By: Jen Paulson
Sunday night, armed only with a special mix CD’s worth of Robyn Hitchcock knowledge, I settled into my spot at the Cedar, quite excited to see this highly-influential singer/songwriter.
Robyn Hitchcock - Photo by Alexa Jones
Right out of the gate, Sean Nelson treated us to a performance of his sweepingly cabaret-style and heavily lyrical songs. Nelson, lead singer of the band Harvey Danger, stuck to playing the keyboard along with his songs, a large portion of them covers, and did lots of chatting to the crowd in between. Admittedly, his shtick reminded me vaguely of Zach Galifanakis’ comedy style, but I have a feeling this was not on purpose. And it definitely was not a routine. He was pleasant and clever and his vocals were quite beautiful. Even if his playing could use some fine-tuning, he was enjoyable to watch.
After a brief break, Hitchcock took the stage, cup of tea in hand, wearing a shirt in an abstract gecko print and what under the light truly appeared to be purple trousers. He was warm and very talkative, dedicating multiple songs to and even discussing in detail a relationship with a past lover that had gone wrong, whose birthday it just so happened to be.
He dedicated his song “I Often Dream of Trains” to local music writer Jim Walsh, who was in the audience that evening. This song might as well be a lost Beatles b-side to “Strawberry Fields Forever”, with its hauntingly sparse guitar soaring under lyrics that lilt hauntingly over it. But, even with the obvious comparisons to John Lennon’s voice, Hitchcock’s style, distinctly his own, has been emulated by many artists since his start on the scene back in the mid-seventies with The Soft Boys, and even more as he branched out with a solo career in the early eighties.
Of course, I felt robbed by the omission of some of my preferred favorites, like “I’ve Got A Message for You,” “You’ve Got a Sweet Mouth on You, Baby,” and “NY Doll” while the crowd was softly requesting tracks like “Viva Sea-Tac” and “Clean Steve” along with my neighbor beside me, local Robyn Hitchcock fan numero uno, who would have liked to hear “Flesh Number One (Beatle Dennis).” A lot of the songs that were played were not on my audio guide. However, wonderfully intimate performances of “My Wife and My Dead Wife,” and a perfect cover of Dylan’s “Visions of Johanna”, which I did a secret duet with him from my table perch.
Hitchcock’s conversational songwriting style didn’t always keep me as rapt as it should. But, my desire to touch his perfect silvery hair and my daydreams of moonlit trysts aside, it was almost like listening as someone sings a conversation over music at times. But if the feeling from the crowd was any indication, their Robyn Hitchcock experience is just what they asked for – a lovely, intimate evening from a cult musical hero.
Location Info:
Cedar Cultural Center
Artist Info: Robyn Hitchcock, Sean Nelson
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