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Robyn Hitchcock Tim Keegan
Concert appearance: Tue., 3 June 1997
Melarkey's
Sacramento, California US
Set list:
I Dream of Antwoman
Wide Open Star
Serpent at the Gates of Wisdom
The Yip Song
Madonna of the Wasps Welcome back Tim's brother: Tim!
Jewels for Sophia
Acid Bird
Dark Princess
Chinese Bones
You and Oblivion
Arnold Layne (Syd Barrett)
Freeze
Kingdom of Love
The Speed of Things encore
Queen of Eyes
Queen Elvis
Beautiful Queen
I Often Dream of Trains
I know opinions may vary, but I loved the Sacramento and San Francisco shows!
Of course I was predisposed to musical bliss given that I was seeing Robyn
for the first and second times. Hey, I'm biased and I'm *comfortable* with
it! Got a problem with that?! ;) A real bonus was that the shows were
very different from each other. About 50% overlap in the set. Perhaps
Stephen and Eddie want to chime in about how Mill Valley compared.
OK, the Sac set list and a few impressions/highlights of both shows.
1. The opener in Sac was Anton Barbeau and Drag Team Three, a local band. I
thought they were good and would see them again. A bit folky with some
Beatle-esque tunes. And if I may share, I believe it was dot Chris who said
he didn't *want* to like them, but did. :) Anton's a big Robyn fan and was
at the SF show the next night.
2. I was very impressed with Tim, and would have liked to have seen more.
I'm still kicking myself for not picking up that single while I had the easy
opportunity (twice). Drat! Now, I'm not a guitar geek (see dot Chris for
that), but his playing was strong and polished, if relatively simple. His
voice was beautiful...strong, great range, and he and Robyn sounded so good
together! Tim was confident in his message *and* his delivery. I was
charmed, to say the least.
3. Robin put on a great show! Gotta share this... He took the stage and
said, "It's been about seven years since I've played in Sacramento. I'm sure
that in that time every cell in my body has replaced itself, and I'm a
completely different person." ...I was DYING! :)
4. I was a little startled to be as taken with Robyn as I was. The quality
of his voice was supurb, mesmerizing. Very strong at first, but...well,
yes...weakened just a tad as the evening wore on. (Note: Tim seemed to tone
it down a bit on the high notes in SF the next night...voice fatigue?) But
Robyn's guitar playing! Woah... Those graceful spider fingers were
impressive in Sac, but waited until SF to really shine. Hendrix was showing
more than in just those two tunes... In Sac, perhaps Robyn had a few playing
bloopers (Chris says 5 and I have no reason not to believe him), but all I
saw was a little chuckle at one of them. He *did* seem to enjoy himself in
Sacramento, but in SF he was really in his element, with an adoring and vocal
crowd! Blinkercize was alive and well at both shows.
5. I may have noted a little of the father/son thing between Robyn and Tim
that was discussed on the list previously, but IMHO Tim held his own.
6. Regarding the Robynspeak, I expected to hear more given the discussion on
this list, so obviously he's toned it down. After one bit of banter in
Sacramento about careening down the highway, smashing into a billion pieces,
each piece growing horns, etc., Robyn got a good laugh from the audience. He
looked up sincerely and said, "I knew you'd understand." (!!!)
7. Last but not least, you N. Cal (and Reno
B., Stephen, Chris, and Eddie at the Sacramento show; and Nick, Mark G., Tom,
Russ, Carrie, John, and Stephen (again) in San Francisco. When's the
reunion? Do I see a movie premier in our futures? :)
Ciao for now,
Sydney
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