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Robyn Hitchcock Tim Keegan
Concert appearance: Thu., 5 June 1997
Wow Hall
Eugene, Oregon US
Set list:
Soundcheck: That's Alright Mama ("Big Boy" Arthur Cru…) soundcheck, w/Tim
Soundcheck: Where Do You Go When You Die?
Soundcheck: Madonna of the Wasps
Soundcheck: Each of Her Silver Wands
Soundcheck: She Doesn't Exist excerpt
Soundcheck: The Lizard excerpt
Soundcheck: Cathedral excerpt
Soundcheck: Acid Bird
Gene Hackman main set
Lysander
Balloon Man
Trilobite
Madonna of the Wasps w/Tim
De Chirico Street w/Tim
Jewels for Sophia w/Tim
Beautiful Girl
I'm Only You
She Doesn't Exist
I Am Not Me
Airscape
Freeze
Encore: Elizabeth Jade encore 1, w/Tim
Encore: Queen Elvis w/Tim
Encore: Beautiful Queen w/Tim
Encore: I Often Dream of Trains
Encore: Dark Princess encore 2, w/Tim
Did you ever have a friend that influences you to do things that you
wouldn't do otherwise??
For me, that friend is Butch, a resident of Ogden, UT. He is here in
Portland to visit me, and Portland, and to catch a couple of Robyn shows.
Our first show was down in Eugene, OR at Wow Hall, about 2 hs south of
Portland.
We got to Eugene at about 6pm, and immediately set out to find the venue so
we would know how to get to it later. As we parked the car behind Wow
Hall, we heard the familiar sound of Robyn's acoustic. Soundcheck! And
the back door was open.
I normally would be too "chicken" to do something as brash as walk right
into the hall and sit down. But Butch proceeded to do just that. So I
went in, too. After a few minutes it was obvious that Robyn, his manager,
and the employees of the venue knew we were there but didn't care. We just
sat unobtrusively in the very back corner of the hall. I immediately ran
out to the car, got my trusty recorder, ran back in, and began taping. I
know we missed alot of the soundcheck, but here is what I got:
acoustic:
Where Do You Go When You Die? (with Tim)
Madonna of the Wasps (with Tim)
electric excerpts from:
She Doesn't Exist
The Lizard
Cathedral of The Mind
Acid Bird (with Tim on acoustic, Robyn on electric)
The 3 songs with Tim are complete songs, the others are just Robyn singing
a verse or two before moving on to the next.
We met Tim after the soundcheck, when he needed a blank tape to give to the
soundman, and lo and behold I happened to have one.
The show:
There was only ONE cone. Robyn hadn't had time to draw more. Grant from
the list got it. Maybe he will tell you what it looks like.
Tim went on at about 8:40pm:
Unfun
Thin (by request from me!) altho i'm betting he was gonna play it anyway
Shallow End
Soul Food Shopping List
New Song
Overcoming Grim Realities
Back From Disneyland
Single
Superkeen.
Robyn came out about 9:30pm or so, dressed in that cool lizard-and-target
shirt:
acoustic:
Gene Hackman
Lysander
Balloon Man
Trilobyte
Madonna Of The Wasps (w/ Tim)
De Chirico St. (w/ Tim)
Jewels For Sophia (w/ Tim)
Beautiful Girl
I'm Only You
electric:
She Doesn't Exist
I Am Not Me
Airscape
Freeze
encore (acoustic i think):
Elizabeth Jade (w/ Tim)
Queen Elvis (w/ Tim)
electric:
Beautiful Queen (w/Tim)
I Often Dream of Trains
ONE MORE ENCORE:
Dark Princess (w/ Tim)
I think the total time was under 90min.
The set was pretty normal, nothing unusually great, all stuff I'd seen and
heard before, with the exception of the new songs (Sophia, Jade) which I
thought were great, but not sure how I would like them solo. They worked
great with Tim's harmonies and extra guitar parts.
Having Tim around during Robyn's set was the real treat of the show for me.
His vocals and guitar work complement Robyn incredibly well, and gave new
life to some of the songs.
The only interesting banter came from my friend Butch's request for "Arms
of Love", to which Robyn replied that it was originally called "Arm of
Love" which he thought was too dark, but now in retrospect he wishes he had
left it like that. But anyway, the gist of it was that it was too twee for
him, now.
Someone also requested "St. Petersburg", which evoked a facial contortion
that looked like a grimace (the facial expression, not the mc donaldland
character), and he replied that playing that song would be akin to ordering
a nice sandwich with redicchio (??) cheese and endives, and getting a scoop
of ice cream with meat gravy topping!!
After the show, Tim came out and talked to us for awhile. He was helpful
in facilitating a not-your-usual-request-for-an-autograph favor from Robyn.
A few months ago I had a CD of Mossy Liquor (and some other recent vinyl)
pressed up for my own listening pleasure. With Tim interceding for me,
Robyn labelled it!! Very nice. I had been wanting a Robyn-penned title on
the CD itself for quite sometime. Robyn was very kind, saying "it's my
pleasure" when I told him how grateful I was.
While signing, Robyn answered various questions from all of us who hung out
after the gig. The new live album is not coming out till next year (Jan or
Feb). My brash pal Butch and some others commented on the fact that the
song "Dark Princess" actually sounds like "Duck Princess" and wondered if
it had anything to do with the upside-down duck on the Moss Elixir album
and T-shirt.
Robyn replied that he and Tim have been making a conscious effort to
enunciate their words, but at times its just not enough. He said he could
never right a song called "Duck Princess": "Its a matter of taste, mate.",
was the actual quote i think.
I snagged a setlist too (what a night!) only to realize after getting home
that it was not penned by Robyn. I only grabbed it because I love Robyn's
handwriting as much as some of his songs. I guess either Tim or Steve
(Robyn's manager) wrote it.
By the way, it was Steve's birthday. Is he a new manager?? I had never
seen him before. He seems like a very nice person as well.
Steve informed Paul (are you out there Paul) that the Viva Seatac gig (next
Friday) is indeed at The Croc in Seattle. Robyn stated that they will
begin work next week on the new studio album, but I think that info has
been posted already.
Lost my donner of the wasps,
JBJ
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