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Robyn Hitchcock The Sadies, Peter Case, Ann Loree Trio
Concert appearance: Sun., 28 July 2002
Calgary Folk Music Festival
Calgary, Canada
Set list:
Easy Chair (Bob Dylan)
Astronomy Domine (Pink Floyd)
Solpadeine
Lucifer Sam (Pink Floyd)
Robyn played one more set on Sunday afternoon with the Sadies, Peter
Case and the Ann Loree trio. Robyn had cut his finger earlier that
day and, as a result, left his guitar at the hotel. He played "air
slide guitar" on the first two songs and then borrowed a Fender
Telecaster and a bottleneck slide from the Sadies for the rest of
the workshop. Here is the setlist:
- Easy Chair - Robyn's second Dylan cover of the festival sets
- Astronomy Domine - Wow! This was a blisterning version of the
Barrett / Pink Floyd oldie complete with Barrett "flying" that
seemed to freak out Ann Loree and her trio
- Sulperdee (?) - I had not heard this song before and it was hard
for me to make out the title. Hopefully, someone out there can help
me out on this one
- Lucifer Sam - Another Barrett / Pink Floyd cover that was the most
surprising song of the festival. Robyn mentioned that the Barrett
songs tend to attract demons so the audience should be careful.
The Sadies made a great backup band and sounded like they have
played the Floyd songs before. They are also a great band that sound
like a cross between Elvis and the Ramones playing in the genre of
Clint Eastwood's "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly."
As Kevin mentioned, Robyn was very gracious and personable. He was
happy to sign my travel guitar (which I will post a picture of if
anyone is interested) and talk a bit about the new Soft Boys album,
recent travels and the novel which he said his agent is having
trouble getting a publisher to commit to because they think it
is "too weird." He said the book could be released as a children's
story if it weren't for all of the adult content - whatever that
means. He did say not to worry though because "All things come out
eventually."
Overall, the festival was great with some amazing performances. And
where else would you see Robyn walking around with his guitar and
chatting with fans? I especially enjoyed the last two workshops
where the performers actually interacted rather than just taking
turns. Robyn seemed really relaxed playing harmonica and guitar on
other people's songs. One of the staff members told me that Robyn
lead a group of performers including Nick Lowe through a rousing
version of "Kung Fu Fighting" in one of the private tents on
Saturday evening. During his main stage set earlier that same night,
he did a great job working a crowd of about 6,000+ people most of
whom had probably never heard of him.
As a side note, Robyn seemed to get a lot of publicity in some of
the local papers including a blurb in the Calgary Sunday Sun who
wrote "Hitchcock is that crazy Enlish uncle who buys you liquor when
you're 16 and then proceeds to site down with you and your friends
and consume most of it. But while he's doing that, he's telling you
the most amazing observations about life that would make exactly no
sense coming out of anyone else's mouth but his."
It was a bit expensive making the trip, but I can say that it was a
really great experience and I would do it again in a heartbeat.
- Rocky
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