|
|
|
Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians
Concert appearance: Wed., 19 May 1993
Ritz
New York, New York US
Set list:
Driving Aloud (Radio Storm)
Railway Shoes
The Yip Song
Queen Elvis
Arms of Love
Airscape
When I Was Dead
Vegetation & Dimes
Oceanside
One Long Pair of Eyes
A Globe of Frogs
Clean Steve
Only the Stones Remain
Glass
City of Shame
Wafflehead
The Wreck of the Arthur Lee
Egyptian Cream
Kung Fu Fighting (Carl Douglas)
Richard:
I saw the show at the Ritz last night. Sadly (or not) the crowd was much much
thinner than when I saw him there the last time (the Perspex tour). I say "or
not" because the positive side of it not being that crowded is that 1) I could
see, and 2) it means that next time around he may play smaller clubs instead
(like Maxwell's in Hoboken, where he has always shined IMHO). Which is
something I'm not so sure Robyn and the boys would mind at all. One thing I
like about the "new" Ritz is that the sound there is impeccable, I have never
seen a show there where the music wasn't crystal clear. (Even at Living
Colour, I could hear vocals and instruments quite clearly.)
It always amazes me how well the Egyptians perform using acoustic instruments.
Driving Aloud opened the set and was performed on acoustic guitar, acoustic
bass guitar, and (mostly) acoustic drums, yielding a sound much fuller and
richer than I would have expected. (What I "expect" from such a configuration
is the thin hollow shell of a sound like REM got when they did "Losing My
Erection" on Unplugged.) I don't recall the whole set, but he did Oceanside,
Clean Steve, Vegetation and Dimes, Glass (solo acoustic---wish he'd let Andy
play bass on that, though, would have enhanced the performance greatly; it was
dedicated to Cynthia---did anyone catch what he said when he dedicated it to
her?), Globe of Frogs, the Yip Song, and closed with Kung Fu Fighting, which
broke me up entirely. Does ANYONE know what he changed the words to? He made
a number of subtle changes, one of which instigated uncontrollable laughter
on my part: "There was dismal Billy Chin, and funky Tommy Chong." When he
said Tommy Chong, I could not stop laughing for the remainder of the night.
(He did say Tommy, didn't he?) Tommy Chong was Cheech Marin's partner
If you have an addition or correction, please send an e-mail message about it to Bayard Catron.
If you ever see an error message or a bad link, please send an e-mail message about that to John Hedges.