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Robyn Hitchcock's ROCK ARMADA
Concert appearance: Tue., 16 Nov. 1999
Crocodile Café
Seattle, Washington US
Set list:
Soundcheck: Passing Souls
Soundcheck: Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands (Bob Dylan)
Soundcheck: Nietzche's Way
Soundcheck: Raining Twilight Coast
Soundcheck: [Title Unknown]
Soundcheck: America Tim on vocals
Soundcheck: Oceanside
Mexican God
The Devil's Coachman
Raining Twilight Coast
I Wish I Liked You
Queen Elvis
Alright, Yeah
The Cheese Alarm
Jewels for Sophia
No, I Don't Remember Guildford
Madonna of the Wasps
Queen of Eyes
America
Antwoman
Sleeping with Your Devil Mask
Oceanside
I Often Dream of Trains
Insanely Jealous
Kingdom of Love
Birds in Perspex
Beautiful Queen
I Feel Beautiful
Viva! Sea-Tac
Sinister But She Was Happy
Elizabeth Jade
NOTES:
--robyn was in *spectacular* spirits. just witness the number of songs
played, for chrissakes!
--it's funny, though. he doesn't really gab that much when he's in seattle.
he just plays his fucking ass off.
--don't know what that song after Raining Twilight was (in soundcheck), and
neither did any of the fegs. coulda been a dylan song or something. who
can say?
--so robyn had just finished up his acoustical soundcheck, when in walked
peter buck, making a beeline for the curtain behind which was practising the
great and powerful oz, etc. etc.. security never even tried to stop him.
through the curtain, we could see robyn hailing peter, then embracing with
him, then emerging with him and exiting into the rain to (presumably) go for
dinner. (and during the set, robyn dedicated practically every other song
to him, it seemed; as well as using his (pete's) guitar, 'cause his
(robyn's) had been busted in transit from denver.) after robyn and pete had
gone, the band took the stage and ripped into America and Oceanside, with
tim taking lead vocal!!! he didn't even know more than about a quarter of
the words, so he just fucking made shit up. it was uproariously funny, i
tell you!
--kimberley was reading chekhov. right during the gig, too!
--the crowd was quite into it (though not as into it, i'll wager, as will be
the portland crowd tomorrow; which i'm guessing'll be just on the cusp of
beatlemaniaesque.) some chick that was dancing *very* intensely (by which i
mean, she had the most *serious* look on her face of anybody i've ever seen
dancing at any gig, ever) yelled out between songs something to the effect
of: "it's fucking *tuesday*! jeez!" i think what she was getting at was
that no band (in her opinion) has a right to play such a bitchin' gig on any
night that is not friday or saturday. i think.
--vince and debora finally came out of hiding. yay! and the feggery was
otherwise smashing as usual.
KEN "Somebody get me a cheeseburger" THE KENSTER
Thoughts on last night's gig: fantastic!
*Other Fegs in attendance: Cynthia, the Deboras, Simone, and some other
guy who Eddie and Tom knew. He seemed awfully nice.
*Kimberly Rew is hilarious to watch, wonderful to hear. Does Eddie Van
Halen make similar facial contortions, or was that just me?
*Tom Clark--it was great sharing the backseat of the minivan with you! ;)
* The Departure Lounge were great by themselves and accompanying Robyn and
Kim. But Tim's hatchet job haircut makes him look like a deadringer for
"Billy Bibbit" from "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." Tim's hair is
flatter, but the resemblance is uncanny. Yes, I know writing this
effectively kills any chance of having a date with the man. ;)
Still, seeing Tim play with his band for the first time was lovely.
*Robynwatch: Robyn came onstage wearing a short sleeved blue t-shirt with
a black vest, those flowered pants, and black boots. After the encore,
Robyn changed into his white long sleeved shirt (I call his "Sommersby"
shirt).
*At the intro of "Queen Elvis," I think Robyn burped slightly into the
microphone by mistake. "Oh my," he said. Tim snickered and tried not to
laugh.
*Tim shook a plastic banana and mango for this gig.
*When Robyn, Tim, Kim and the Departure Lounge broke into "America," I
hopped up and down with sheer joy. I don't think I've ever heard him do
this with the Egyptians before..at least I don't think he's played it in
Portland. Fegs, correct me if I'm wrong. Robyn dropped down his vocals for
this one to a bass pitch. I kind of missed the high pitched glory of this
song, but his low pitch, combined with Tim's higher one, detracted not one
iota of brillance from this song. I nearly swooned.
*Celebrity sightings: the ever-present Scott McCaughey (who looks just
like "Animal" from the Muppet Show) and Peter Buck, who is quite handsome
these days. I wish I'd had a tin-foil thoth. Again, I nearly swooned.
*Oh, Natalie, your tin-foil creature was on the stand next to Robyn,
sitting by cups of coffee, water, and Robyn's harmonica holder. Thought
you'd like to know.
*Jeme, I am forever indebted to you for driving both ways. While I conked
out in the back, Jeme and Viv tried to see if I was *really* asleep by
saying, "Is Carole really asleep? Let's pull over and make out and see if
she notices!" If they did, I certainly didn't notice.
Carole
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