bonet
  7. Sinister But She Was Happy with Deni Bonet
  8. Let's Go Thundering w/Deni
  9. I Don't Remember Guildford
  10. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 Bob Dylan with Terry Edwards
  11. America with Terry Edwards
  12. Adoration of the City with Terry Edwards
  13. Listening to the Higsons with Deni Bonet and Terry Edwards
Encore
  1. San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair) Scott McKenzie
  2. Electrolite R.E.M. with Michael Stipe and Mike Mills
  3. Gene Hackman
  4. The Yip Song

Media

Audio recording of show

Reviews

I'll leave the setlist to someone who remembers (or recorded) it. Newer songs comprised a fair portion of the set. I was glad to hear "NASA Clapping" for the first time live -- if i remember correctly, He introduced it with, "the title is Michele's, not mine." Deni Bonet came up for a large handful of songs, including "Let's Go Thundering" and "Sinister But Happy". After a few more solo songs, Terry Edwards from the Higsons appeared and played ghastly mellow saxophone for a smaller handful of tunes including "America". The first encore was an allegedly impromptu rendition of R.E.M.'s "Electrolite" assisted by a reluctant Mike Mills on 12-string and a chipper Michael Stipe as music stand and director, pointing Robyn through the lyrics which were haphazardly handwritten on a folded up sheet of paper. There was a second encore with two songs, the latter of which was a
violin and saxophone-assisted "Listening to the Higsons".

Overall, i think it was an adequate and solid gig. Two-thirds of R.E.M. provided amusing novelty (though the before-show gossip that R.E.M. would be the backing band turned out to be some wishful rumormongering), but the cover wasn't that great -- more entertaining than satisfying.